I was in a friend’s car, at night, in a “bad” part of town.
We pass a bunch of blacks standing at a corner and my friend comments that “omg, they must be doing drugs.”
We pass random black people walking down the street and my friend comments “omg, so many black people … this isn’t good.” He explicitly tells me not to look at them.
Is this behavior racist?
First statement, no. Stating that a bunch of people in a bad part of town must be doing drugs without stating the race involved doesn’t mean that your friend is racist, it means he is dumb.
Second statement, yes. Stating that a bunch of black people in one place is a bad thing is racist.
Get him to make some kind of sexist statement about women so you can go for the trifecta.
Given that we already know from the other statements that he’s racist, of course he means it racistly.
Forgot to mention: I later confronted my friend about what he said, and he just told me he was being “pragmatic” and that he was looking out for both of us.
:dubious:
Thoughts?
A racist defending his racism by saying it’s warranted is what happens roughly 100% of the time.
And just what were you and your friend doing in the “bad” part of town?
Given that his friend didn’t say “hey, those black guys are doing drugs,” it seemed to me that this comment may have been tied to the neighborhod, quality thereof, ergo stupid, rather than being race-oriented, therefore racist.
IceQube, is this particular neighborhood uniform in its racial makeup, or more of a melting pot?
People here sure will go to some lengths sometimes.
I’ve noticed that whenever the question, “Is this racist?” arises, the answer is usually, “Yes.”
I posted around here a month or so ago about the state of racism in younger people. I’m not sure how old you and your friend are, but I think that the ultimate state of racism that people are going to feel comfortable outwardly showing is fear. And that’s what your friend was doing. He was showing fear of black people.
I have friends and even my boyfriend will admit that they have an irrational fear of black people. It’s an innate thing, but it can be dealt with. As long as it doesn’t actually affect your actions, it’s not so bad. But if you let the fear become more than just an emotion, it’s bad news.
So yeah, racist.
Looking for drugs.
I work there, unfortunately, and I was getting a ride.
What makes that a “bad” part of town? When I lived in South Miami, many people told me I was in “a bad part of town - it’s all blacks!” (Gosh, really? I hadn’t noticed the second cough cough and disagreed with the first; it wasn’t a rich part of town but it wasn’t a bad one by my standards).
If the area is predominantly black, then groups of black people are the kind of group that will be seen most often. A negative reaction to them isn’t just racist, it indicates a serious lack of awareness.
I used “bad” with air quotes because I’m not sure what exactly constitutes a bad part either but the part I work in is commonly referred to as “bad.”
Not such a black and white question. I live in Los Angeles. We have poor neighborhoods that are relatively safe and other neighborhoods that are very dangerous. Racism works both ways, plenty of blacks are racist and if they are gang bangers do harass whites in the neighborhood. My neighborhood is mixed and nobody looks twice or notices if anyone is black or white. If you don’t know the neighborhood and it feels unsafe just use caution, it does not make you a racist.
Find out then, because bad can mean anything from high-crime to working class to inhabited by a specific ethnic group.
LMAO
LMAO
LMAO
Yes, both examples are obviously racist. Bunch of black people hanging around == doing drugs. It is racist to assume so, without any other evidence.
And “so many black people”? WTF? When there’s a lot of white people around, does he ever blurt out " there’s so many white people!"? I doubt it.
That being said, I react the same way as your friend when I see a lot of black people, unless they are friends or family, of course. I am aware, however, that my fear is wrong and unfounded.
So, you thought the statement was racist enough to challenge your friend about it and yet you need to come here and ask if it is. Strikes me you know the answer all along and are looking for an ego boost.
Nice threadshit dude.
I’m not sure if this counts for anything, but just going from the two statements above, I’d say your friends racism is based in fear rather than contempt.
I think people like this are more likely to change their world view if exposed to well reasoned thought or heck, maybe if he hung around black people more often.
Where as the other type of racist; well, they’d just rather stick their fingers in their ears when you try to talk sense to them.
I suggest you save your junior modding for a topic where you may be on firmer ground.
Threadshitting:
"Threadshitting is defined as coming into a thread and dismissing the topic itself, for instance by telling people they are morons to be discussing the topic. Thus it’s actually a very specific behavior.
OP: I like kitties.
Threadshitting: Y’all need to get a life. Enough of these freaking kitty threads. People who like kitties are assholes.
Not threadshitting: I hate kitties and prefer ferrets.
As long as you’re responding to the topic, and do so civilly, it’s not threadshitting.
Note the “civilly” – we can zap people for “being a jerk” as necessary. If someone wrote an OP about their mother dying and another person came in and started ranting about the Mom-centrism of U.S. society, or found an old post where the OP had talked about an argument with their mother, or something, I would probably respond as a mod – not for threadshitting, but for being a jerk. "