I don’t know if this belongs in great debates or not, so let the moderators move it if necessary. One of the guys I work with (let’s call him Jim) is a southerner. He talks like a bigot but doesn’t act like one. He’ll tell you in one breath that blacks are “nothing but a bunch of lazy n****s." He’s said more than once that he’d be just as happy if “the whole tribe went back to Africa.” Yet he never talks bad to any of the black employees. In fact he jokes with them, eats lunch with them, gives them lunch money if they’re short, goes out after work to drink and shoot pool. Is Jim a bigot?
What’s the dilemma here? By his words, you know his feelings. Well, you at least know the feelings he’s expressed to you about people different from him.
Jim’s a Bigot. To be more specific, Jim’s a Racist.
BTW: When he makes those racist comments to you, he is, in fact, acting like a bigot.
Well, that’s a good question. I’d certainly say that Jim is a hypocrite if he disrespects folks behind their backs while lying to them to their faces, and I imagine that the black folks in question probably do sense his disdain for them, no matter how much he smiles and jokes with them. Based on the comments you say he makes about black folks about how the “whole tribe needs to go back to Africa” and the whole “lazy N” characterization :rolleyes:, I’d have to say yes, he’s a bigot and a racist and with all of the hate and fear that must be feeding his crazy views about black folks a pathetic example of a human being.
As far as how to define a bigot, well, bigots aren’t really capable of critical thinking now are they? Rather it seems they let fear and hate do their thinking for them. If all they can do is reduce one group of diverse folks down to a narrow set of stereotypes and/or primarily negative classifications, rather than deal with folks on an individual basis, then that really is a problem. Of course it gets worse when bigots act on their illogical assumptions to hold others back. I do have to wonder why Jim goes out of his way to loan black folks money and stuff? Is this a sneaky way that he can be patronising and condescending to black folks and have them think he’s an okay guy, or is this a way to assuage some guilt he may feel about his hate/fear of black folks, or is it something else altogether? Hmmm.
Yes, and he’s the worst kind of bigot/racist/ass – the kind who sees on a daily basis the fact that not all of (insert hated group here) are that bad, but dismisses them as “the good ones” and continues to hate the rest of their group with glee.
benlormat, have you ever pointed this dichotomy out to him? If you have, what did he say?