I am a racist (and so are you).

[Kai]

Yes, it's true. Though I'm cringing in admittance, I have to come out of the closet about this. It's just far too damaging to keep it in.

All people are racists, which is to say, all people discriminate based on surface differences of facial structure and pigmentation. The founder of sociobiology EO Wilson claimed it's a product of kin selection, a universal issue with a genetic root. People who are superficially different than us and our kin are more likely to be considered untrustworthy, dangerous, or simply unfriendly. People who are superficially similar to us and our kin are more likely to be considered trustworthy, benign, and friendly. This root has nothing to do with culture, although the culture factor certainly comes from and stacks upon this. Strangers are the unknown, the different and the possibly dangerous, and visual cues are very important in this determination. I may get hounded for months for posting this, but I know it's true. Some situations require split second decisions about threat or friendly, for which automatic reactions have been highly selected over evolutionary time. Kin selection based racism was initially part of that.

What I am NOT saying here is that we are all Lester Maddox. I don't think anyone here actively discriminates on the basis of race (and if you do, GTFO seriously), nor would I recommend doing so just because there is this biological basis (and if you do, also GTFO). What I am saying is we all have the capacity for superficial discrimination. This is of course not limited to race; culture adds layers of superficial differences to discriminate against. Very few people are aware of this unconscious act. I know I was shocked when I saw it in myself, when I initially shied back from people of different pigmentations or dress or facial features just because they looked different, even in completely nonthreatening situations.

This is something that requires awareness. When these ubiquitous prejudices remain just an evolutionary vestige, when they are made aware of in mind and checked they are unable to enter outward actions. It's when they are ignored, when people pretend they don't exist that they become dangerous, that we submit ourselves to monkey impulses of kin selection.

I'm a racist. But I'm recovering.

[Doktor Howl]

All people are racists, which is to say, all people discriminate based on surface differences of facial structure and pigmentation.

I reject this entirely, and I shit on anyone who tells me how I fucking think.

[Kai]

I knew I was going to take shit for this. Planned on it.

I obviously have no response for that.

[Doktor Howl]

I knew I was going to take shit for this. Planned on it.

I obviously have no response for that.

Not mad at you, Kai.  I'm just rejecting the RWN-driven agenda that everyone seems to be buying into that "everyone is racist". 

Because, "everyone" isn't "anything", and the above notion is the biggest pile of projection-driven crap the world has ever seen.

[Kai]

I knew I was going to take shit for this. Planned on it.

I obviously have no response for that.

Not mad at you, Kai.  I'm just rejecting the RWN-driven agenda that everyone seems to be buying into that "everyone is racist". 

Because, "everyone" isn't "anything", and the above notion is the biggest pile of projection-driven crap the world has ever seen.

Was I not explicit enough about meaning kin selection based superficial discrimination?

[Doktor Howl]

I knew I was going to take shit for this. Planned on it.

I obviously have no response for that.

Not mad at you, Kai.  I'm just rejecting the RWN-driven agenda that everyone seems to be buying into that "everyone is racist". 

Because, "everyone" isn't "anything", and the above notion is the biggest pile of projection-driven crap the world has ever seen.

Was I not explicit enough about meaning kin selection based superficial discrimination?

Well, let's define "racism" then.

I'd define it as "making decisions based on race".

[Kai]

I knew I was going to take shit for this. Planned on it.

I obviously have no response for that.

Not mad at you, Kai.  I'm just rejecting the RWN-driven agenda that everyone seems to be buying into that "everyone is racist". 

Because, "everyone" isn't "anything", and the above notion is the biggest pile of projection-driven crap the world has ever seen.

Was I not explicit enough about meaning kin selection based superficial discrimination?

Well, let's define "racism" then.

I'd define it as "making decisions based on race".

And I'd argue there are unconscious decisions based on race that I may make if I'm not conscious of that capacity.

[Doktor Howl]

I knew I was going to take shit for this. Planned on it.

I obviously have no response for that.

Not mad at you, Kai.  I'm just rejecting the RWN-driven agenda that everyone seems to be buying into that "everyone is racist". 

Because, "everyone" isn't "anything", and the above notion is the biggest pile of projection-driven crap the world has ever seen.

Was I not explicit enough about meaning kin selection based superficial discrimination?

Well, let's define "racism" then.

I'd define it as "making decisions based on race".

And I'd argue there are unconscious decisions based on race that I may make if I'm not conscious of that capacity.

I'd argue against that.  It's just a matter of sifting out bad data before making a decision.

[BabylonHoruv]

I'd say the solution is mandating interracial breeding.  Once everyone is the same shade of light brown, with the same amalgamation of racial identification markers we can't make this sort of judgement anymore.  Unfortunately I'm vasectomized, so I can't do my part, but the rest of you, get to it!

[Brotep]

I think awareness is as good a solution as we're going to get.

On a related note, what disturbs me is that while racism is largely frowned upon, classism is widely accepted.

[Thurnez Isa]

For me at least racism is something that the people who are part of the tribe can afford to do
I can't take a side in the Kai, Dok debate. I'm sort of the middle. Can see both view points

[Eater of Clowns]

So if this is the same experiment I'm thinking of they showed the participants pictures of people of various races that flashed quickly next to a word with either positive or negative connotations.  I forget specifically what the participant had to do, but something like identify the word as generally considered positive or negative.  They then found that people are quicker to categorize a positive word when shown a picture of a member of their own race and likewise a negative word when shown a differing race?  I'm not really describing it well enough to hold up to scrutiny, but the general idea is that there was a significant effect and pretty much across the board to one degree or another.  What it really suggested was that we have a slight preference for features similar to our own, the converse of which is a slightly negative reaction to different features.  Makes sense to me.

It mostly works in the unconscious level, which, if one does what Kai is suggesting (to "recover") can be avoided in regular decision making.  What I'm reading with Dok saying it's a matter of sifting out bad data before making a decision, it doesn't necessarily contradict what Kai is saying in that the bad data could be one's own racial preference.  Forgive me if I misinterpreted that.

The situation put to me was a white cop shooting a black suspect in a situation where danger was perceived.  The cop has shown no racist tendencies, but where he was acting on pure instinct there was no time to work through potential biases.  A white suspect, or a black cop, would make shooting less likely in that instance.

From a social justice standpoint, it is taught that members of an agent group can't do a whole fuck of a lot to help a target group.  They need to recognize their agency, and work to reduce its effect, but ultimately the target needs to empower themselves to make the change.

[East Coast Hustle]

This is interesting, but it does nothing to explain why I tend to be more distrustful of white people.

[Cain]

So if this is the same experiment I'm thinking of they showed the participants pictures of people of various races that flashed quickly next to a word with either positive or negative connotations.  I forget specifically what the participant had to do, but something like identify the word as generally considered positive or negative.  They then found that people are quicker to categorize a positive word when shown a picture of a member of their own race and likewise a negative word when shown a differing race?  I'm not really describing it well enough to hold up to scrutiny, but the general idea is that there was a significant effect and pretty much across the board to one degree or another.  What it really suggested was that we have a slight preference for features similar to our own, the converse of which is a slightly negative reaction to different features.  Makes sense to me.

I did that test as a psych student, several times.  Apparently I have a slight preference for black people.

I'm white, and have always lived in predominately (if not overwhelmingly) white areas.  I'm still not sure how I got those results.

[East Coast Hustle]

It's probably because you're one of those WHITE DEVILS.

srsly, though, you people are evil incarnate.