# Can you be racist and still be a good person? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077 "2016-09-05T01:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/21 "2016-09-05T14:02:34Z")
Isaac Asimov once talked about John Campbell’s “innocent racism.” Campbell certainly would condemn racist actions, but he held the unspoken belief that whites were superior. They were the ones conquering the universe and he just didn’t conceive that it could be any other way (he probably would be open to the idea of other races, but would not consider it without outside prompting). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/22 "2016-09-05T14:11:07Z")
[Everyone’s a little bit racist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXnM1uHhsOI)… …but I’d distinguish between someone being (a little bit) _racist_, and someone being \*\*\*a \*_racist_. In the latter, the racism is the defining feature. And no, such a person can not be considered good. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/23 "2016-09-05T14:16:14Z")
Racism isn’t always about hatred, it’s mostly about prejudice. We all pre-judge people sometimes, usually based on familiar stereotypes. I don’t agree with “we’re all a little bit racist” but I do think we all are a little bit prejudiced, be it their sex, intelligence, appearance, religion, whatever. It’s a human thing to do, and almost inescapable. The problem is when that prejudice is negative, and also incorrect. That’s when it’s unfair judgement based on imaginary reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/24 "2016-09-05T14:19:08Z")
> [@black\_rainbow](#): > > Can you be racist and still be a good person? I think that awful lot of that question is lost in the details, in the specifics, and in the background. _ **OP Only** _ What do You think? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/25 "2016-09-05T14:20:04Z")
Having racist thoughts or feelings doesn’t necessarily make one a bad person, but discovering these things within yourself and either pretending it doesn’t exist or refusing to try and change it is a bad thing, in my opinion. I have had racist thoughts and feelings in my life, and I strive to identify these so that I can work to change myself and become a better person. An example – I’ve heard old white Americans say something to the effect of “I’m not racist and I have nothing against the blacks, but I just don’t think it’s right for blacks to marry whites”. That’s racist, whatever they think – and if they’re too stubborn to identify this as bad within themselves, then that reflects very poorly on them. It doesn’t mean they’re irredeemable necessarily, but it’s a big mark against them, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/26 "2016-09-05T14:47:07Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > “Everybody’s a little bit racist.” > > I’ve found that to be very true, but acting on these feelings, or espousing them verbally, is a different matter. I’ll go with that. And I’ll go one step further and say its the “espousing” thing that usually puts it over the top for me. I can’t see someone like David Duke being viewed as a good person. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/27 "2016-09-05T15:22:11Z")
If you have a hypothetical Racist and ask 10 white people if that person is a good person and they all say “Of course,” but 10 black people say “No way” are they a good person? That is the question and my answer is no. Can they become a good person? Probably. Can you peg everyone with a racist thought at some time in their lives? Of course but that (as I wrote above) changes the question. I wouldn’t call everyone who had a racist thought ever a racist. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/28 "2016-09-05T15:36:41Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > I don’t, and I know several people who don’t. > > But we believe very strongly in traditional morality, so haters and bigots **CLAIM** that we are racist, sexist, and homophobic. 1. It is practically impossible for a person to hold no racist ideas. Research consistently finds that even people who are appalled at the idea of racism do demonstrate negative preferences and reactions even at an subconscious level. 2. Traditional American morality includes Indians living on reservations and black people using a different drinking fountain. If your morality is racist, sexist and homophobic to begin with, the fact that it is “traditional” does not help in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/29 "2016-09-05T20:08:37Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > I don’t, and I know several people who don’t. > > But we believe very strongly in traditional morality, so haters and bigots **CLAIM** that we are racist, sexist, and homophobic. Very few people with such thoughts actually know that they have them, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/30 "2016-09-05T20:36:55Z")
You could at different times and places in history substitute black for Polish, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/31 "2016-09-05T22:30:40Z")
> [@Jake\_Jones](#): > > Disagree entirely. Saying someone is hardly human for their lack of hatred for others is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard someone say. Racism is not necessarily hatred. Racism can be about making broad generalizations based on race. Nearly everyone does that to some extent. ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/32 "2016-09-05T22:55:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I think the answer is “yes,” and I have a third-hand anecdote to support the belief. A Doper for whom I have a great deal of respect (and consequently, whose word I am inclined to accept), has written persuasively about the basic goodness and fundamental decency of his late grandfather, for whom he has also laid out a strong case for having been racist as hell. This is _exactly_ what I thought of when I saw the thread title, and remember that thread in particular very well. In it this particular Doper wrote a beautiful description of a person with flaws… indeed that post stuck with me precisely because it brought home to me that we all have flaws, sometimes very deep flaws, and in spite of them, we can be very good, moral, amazing, heroic people at the same time. We are _all_ bundles of good and bad to varying degrees. I think what irritates me about some people’s thought process nowadays is the rather totalitarian view of “racist=bad=the worst possible thing a person can be =write’em off as scum”. Humans are much more nuanced than that; we do people a disservice by summing them up entirely on the basis of whether or not they use the word “nigger” behind closed doors. (Wow, does that statement have pile-on potential) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/33 "2016-09-05T23:05:17Z")
I would go so far as to say that someone who is racist but takes deliberate effort to be kind and police and gracious to people of the race that he/she dislikes,\* is the true embodiment of tolerance. \*Because “tolerance” requires having to put up with something you don’t like. And it shows considerably more self-control for a racist to be nice to everyone, than for a non-racist to be nice to everyone. (This, by the way, is a pet peeve of mine when “tolerance” is defined as “I like and have always liked Hispanics, so look at how racially tolerant I am when I treat Hispanics well!” That’s not tolerance. Tolerance means having to put up with something you _dislike_. If you like and have always liked Hispanic people, you aren’t tolerating Hispanic people, you’re just co-existing with them. It takes no “tolerance” to put up with something you like.) ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/34 "2016-09-05T23:54:07Z")
> [@drpepper](#): > > I think what irritates me about some people’s thought process nowadays is the rather totalitarian view of “racist=bad=the worst possible thing a person can be =write’em off as scum”. That also leads to people being not willing to recognize, much less call out, racist behavior. The thought process goes “Chris is nice. Therefore, Chris couldn’t possibly do or say anything racist. Therefore, the thing he did must be ok, or if it isn’t, it definitely wasn’t racist - only evil, evil people are racist and Chris isn’t evil.” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/35 "2016-09-06T00:03:21Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > That also leads to people being not willing to recognize, much less call out, racist behavior. The thought process goes “Chris is nice. Therefore, Chris couldn’t possibly do or say anything racist. Therefore, the thing he did must be ok, or if it isn’t, it definitely wasn’t racist - only evil, evil people are racist and Chris isn’t evil.” Yeah, exactly. It boggles me how, when we have the periodic SDMB Argument Over Whether The Word Racist Is Allowed, some people act like I just suggested we resurrect the Salem Witch Trials and start hanging the evildoers behind the courthouse. No. Doing something racist is something that people sometimes do. Much in the way that people (including me) should get called out for making an illogical argument, or for being rude, or for repeating an urban legend, people should get called out for saying something racist. That doesn’t mean they’re the devil. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/36 "2016-09-07T15:19:52Z")
This definition of “racist” is so broad now, IMHO it’s nearly impossible not to harbour some views that are today considered racist. I live in Western Canada, and one thing as a white man I’d never do is walk alone in certain areas of my city where Aboriginal youth tend to congregate as I fear I’ll be robbed, beaten or worse. That’s considered a “racist” view yet IMHO it’s only pragmatic. I do not consider myself a “bad person” for it either. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/37 "2016-09-07T16:35:16Z")
I have met some really nice older folks who still can’t quite grasp that "The coloreds’ and such terms are no longer current, they also often have parochial "white mans burdens’ views. So, they’d be “racist”, but honestly they mean well. So yeah, you can stray a little into the grey area many would call 'racist" and still be a Good person. If your intentions are still good, despite being outdated or from another background. Today Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, would be considered a little racist, but he was not only a Good person but a Great one. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/38 "2016-09-07T16:36:57Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > This definition of “racist” is so broad now, IMHO it’s nearly impossible not to harbour some views that are today considered racist. I live in Western Canada, and one thing as a white man I’d never do is walk alone in certain areas of my city where Aboriginal youth tend to congregate as I fear I’ll be robbed, beaten or worse. > > That’s considered a “racist” view yet IMHO it’s only pragmatic. I do not consider myself a “bad person” for it either. Where is that considered a racist view? “Don’t walk alone at night in high crime areas” is not a racist assertion. But if you say “aboriginals are criminals”, or similar, then you are guilty of saying something that’s racist. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/39 "2016-09-07T17:09:10Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > How many flaws can a person have, or how significant can they be, before that person is no longer a good person? And, as Morrissey sang, “Is evil something you are or something you do?” ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077/40 "2016-09-07T17:11:35Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > But if you say “aboriginals are criminals”, or similar, then you are guilty of saying something that’s racist. What if someone says, “Aboriginals have a higher crime rate per capita than other races?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-be-racist-and-still-be-a-good-person/765077.md?page=3)