# Hello. I am a racist. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 18, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590 "2010-08-18T00:25:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 35
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/681 "2010-08-21T13:48:06Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > > [@Guinastasia](#): > > > > It just goes to show you that outside of their own little comfy world of like-minded drones, the racists can’t handle some wee taunts. Poor, poor baby racist.. > > Well, in honesty, most people don’t like being taunted. Sez _you_, Mister Crazy Pants! ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/682 "2010-08-21T14:14:41Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Everyone, listen to the man please and have an intelligent discourse on this subject. Nah, when you step in dog shit you wipe it off rather than talk to is. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/683 "2010-08-21T14:20:44Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > > [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > > > I know which one I would put my money on in a fight, too 🙂 > > I’m still trying to get my head around the deal with living in the boonies, running a farm, ready to kill intruders, and yet he has 100 percent disability and a paralysis and a brain injury and a cancer and some other shit. > > So I figure on top of all the rest, he’s a liar too. Unfortunately, he never answered any questions about his myriad medical issues. If he were telling the truth, that could have been interesting, maybe frontal lobe injury-\>disinhibition-\>racist. However, a herd of medical problems plus secret war hero suggests the diagnosis of ‘man telling lies on the internet’, which is much more common. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/684 "2010-08-23T04:26:40Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > > [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > > > I know which one I would put my money on in a fight, too 🙂 > > I’m still trying to get my head around the deal with living in the boonies, running a farm, ready to kill intruders, and yet he has 100 percent disability and a paralysis and a brain injury and a cancer and some other shit. > > So I figure on top of all the rest, he’s a liar too. True story: my dad knows a guy who IS a disabled veteran–the guy had something happen, he was a sniper in Vietnam and now is legally blind, tags everything in his house with Braille, etc. So my dad’s delivering groceries from his general store to the guy’s house (he does this as a service to disabled and elderly folks), and the guy says “hey, I figured out how I’m gonna deal with that asshole I hear trying to break into my shed every so often.” and pulls out a Taurus Judge shotgun revolver. “I figure I can just point towards the noise and hammer out five rounds with this baby, that’ll teach him.” My dad’s response was along the lines of: “You’ll have to have someone else pick up your groceries from now on.” > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > [@Zeriel](#): > > > > I don’t care about skin color, but at the same time I don’t relish the idea of showing up on the doorstep of some asshole like that to inform him that his kids will NOT bully mine or there will be Troubles. > > I dunno, I don’t see it as a bad thing to have more people with both the opportunity and the chutzpah to tell racists off. Yeah, but at the same time, I’m the one potentially getting shot off some asshole’s porch. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/685 "2010-08-23T04:39:35Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > > [@Shagnasty](#): > > > > Everyone, listen to the man please and have an intelligent discourse on this subject. > > Nah, when you step in dog shit you wipe it off rather than talk to is. Maybe if he had tried to order milk in a bar… ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/686 "2010-08-25T19:59:53Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > > [@SteveG1](#): > > > > I’m still trying to get my head around the deal with living in the boonies, running a farm, ready to kill intruders, and yet he has 100 percent disability and a paralysis and a brain injury and a cancer and some other shit. > > > > So I figure on top of all the rest, he’s a liar too. > > True story: my dad knows a guy who IS a disabled veteran–the guy had something happen, he was a sniper in Vietnam and now is legally blind, tags everything in his house with Braille, etc. > > So my dad’s delivering groceries from his general store to the guy’s house (he does this as a service to disabled and elderly folks), and the guy says “hey, I figured out how I’m gonna deal with that asshole I hear trying to break into my shed every so often.” and pulls out a Taurus Judge shotgun revolver. “I figure I can just point towards the noise and hammer out five rounds with this baby, that’ll teach him.” > > My dad’s response was along the lines of: “You’ll have to have someone else pick up your groceries from now on.” > > > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > > I dunno, I don’t see it as a bad thing to have more people with both the opportunity and the chutzpah to tell racists off. > > Yeah, but at the same time, I’m the one potentially getting shot off some asshole’s porch. Here’s a little secret, just between us here. Almost all of the big bad kick your ass types are really candy ass bitches, who will run (literally run) if they are ever called on their bullshit by anyone who has even the remotest chance of giving them any minimal sort of opposition. They are only tough evil motherufkcers when they know they are safe. Go on his porch and jump dead in his shit, and he’d probably piss himself. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/687 "2010-08-25T20:32:08Z")
> [@Ariovistus](#): > > But I would like to know why there are so many jewish lawyers, so many jewish people in the government, so many jewish people in the porn industry, the diamond industry, etc.. I’ve always wondered why they have been drawn to these professions, but I do not have an answer. You don’t see many jewish pipefitters, plumbers, carpenters (no Jesus jokes), woodworkers, farmers, horse trainers, farriers, blacksmiths, etc… I’m sure they exist somewhere, but I’ve never met any. I’m officially neutral towards them. As a non-Jew whose closest friends are mostly Jews: it’s because, culturally speaking, Jews place enormous value on education and are very committed to making sure their children are very well educated. Therefore they are more likely than not to **be** very well educated and very well educated people are more likely to be successful in business and the professions and be financially successful. Which assists in making sure the next generation is well educated…etc. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/688 "2010-08-25T20:43:31Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Almost all of the big bad kick your ass types are really candy ass bitches… “Almost all” seems like a small comfort when the one in question has a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/689 "2010-08-25T21:50:02Z")
> [@Ariovistus](#): > > > [@spark240](#): > > > > I don’t believe you. > > > > For example, in your preferred lair, you said, > > Yes, I claim that. Without shame, as well. > > I had almost zero contact with blacks until I joined the US Army. I got a crash course in how they behaved, but I still gave them the benefit of the doubt. That is, until I realized anomalies that grew into trends, which grew into typical behavior no matter where I was in the world. > > Now, you were saying? Are you of the sincere, well-considered belief that your lack of personal contact with black people prior to adulthood left you in a completely neutral condition from which your racism then developed? Are you sincere in believing that your early life in the South, livng exclusively among white people, many of whom were openly racist, had no impact whatsoever on your point of view and expectation when you finally encountered blacks directly? And if your answers to the above are both “yes”, do you sincerely believe you are unusually strong of mind where others are weak, or is it your belief that no one is influenced in their beliefs and expectations by anything except direct personal experience? Are you familiar with the placebo effect? I use that term as a readily-understood shorthand for a very important truth: expectations shape perceptions. Do you accept that the placebo effect itself is real? And if you do, can you open your mind to the idea that it operates in other ways? And if so, have you considered, rationally, fairly, and as objectively as you are capable, that your early life, isolated from contact with blacks, and being exposed to other people’s negative beliefs about them, predisposed you to see all the negative things you see in them? Because (I don’t have time to read the whole thread, I apologize) you haven’t asserted that the negative personality traits you associate with black people are exclusive to black people, I’m sure. I assume that you mean to say that these traits, in your perception, arise far more often and more consistently among black people than among others. And my point is that you see that because you expect to see it - you see all the same things in other people, too, but those other people don’t fall into a particular group you can identify and put under an umbrella with a label. By the same token, I’m sure that you have encountered many black people who do not demonstrate the characteristics you list, but you did not notice that. Anyone who did not support your expectation either didn’t register at all, or was considered an anomaly. And yes, if you’ve met and worked with and fought alongside black people, you have absolutely met black people who did not share those characteristics, that’s simply a fact. You have stated that you think separation would be good. Have you open-mindedly considered that, to the extent that there are genuine differences in the way people who belong to different racial, religious or other groups behave like each other to a noticeable degree, that it is separation itself that nurtures such “like-my-group-different-from-you” characteristics and behaviors, and that increasing separation will only exacerbate such differences, as opposed to allowing individuals to develop individually? Stepping away from your own “I-like-my-group-and-I-don’t-wanna-change” mentality for a moment, what is the greater good: that all human beings be supported in being the best human beings possible, or that all human beings be part of a group? Lastly, for now, I ask you to answer this as carefully and thoughtfully as you can, as a person, not as someone here to sell / justify / explain / represent racism: what do you value most highly? I don’t mean your family, your car, your stuff… I mean in the big picture. I will give you my own answer to the question as an example of what I am looking for. I value genuineness I think above everything; I mean that to encompass all varieties of honesty, truthfulness, integrity - from the most intimate personal relationship kinds of honesty, to big national political honesty, to intellectual honesty, to the fundamental integrity of simply living your beliefs. And of course, being honest with oneself, which is often the biggest challenge of all… the lies we tell ourselves to get through are often the most damaging and the hardest to overcome. But it is my fiercely held belief that vast amounts of damage and ugliness and waste of all kinds could be wiped out if we embraced the truth. So that’s what I value most above all other things. My second most cherished value is what is most easily called love. By that I mean all the things you think I mean and more: connection, peace, generosity, forgiveness, and goodness of all kinds. If you value love and being a (GENUINELY…there it is again, that’s why it’s Number 1) loving person as you move through the world, only good can come of it. And love is what I’m here for, it’s what I personally do best; when I looked for an answer to the question: what is my value in the world? the answer I got back, gratifyingly, was that I bring the love, and that I set the example of it. (I got that answer back from friends, by the way, it was a real-world inquiry that got a real-world response. My friends also tell me that I set a pretty great example of a few things, chief among them, not surprisingly, is how to live genuinely. So even if I never write the great American novel or save the world from the evils of court-appointed receivers, I still get to feel pretty damn good about the space I take up on the planet.) So now you. What do you value above all else? And by the way, the value I place on honesty is why I appreciate your willingness to communicate honestly about your racism, whatever else. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/690 "2010-08-25T22:07:11Z")
You’re wasting your time, Stoid. He’s left the building. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/691 "2010-08-25T22:47:32Z")
I’m a racist too. I’ll do all of them as long as they have the opposite equipment. Which I guess makes me a homophobic bigot too. What do I win? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/692 "2010-08-25T23:43:28Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > I’m a racist too. I’ll do all of them as long as they have the opposite equipment. Which I guess makes me a homophobic bigot too. > > What do I win? A dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/693 "2010-08-26T00:13:45Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > You’re wasting your time, Stoid. He’s left the building. Oh - well, as I said I didn’t read the whole thread. I did pop over to Chimpout for a moment. How extraordinarily sad. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/694 "2010-08-26T00:31:13Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > > [@RedFury](#): > > > > I’m a racist too. I’ll do all of them as long as they have the opposite equipment. Which I guess makes me a homophobic bigot too. > > > > What do I win? > > A dictionary. What color? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/695 "2010-08-26T02:21:48Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > > [@SteveG1](#): > > > > Almost all of the big bad kick your ass types are really candy ass bitches… > > “Almost all” seems like a small comfort when the one in question has a gun. But take that gun away, or have one of your own, and it all changes again. That’s been my experience. Gun or no gun, still fucking cowards. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/696 "2010-08-26T17:11:24Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > You’re wasting your time, Stoid. He’s left the building. Good riddance to a lying prick. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/697 "2010-08-27T01:39:36Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > > [@acsenray](#): > > > > You’re wasting your time, Stoid. He’s left the building. > > Good riddance to a lying prick. I think he’s off pretending to be a communist now. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/698 "2010-08-27T02:00:08Z")
Does he dress in women’s clothes? 'Cause then he’d be a drag racist. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/699 "2010-08-27T02:04:54Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Does he dress in women’s clothes? > > 'Cause then he’d be a drag racist. _applause_ ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590/700 "2010-08-27T02:40:11Z")
> [@umop\_ap\_sdn](#): > > > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > > Does he dress in women’s clothes? > > > > 'Cause then he’d be a drag racist. > > _applause_ It’s people like you who are destroying the republic, damn you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590.md?page=34) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-i-am-a-racist/550590.md?page=36)