How to tell if you're prejudiced against Blanks

The BBQ Pit
1

If you say:

“I’ve noticed that all you Blanks are blipity-blah. Why is that? I’m not trying to criticize, I’m just wondering.”

OR

“I’m sure not all Blanks are blipity-blah, but all the ones I’ve met just happen to be. I would never dream of generalizing about all Blanks.”

OR

“Of course I’m generalizing, but only because I want to get to the heart of matter, which is why all Blanks are so blipity-blah. Because we all know they are.”

OR

"No, of course I didn’t really mean all Blanks! Just the ones who are [some statement that applies to virtually all Blanks]. They’re the ones who are really blipity-blah!

OR

“All you Blanks are so oversensitive! It’s not like I’ve insulted you. I was just making an observation. You know, about how blipity-blah you are.”

then YOU ARE PREJUDICED AGAINST BLANKS! Quit kidding yourself, you damn Blank-hating bastard!

(Where Blanks is any group, and blipity-blah is some heinous thing.)
Inspired by various posts by idiots who didn’t understand why they were offending everyone.

2

Let Blank = “People prejudiced against people prejudiced against Blank”

3

Huh? I’m a person prejudiced against people prejudiced against Blanks. So yes, I don’t like people prejudiced against people prejudiced against people prejudiced against blanks, because those people are prejudiced against me. What’s your point?

4

Point-blank: You’re blankin’ pointless. Go blipity-blah yourself! :wink:

5

What’s yours?

6

Maybe you (Liberal) were trying to say “Let Blank = people prejudiced against Blanks.” That would be the classic “calling the person complaining about generalizations a hypocrite by saying he’s generalizing.” Except, I wasn’t complaining about generalizations. I was complaining about people who act like they’re not being prejudiced when they make offensive generalizations, and act surprised when everyone gets offended. I was complaining about people who insult a whole group of people and then hide behind the claim that they’re “just making an observation.”

I’m not guilty of the behavior I’m complaining about. I’m calling these people bastards. I’m not pretending I’m not. I didn’t say anything remotely resembling “I’m not trying to criticize”, or "I would never dream of generalizing about . . . ", or “It’s not like I’ve insulted you.” I am insulting them! I think people who make prejudiced statements and try to pass it off like they’re just making an observation are assholes!

So I wasn’t being a hypocrite, if that’s what you were trying to imply. If not, sorry, I really didn’t get what point you were making. Maybe you were just trying to make things confusing? :confused:

7

Actually, unlike you, I knew what I was saying. A man who is bigotted against bigots may not excuse himself from bigotry.

8

Ah, my fine dumpling, the secret to comprehending Lib’s posts is to regard them as Zen koans. Often quite a bit longer than your typical koan, but then, a true libertarian isn’t trammelled by the repressive constraints of others. :wink:

9

In summary, (since I just saw your post asking what my point was) my point was:

I’m sick of people posting blatant generalizations about a group of people and then acting like they haven’t insulted anyone.

E.g. “Every vegetarian I’ve ever met is a judgemental holier-than-though prick . . . ooh, why are all the vegetarians suddenly offended?” Or “Why do liberals react with hostility to anyone with views different than their own . . . ooh, why are all the liberals suddenly offended?” Just to name two examples that personally ticked me off as a liberal vegetarian.

The key element here is that the person is trying to get a free shot at particular group, basically insulting them but pretending to just be asking a question or making an observation. I think this is obnoxious.

I did the whole “fill in the blank” thing in the OP for two reasons: (1) I thought it was funny, and (2) I didn’t want to just start another thread about liberalism, or vegetarianism, or whatever. There are lots of other examples of this that I’ve seen on these boards and elsewhere (both on the Internet and in real life), those examples I gave above were just a couple that stuck in my head because they related to me personally.

Anyway, sorry if that totally obscured my point. But I stand by the statement that I wasn’t being hypocritical.

10

Yeah, OK, so you were calling me a hypocrite like I thought. (Or maybe you’re just calling me a bigot?)

But, technically that’s not what you said, because:

I was complaining about people prejudiced against Blanks.

You were claiming I was prejudiced against people prejudiced against Blanks.

So, it would have made sense to say:
Let Blank = “people prejudiced against Blank”
That way, by complaining about people prejudiced against Blanks, I’d be complaining about myself. Thus demonstrating that I’m as bad as the ones I’m complaining about.

But you said:

That took it a step farther, so technically if I were complaining about Blank in that case I’d be complaining about people prejudiced against myself.

Anyway, my point wasn’t “People are prejudiced and I’m not”, it was “Obnoxious people make prejudiced statements and pretend they’re not being prejudiced.” I never made any claim about whether I was generalizing about prejudiced people or not. But I can’t very well call someone a bastard in the OP and then be accused of pretending not to insult them, which is what it would take to actually make me a hypocrite. (Of course, you never used the word “hypocrite”, but I can’t escape the feeling that that’s what you were trying to imply.)

But anyway, being bigotted against biggots isn’t the worst thing someone could accuse me of. Although according to my dictionary, bigots are people who are prejudiced against those who aren’t members of their group – i.e. people of a different race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, etc. So I suppose I could be a bigot if my “group” is non-bigots, but that seems a bit of a stretch, and anyway, if I am a bigot, then suddenly I’m no longer being prejudiced against people who are different then me. Rather, I’d be prejudiced against people who are in the same group as me, in which case it would no longer qualify as bigotry. (But then, of course, I wouldn’t be in the group anymore, so . . . ) But anyway, perhaps that’s not the best definition of “bigot.”

11

Suddenly, this thread is making me very tired . . . I think I’ll go take a nap.

Actually, if Pittings were replaced with Nap Time, we’d probably have a happier Message Board.

12

Yeah, but I don’t understand Zen koans, either. But at least those end sooner. :wink:

Not that I can really be the one to complain about overly lengthy and incomprehensible posts in this thread. :smiley:

13

Men aren’t spiders. When men weave webs of moral judgment, it is a suicidal thing.

14

Some damn Blanks moved into my neighborhood, and now I’m concerned about property values dropping. I hate those damn Blanks, with those blank expressions on their faces.

15

Advice worth taking! I guarantee that you’ve Made the Day for several Pit mods! :slight_smile:

Seriously, were you trying to say in your OP that reasoning from a stereotype is nearly always a bad move? That’s what I got out of it.

16

I’ve noticed that most women are soft and curvy and smell nice. :eek: I’m prejudiced against women!

Well, no, actually, I absolutely love women in all their soft curviness and nice smellingness.

Sometimes and observation is just an observation.

And sometimes, asking for information is a good thing.

17

Ireallylikeblanks.Lookwhatlifewouldbelikewithoutthem.People,pleasethinkoftheblanks!

18

While I was busy being a smartass, Khadji expressed my views rather well. Educate, don’t chastise.

19

Spiders weave webs of moral judgement?

20

Sometimes stereotypes are justified and correct if they are narrowly focused enough. I have noticed that most street people don’t have much money and wioll resort to all kinds of creative ways to get it.