# Why do we keep insisting that racists are a tiny, insiginificant minority? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 25, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512 "2008-10-25T15:23:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/141 "2008-10-30T03:32:37Z")
Personal anecdote: First, I don’t talk much about myself or my life personally because I value my privacy and my family’s privacy…and well, you just wouldn’t believe it. My voice here is real but restrained for personal reasons. On that note, I just recently oveheard family say, “I don’t know how racist anybody is here, but even though I hated voting for a Nigger, I had to vote for Obama.” This was all discussed rather matter of factly within a few yards of our Cousins, who have a black Father and White Mother. I think that is the ultimate definition of irony, and an endorsement for Obama all in the same breath, Brought to you from us, here, in the fifth dimension. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/142 "2008-10-30T03:36:20Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Brought to you from us, here, in the fifth dimension. Give my regards to Marilyn McCoo. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/143 "2008-10-30T04:10:17Z")
> [@](#): > > **DSeid** : Zoe I have to wonder about those numbers … 8’s together (although usually just 88) is usually just a code for hate groups (see the Obama plot thread for an explanation). Maybe someone was messing with the reporters? I thought about that even as the news anchor gave the figures. Since he didn’t give a source for his numbers, I tend to agree with you in retrospect that the data doesn’t sound terribly reliable. Purely anecdotal: Today I cast my vote for President. I didn’t vote for Obama because his father was black and from Africa – though that would be a thrilling turn in our history if he wins. I think he’s smart and his agenda humane. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/144 "2008-10-30T07:06:05Z")
Monstro, out of curiosity, how prevalent do you think racism is in America? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/145 "2008-10-30T11:13:01Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I didn’t vote for Obama because his father was black and from Africa – though that would be a thrilling turn in our history if he wins. I think he’s smart and his agenda humane. To early in the morning for me. Is this a joke? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/146 "2008-10-30T11:34:30Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > To early in the morning for me. Is this a joke? I’m guessing that **Zoe** ’s statement could be reworded as “I’m voting for Obama, but not because he is black.” I ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/147 "2008-10-30T13:47:07Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I’m guessing that **Zoe** ’s statement could be reworded as “I’m voting for Obama, but not because he is black.” I :smack: -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/148 "2008-10-30T13:54:57Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Actually studies have been done that show that racism is more common in places where ethnically heterogenous populations live in close proximity. I have heard more racism in New Jersey than anywhere else. But in most of Europe you rarely get “ethnically heterogeneous populations living in close proximity.” You get a Latvian single mother and her kid in flat 1a, a family “from here their whole life” in 1b, in 2a three students (two “local,” one “local born of Chinese parents”), in 2b two young doctors (one local, one from Latin America) and in the penthouse a family of which the wife is an “import” from another part of the country (and would have been considered totally exotic back when going to visit her parents took two days rather than the 6h it takes now). ---
**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:** [October 30, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/149 "2008-10-30T14:07:13Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > But in most of Europe you rarely get “ethnically heterogeneous populations living in close proximity.” You get a Latvian single mother and her kid in flat 1a, a family “from here their whole life” in 1b, in 2a three students (two “local,” one “local born of Chinese parents”), in 2b two young doctors (one local, one from Latin America) and in the penthouse a family of which the wife is an “import” from another part of the country (and would have been considered totally exotic back when going to visit her parents took two days rather than the 6h it takes now). Isn’t this example accurately described as an “ethnically heterogeneous population living in close proximity”? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/150 "2008-10-30T14:10:18Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I’m guessing that **Zoe** ’s statement could be reworded as “I’m voting for Obama, but not because he is black.” I Thats how I took it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/151 "2008-10-30T15:37:10Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > **Zoe** I have to wonder about those numbers … 8’s together (although usually just 88) is usually just a code for hate groups (see the Obama plot thread for an explanation). Maybe someone was messing with the reporters? > > But you did inspire me to look for some real numbers. Figures on hate crimes are an imperfect stand-in for the incidence of attitudes but they ae something that we can at least somewhat follow. "An example of the popularity of neo-Nazi beliefs is the racist teenage twins, Lamb and Lynx who sold 91,000 copies of “End of a Black World” its first week out and Billboard picked it as one of the top five releases. Their stage name, Prussian Blue, is the name of the blue residue left over by the use of Zyklon B, the poison the Nazis employed to kill millions of Jews and others in concentration camps during World War II. … b wiki "_Prussian blue is a very dark blue, colorfast, non-toxic pigment – one of the first synthetic pigments – which was discovered accidentally in Berlin in 1704. Its name comes from the fact that it was first extensively used to dye the dark blue uniforms of the Prussian army.[1]_\* The band was named after the color Prussian blue. In an interview with Vice Magazine, the twins stated, “Part of our heritage is Prussian German. Also our eyes are blue, and Prussian Blue is just a really pretty color.” They also mentioned that, “There is also the discussion of the lack of ‘Prussian Blue’ coloring (Zyklon B residue) in the so-called gas chambers in the concentration camps. We think it might make people question some of the inaccuracies of the ‘Holocaust’ myth.”[11] \* ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/152 "2008-10-30T16:04:36Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Isn’t this example accurately described as an “ethnically heterogeneous population living in close proximity”? Sorry, what I meant is that you don’t get stuff like “a gypsy area” and “a payo area” and “a black area,” which is an ethnically heterogeneous general population where racial/cultural subpopulations live in close proximity - which IME (IANASociologist) is one situation which does indeed breed racism. People tend to be more racist about “the Chinese” as a non-face entity than about " my neigbor Mr Li who owns the Chinese restaurant" and very few arguments defuse racism faster than “ok, so if all Chinese live 20 to a flat, how come only 5 Chinese ever go in and out of the Lis’ flat?” ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512/153 "2008-10-31T05:21:32Z")
> [@](#): > > **Zoe** : Today I cast my vote for President. I didn’t vote for Obama because his father was black and from Africa – though that would be a thrilling turn in our history if he wins. I think he’s smart and his agenda humane. > [@](#): > > **Tom** : I’m guessing that Zoe’s statement could be reworded as “I’m voting for Obama, but not because he is black.” It could be reworded accurately as “I’m voting for Obama, but not because he is a racial mixture of black and white.” But that seemed a little strained. Yes, I do think of Obama as black generally and he identifies as black. I refer to him most often as black. But I was rather stubborn about designating “race” as accurately as possible when I had to do this on forms listing my students at school. I refused to designate automatically a bi-racial student as black. That’s why I chose to describe my vote choice as I did. Sorry, **Frylock!** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-insisting-that-racists-are-a-tiny-insiginificant-minority/469512.md?page=7)