# Do you think this type of behaviour is racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 7, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299 "2013-01-07T00:52:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/22 "2013-01-07T02:52:48Z")
> [@RANGER\_NINJA\_SNIPER](#): > > IF THEY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT THEY CAN LEAVE OUR COUNTRY > We were here first and it is our country Oh look. An intelligent response from a newbie. :rolleyes: What about Native Americans? Do they get a vote? ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/23 "2013-01-07T02:53:07Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > So be the person next to the emergency button to begin with. I can’t say I usually feel the need but this guy has placed himself in a blocking position which goes against usual lift behaviour and she is aware of that. Doing that may just be social cluelessness or may be threatening. If in the example he got in the lift and headed for the other side from her and she still did that I would agree to racism as a more probable explanation but his placement front and centre with only two people in a large lift changes the dynamic completely. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/24 "2013-01-07T03:26:05Z")
Did you guys watch the video? it has nothing to do with stepping aside, it is about the purse clutching. And yes it is obviously racist. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/25 "2013-01-07T03:47:46Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Did you guys watch the video? it has nothing to do with stepping aside, it is about the purse clutching. And yes it is obviously racist. Really, it’s only obviously racist if she doesn’t hold her purse like that when a short white guy does the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/26 "2013-01-07T03:50:33Z")
Did they repeat this scene, replacing the short black guy with a white guy, a Jewish guy, a fat woman, a Muslim guy, a tall skinny guy, a teenager with an assault weapon, another white woman, a child in a wheelchair, a clown, a cop, an effeminate man, a naked woman, conjoined twins? Did she exhibit the same “typical racist behaviour”? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/27 "2013-01-07T03:59:45Z")
It wasn’t an experiment, it was an actress demonstrating a certain behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/28 "2013-01-07T03:59:48Z")
She thought the Black guy yelling “boo” was bad. She’s just lucky it wasn’t Richard Dawkins shaming her for taking for granted she wasn’t subjected to a clitoridectomy. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/29 "2013-01-07T04:12:20Z")
Yeah, that black guy was pretty racist. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/31 "2013-01-07T04:18:58Z")
Expanding more on that, what **WhyNot** said. When someone else steps into an elevator, it’s polite to step to the side and get your purse/bag/backpack out of their way. I didn’t see the woman as “clutching her purse;” I saw it as, “Getting her pointy purse out of someone else’s way.” And if we want to clutch our purses tighter when someone else gets on the elevator, he needs to put on his big boy panties and deal with it. ETA: What she _should_ have done is get off the elevator, according to books like “The Gift of Fear.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/32 "2013-01-07T04:20:48Z")
> [@RANGER\_NINJA\_SNIPER](#): > > THEY SHOULDN’T > THEY ARE TAKING ALL OUR MONEY WITH THE COSINOS THAT THEY DON’T HAVE TO PAY TAXES ON > I know plenty of people who won’t go to the indian cosinos if there was one open by an actual American > Finally native Americans also came here they were just here first because they crossed over the ice during an ice age from Russia to Alaska > They shouldn’t and don’t have more rights than us and if anything we should punish them for killing our people back in the day What the hell are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/33 "2013-01-07T04:22:53Z")
Even though racists wouldn’t describe me as a ‘black’ man, that’s frequently the way women act when I get on an elevator. I didn’t see anything about her behavior that could be described as racist. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/34 "2013-01-07T04:25:39Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > It wasn’t an experiment, it was an actress demonstrating a certain behavior. I am begining to wonder if everybody here realizes that little fact.. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/35 "2013-01-07T04:25:39Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Did they repeat this scene, replacing the short black guy with a white guy, a Jewish guy, a fat woman, a Muslim guy, a tall skinny guy, a teenager with an assault weapon, another white woman, a child in a wheelchair, a clown, a cop, an effeminate man, a naked woman, conjoined twins? > > Did she exhibit the same “typical racist behaviour”? Heh. The one time I did move way to the other side of an elevator was in the NYU Medical Center when I was on with an Orthodox Jewish man as the only other passenger. He looked very uncomfortable and I wanted to make sure I came nowhere near touching him by accident. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/36 "2013-01-07T04:26:24Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > What the hell are you talking about? I think had something to do with the Indian food thread. He misspelled ‘cocina’ several times though. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/37 "2013-01-07T04:28:04Z")
I watched a few of RecklessTortuga’s videos. Yelling, “Boo!” is mild for him. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/38 "2013-01-07T04:49:00Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I am begining to wonder if everybody here realizes that little fact.. Well of course we do, his talking to the camera was a tiny giveaway. The point is they didn’t show black man getting into lift with white woman and her reacting badly without cause. They portrayed someone getting into a lift and behaving in an odd and slightly threatening manner (standing front and centre blocking exit and buttons) and someone reacting to that. It looked perfectly rational as presented. Presented differently it may well look like racism/sexism/paranoia. I suspect many women become a little on edge when in enclosed space with strange men, I am not sure that the response being referred to isn’t more about the genitals than the colour of them anyway. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/39 "2013-01-07T04:55:03Z")
> [@Thylacine](#): > > The point is they didn’t show black man getting into lift with white woman and her reacting badly without cause. They portrayed someone getting into a lift and behaving in an odd and slightly threatening manner (standing front and centre blocking exit and buttons) and someone reacting to that. It looked perfectly rational as presented. Presented differently it may well look like racism/sexism/paranoia. Oh no doubt on that part. That video MAY be making a point about real life stuff like that happens but in it itself the video doesnt prove a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/40 "2013-01-07T14:59:08Z")
Too bad that **RANGER NINJA SNIPER** got the ban hammer so soon. I think it would have been fun kicking him around for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Saraya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Saraya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saraya)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/41 "2013-01-07T15:06:15Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Oh look. An intelligent response from a newbie. :rolleyes: > What about Native Americans? Do they get a vote? ‘Native Americans’ A.k.a “injuns” weren’t the first, we know that now(some of us knew it a long time ago). Second, he was right - if the man doesn’t like it, he can move along. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299/42 "2013-01-07T15:35:53Z")
God, so merely being cautious and smart is now being racist? Look like it or not when it is just me and another man - whatever color he might be - on an elevator I am cautious and careful. I’m not afraid of rape\*, but most men can easily overpower me and take my purse if they really wanted. “Short” does not equal weak. And if you’ve never heard of someone waiting for the elevator doors to open and then snatching a purse and running, then I have a bridge to sell you. That guy was standing in the middle of the elevator instead of moving to the other side as most men do. Then he thinks it’s funny to startle her? Stupid video. \*But it is something that goes through our heads, even if only briefly, though I really doubt the odds of being raped in an elevator. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-this-type-of-behaviour-is-racist/646299.md?page=3)