# On the whole, how racist is the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2015, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921 "2015-11-29T12:26:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/21 "2015-11-29T21:58:54Z")
Just wanted to put [this](http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a39987/america-race-powderkeg/) out there, 'cuz it seems timely and relevant: > [@](#): > > Half of white Americans — including 60 percent of the white working class — told researchers that discrimination against whites has become as big a problem today as discrimination against blacks and other minorities. Meanwhile, 29 percent of Latinos and 25 percent of black Americans agreed. Now, for white Americans to respond that way – sure, I get it. But the 29% and 25% part? _Wow._ ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/22 "2015-11-29T22:04:15Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > I went “very very”. In my experience even the people who claim support for minorities and equal chances for all tend to jump in their car at 4pm and head for some lily-white suburb 20 miles outside of the city; especially after the first kid is born. It may not be the same as white sheets and hoods but I don’t find it much more acceptable. They are heading for a safe neighborhood, simple as that. If high crime and dangerous conditions happen to exist in a minority neighborhood you cannot say it is racist to want your kids in a safe neighborhood. Well to do minorities do the exact same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/23 "2015-11-29T22:56:14Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Watching people in poverty as you drive past them gives you warm fuzzies? Double wow. Um, what? :dubious: Who said anything even remotely like that? ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/24 "2015-11-29T23:29:03Z")
Are we voting based on an objective standard, or America compared to other countries? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/25 "2015-11-30T01:23:14Z")
One thing I voted on was my guess at the percentage of Americans who would object to their daughter marrying one of “them”. This, perhaps unfairly, is what I consider the last redoubt of racism. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/26 "2015-11-30T01:24:46Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Just wanted to put [this](http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a39987/america-race-powderkeg/) out there, 'cuz it seems timely and relevant: > > Now, for white Americans to respond that way – sure, I get it. > \*\* > But the 29% and 25% part?\*\* _Wow._ It makes sense, though. In the same way that white people may witness racism by white people, African-Americans and Hispanics may witness anti-white racism by their peers. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/27 "2015-11-30T01:33:14Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > The other side of the coin : other nations that might sneer at the USA being racist…are themselves monocultures that are terribly racist to outsiders. Supposedly, Japan and China are especially like this. But even Norway and Sweden and the rest, full of people willing to jump each other over political correctness, historically didn’t import massive numbers of black slaves or border a country that exports millions of hispanics. > > So, somewhere like Norway or Sweden would probably be quite accepting were you some race other than white, yet the actual populations are lily white. no shit. not that we don’t have plenty of work to do to get our house in order, we’re at least more or less beyond doing [this](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IRHc4-3veeA/UKIk1AB-yJI/AAAAAAAAQjc/qoyR2WTn5rI/s1600/Japanese-only-71232969427.jpeg) [shit.](http://www.debito.org/PubAuditionSign.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/28 "2015-11-30T01:39:17Z")
It’s true, we don’t put up signs any more. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2015, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/29 "2015-11-30T03:58:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Is that argument extraordinarily full of straw; very, very full of straw, or pretty damned full of straw? How about none of the above? When I get a thoughtful response, you could be surprised. > [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > They are heading for a safe neighborhood, simple as that. If high crime and dangerous conditions happen to exist in a minority neighborhood you cannot say it is racist to want your kids in a safe neighborhood. Well to do minorities do the exact same thing. Last line first. True; but the difference is that whites are the first to flee and when they do they tend to sever all ties with the community they left; I will stand by my belief that their flight was/is purely racially motivated. They have found themselves less of a majority than in the nation at large and they just don’t like the feeling. Minorities, when they are lucky enough to be able to afford the flight, realize they are still going to be in the minority. And they still tend to keep ties and assist as best they are able those left behind. It may be as simple as regular visits with family and friends but it still exists; showing that one can improve themselves and still care in a very real and physical sense. And at least around here, many are moving back and trying to create businesses and change those “dangerous conditions” you mentioned earlier. So why can’t I expect whites to do the same other than our inherent racism stopping us from trying? As for the first two lines, my knee-jerk response is stay and make the neighborhood safe again. Among my minority neighbors, that has been the common response. Among the few white neighbors? You’re kidding me, right? They gave up trying after the block was busted and all they want is out. Fighting blight doesn’t always work and big parts of our inner-cities have become literal wastelands of empty lots and desolation. But I would rather lose the fight than drive my ass through it and talk about why someone else lost it for me. But that could just be me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/30 "2015-11-30T04:11:35Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > How about none of the above? Then it should be simple for you to quote the exact part of the post where the poster in question said that. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/31 "2015-11-30T04:24:36Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > How about none of the above? When I get a thoughtful response, you could be surprised. Are you then claiming that what you wrote is an accurate summation of what I said? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/32 "2015-11-30T05:14:46Z")
In the simple area of racism by whites against blacks: More racist than most whites realize. Less racist than many blacks perceive. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/33 "2015-11-30T05:44:01Z")
I just witnessed a vivid example of racism. I work for an estate sale company as a photographer. I shot a sale with some really exceptional quality stuff for a couple that had moved into a loft in downtown Kansas City. They had combined their households, and her stuff was quality antiques - significant oriental rugs, top quality furniture, etc. His was mid-century stuff - the sort of couches that get sold for $2000 here, reupholstered and sold for $12,000 in New York. Great stuff, and if it had filled a house in a rich neighborhood, would have done amazingly well. But because this was downtown, in an area filled with industrial buildings and art galleries, the old white people who go to estate sales stayed away in droves. One idiot called from out of town to ask if he should bring his gun! Because, this was a half a mile from a neighborhood with, you know…_Black people_. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/34 "2015-11-30T06:20:51Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I just witnessed a vivid example of racism. > > I work for an estate sale company as a photographer. I shot a sale with some really exceptional quality stuff for a couple that had moved into a loft in downtown Kansas City. They had combined their households, and her stuff was quality antiques - significant oriental rugs, top quality furniture, etc. His was mid-century stuff - the sort of couches that get sold for $2000 here, reupholstered and sold for $12,000 in New York. > > Great stuff, and if it had filled a house in a rich neighborhood, would have done amazingly well. > > But because this was downtown, in an area filled with industrial buildings and art galleries, the old white people who go to estate sales stayed away in droves. One idiot called from out of town to ask if he should bring his gun! Because, this was a half a mile from a neighborhood with, you know…_Black people_. I also live in Kansas City and I know what your talking about. Thats why all those loft and new apartment buildings downtown are basically gated communities and its all childless households. Funny story. My inlaws have a big fancy home in Prairie Village and when we did a garage sale, we would get twice the price for the exact same stuff at their house than in our smaller home in Lenexa. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2015, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/35 "2015-11-30T09:49:57Z")
I voted “very, very” although by my lights “pretty damn” is actually worse than “very, very” The US is actually worse than Apartheid South Africa by some measures (like incarceration rates) but better in most others . Since I’d class the old South Africa as “extraordinarily racist”, I went with one worse ranking than that. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/36 "2015-11-30T12:34:56Z")
I understand to an extent why race relations in this country is mainly examining relations between blacks and whites because historically that is where most of the conflict was (also excluding Native Americans), but I think its boring how in conversations on race in this country it inevitably becomes about only those two groups of people as if they are the only ones. I think it would be more interesting to learn about interactions that involve Asians, Indians, Hispanics- who I know aren’t a race, etc. and attitudes within all the various groups and also their take on race relations. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/37 "2015-11-30T13:34:26Z")
Maybe it’s just where and how I live, but I went with moderately racist. I’m white and 62, so I lived through (or close to) the era of Jim Crow and segregation, of Selma and boycotts and when the cities burned each summer. I live in North Alabama, in a cul-de-sac with black, white, and asian neighbors, referee soccer in the region for all of the above, along with indian (subcontinent) and even arab kids, and while the area is conservative, it’s nothing like the 1950’s or 60’s. At work the row of cubes I’m in are occupied by blacks (except for me and a hispanic young lady) with no friction. My branch chief is black and an ex-COL in the USAF. These would not have been conceivable at the time I was born in. We’re not perfect; I know that and I see where there is still the ‘silent’ racism, still see people who haven’t adapted, see the separate tables for lunch at the cafeteria…but over my 6 decades, it has been getting better. As least as far as I can see. Still have work to do. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/38 "2015-11-30T13:43:06Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > They are heading for a safe neighborhood, simple as that. If high crime and dangerous conditions happen to exist in a minority neighborhood you cannot say it is racist to want your kids in a safe neighborhood. Well to do minorities do the exact same thing. _Mr. Robinson: [singing] "It’s… one… hell of a day in the neighborhood A hell of a day for a neighbor Would you be mine? Could you be mine? I hope I get to move in your neighborhood someday The problem is: When I move in… y’all move away!_ > [@MrDibble](#): > > I voted “very, very” although by my lights “pretty damn” is actually worse than “very, very” > > The US is actually worse than Apartheid South Africa by some measures (like incarceration rates) but better in most others . Since I’d class the old South Africa as “extraordinarily racist”, I went with one worse ranking than that. Are you saying this based on any experience from living here, or just from what you see in the movies and TV? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/39 "2015-11-30T14:28:26Z")
The front runner for the GOP is running an openly racist campaign and has endorsed “roughing up” a Black Lives Matter protester at one of his events; and on this very board we have people siding with the police when they are filmed brutalizing black citizens. I voted pretty damned racist. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921/40 "2015-11-30T14:55:37Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > The US is actually worse than Apartheid South Africa by some measures (like incarceration rates) but better in most others . Since I’d class the old South Africa as “extraordinarily racist”, I went with one worse ranking than that. Unless I’m misunderstanding something, “very, very” is one better than “extraordinarily”, not worse. Your post reads as if the US is worse than SA under apartheid, even though you say it’s better by most measures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-whole-how-racist-is-the-us/738921.md?page=3)