Is it normal i hate when people talk about "races"

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23 Comments

Racism is such a popular topic and people like to talk and joke about it. But lately I've come to realize that most people that think of themselves as liberal or tolerant commonly use the term "race" when they are talking about ethnicities. Am I paranoid or do most people still believe that humanity can be devided into different races? Nobody else seems to be offended or conserned about this. Am I normal?

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81% Normal
Based on 62 votes (50 yes)
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Comments ( 23 )
  • emilydoll
    11 years ago

    THANKYOU!! it's true!!! race is not the right WORD!!! they mean ethnicity, but we are all the same race.

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    • GoraIntoDesiGals
      11 years ago

      No we aren't. We're the same SPECIES.

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    • MegaGrenny
      11 years ago

      true that

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  • anti-hero
    11 years ago

    A lot of people misuse a lot of words. It's not a big deal.

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  • VioletTrees
    11 years ago

    It sounds like your offence might be based on a misconception. Race exists. It's not always clear cut, and it doesn't indicate things like intelligence or personality, but it's a real thing.

    It's true that race and ethnicity aren't the same thing, but talking about race can still be important. Ethnicity describes your culture, language, and origins. Race describes your physical features as dictated by your genetics. For example, there are black people in the US who don't identify as African American, because they don't feel any connection to Africa, African cultures, or African languages. Basically, ethnicity is about cultural identity, while race is about appearance and genetics.

    Sometimes people get them mixed up, but I don't think it's necessarily a sign of prejudice (unless you're assuming you know somebody's culture because you know their race). As I mentioned, it's still important to talk about race. This is because racism doesn't just discrimination based on ethnicity (though that's definitely part of it), it's discrimination based on race. For example, a white Mexican person who immigrates to the US won't face the same prejudice that a Latino Mexican person would.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      But that's the point! Racism is not discrimination based on race. It's simply to believe in human races! It's genetically nonsense. A black man and a white man are not like a labrador and a bulldog - They're like a black labrador and a white labrador. Genetically one black man might be closer ralated to some white man than to another black man.

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      • VioletTrees
        11 years ago

        That's not what racism is. Races exist. They're visible. Like I said, they're not clear cut, but as a social construct, they're very real. If you deny that race exists, you're denying part of people's identity, and you're denying the racism that people suffer. "Colour blind" racial ideologies aren't helpful. See this study: http://news.illinois.edu/news/10/0421online.html

        If you deny that race exists, how do you recognise privilege? It's important for me to acknowledge that I'm white, because it's important to acknowledge that I have white privilege. That way, I can try to avoid using that privilege to perpetuate oppression.

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        • purpletrain
          11 years ago

          I couldn't have said it better myself.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago

          Okay, I think I get your point. We don't seem to define the term "race" the same way. You are talking about culture, society and history. And if thats what you mean when you use the term, I don't have a problem with it.
          I was just talking about genetics. I'm from europe and they teach us a sh**tone about national socialism in school and how racism startet. One of the first men to write "scientific" books about the human races was from my hometown. People loved his book in wich they could find out what there qualities are, based on their physical appearance - And it seemed pretty harmles at the time. Maybe that's why I'm a bit sensitive. It was kind of a cultural shock seing how casually the expression is used in the US.
          I'm not saying there are less racists in Europe - They're just easier to recognice.

          PS: If you read the whole text, you are a hero.

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          • VioletTrees
            11 years ago

            Is English your second language? That might be part of the problem, if so. When I say "race", I mean race as a person identifies themselves AND race as perceived by others. I do not mean culture; that's what the term "ethnicity" is for.

            The "science" of how some races are superior is bullshit, of course. Most people who talk about race aren't talking about that, though. Discussing race isn't always biological racism. Talking about race is necessary if we want to end racism.

            Also, racism is much, much older than so-called "scientific racism", like the books you're talking about. Those books aren't how racism began. Those books didn't start popping up until the 1700s. In Ancient Greece, in the 300's BCE, Aristotle wrote that non-Greeks are slaves by nature. The Babylonian Talmud, circa 400 CE, says "the descendants of Ham are cursed by being black, and [it] depicts Ham as a sinful man and his progeny as degenerates." In the 1300s BCE, scholar wrote Ibn Khaldun wrote:

            "…beyond [known peoples of black West Africa] to the south there is no civilization in the proper sense. There are only humans who are closer to dumb animals than to rational beings. They live in thickets and caves, and eat herbs and unprepared grain. They frequently eat each other. They cannot be considered human beings … Therefore, the Negro nations are, as a rule, submissive to slavery, because (Negroes) have little that is (essentially) human and possess attributes that are quite similar to those of dumb animals, as we have stated."

            Racism is ancient.

            I think your definition of racism might be very different from mine. Racism isn't just genocide and slavery. Racism is an institution that persists today in the whole world, including the US and Europe. The fact that black people in the US earn less money than white people is racism. The fact that children of colour, particularly black and latino children, receive more discipline in schools than white children is racism. The fact that people of colour are appreciably more likely to be raped than white people is racism. the fact that black and latino drivers are more likely to be pulled over by the police, regardless of their driving, is racism. These statistics are not based on ethnicity, they're based on race, because you don't have to be part of a different culture, society, or history to suffer from these things. For example, when a racist police officer pulls over a black person unfairly, they're not doing it because of the driver's culture, language, society, or history. The officer has no way of knowing those things. They're doing it because of the driver's race. Segregation wasn't based on ethnicity, it was based on race. Slavery wasn't based on ethnicity, it was based on race. Those issues and others, along with modern racism, have affected the economic and social status of people of colour, which is one of the reasons it's still important to talk about race.

            How much do you know about US history? If you think only ethnicity is relevant to race relations in the US, you probably don't know very much about our history or sociology.

            Also, it's worth noting that there are fairly mainstream things in European media (such as advertisements and parades) that wouldn't be acceptable here, because they're racist. I don't know what country you're from, so I don't know what your cultural context is exactly, but it's quite possible that there are ways racism makes things offensive that you're completely unaware of.

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            • Anonymous Post Author
              11 years ago

              Yey, english is not my first language. In my language "race" and "breed" is the same word: "Rasse". Maybe that's my problem.

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            • MegaGrenny
              11 years ago

              woww thats long i dont know how i pulled it off

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  • DanishGirl
    11 years ago

    I am so sick of racism...even the people who think they know what it means haven't a darn clue. Racism is a hatred or an intolerance of another race. To believe that your own race is superior and that you have the right to rule over them. I can't stand it when everyone sits here and says black kids are picked on more than white kids because of their black...hmmmm so teachers are supposed to let behaviors slide because their black for fear of being called racist? What? I'm tired of people just automatically screaming racism when a certain group of people cannot seem to get it together. It doesn't matter if your rich or poor. We are all our own individuals and we all make our own decisions on what is right and wrong. The problem is is that people want to use racism as an excuse for their failures in their own lives. I mean why not it's easier than learning from your failures and moving on to try and make things better for yourself. I've heard so many times this saying at my last job. "I applied for this position and I didn't get it because I'm black...this company is racist." no that's not why it's because this person decided to miss a bunch of work and when she was there she didn't do her job correctly I wonder if that ever occurred to her.
    Racism is twisted and turned about into this massive bowl of "I don't know what the hell I'm talking about"
    People if you want to talk about racism talk to the guy who won't eat food from a restaurant because it was prepared by a certain person who was not of his ethnic background. Talk to a person who beats on another because of the color of his skin. Criminals and just plain bad individuals are in every race. Screaming "your a racist because you prefer your children to stay away from the black drug dealer on the corner doesn't make you racist. It makes you smart.

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    • [Old Memory]
      11 years ago

      You aren't sick of racism. You are sick over how people use the term.

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      • DanishGirl
        11 years ago

        Yes...I'm sick of how people try to judge others but they cannot even come close to making a valid point about anything because they have no clue what the term actually means. It causes total and utter confusion and it's annoying as shit. How can anyone get anywhere with anything if they don't even know what in the hell they are talking about.

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        • [Old Memory]
          11 years ago

          Yeah I know. You have seen that video "a conversation on race" right? Did I show that to you yet?

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          • DanishGirl
            11 years ago

            I own it silly goose, my brother gave it to me and we watched it together...That's it focus factor is what I'm getting you for christmas...lol:D

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    • CitrineSky
      11 years ago

      When you said: "Racism is a hatred or an intolerance of another race. To believe that your own race is superior and that you have the right to rule over them" That did it for me. Reading some of the other comments they seem to have it so wrong. Using your last scenario, that doesn't make some racist, UNLESS it was, kids stay away from that drug dealer BECAUSE he's black. But what you said was based on intelligence which is still fair. I feel like a lot of people get the definition of racism mixed up completely, and to be honest I think i'm confused right now. Some of the comments were soo off topic that I don't even know what the hell i'm talking about right now, so yeah... Don't hate on other ethnicities, lets just love each other and sit around a campe fire.

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      • [Old Memory]
        11 years ago

        Yeah, let's all sit around a campfire and sing folk songs. We can set the Israelis next to the Palestinians, the Klan next to the Black Panthers, and I'm sure nothing will happen! "Peace and Love!".

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  • nightmare28
    11 years ago

    Dogs have different breeds, why humans can't have different races? Black people always win the running competitions, and despite being around 13 million out of 300, about 90% of NBA are black. That's just one example, there are countless, you can be as liberal as you want, but if you say there are no difference at all, that's just plain stupid. I don't believe any race is superior to other, but there are certainly differences between them.

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  • o_0
    11 years ago

    for me RACE DEFINES YOU and makes it easy for the other to get a brief easy and common introduction of yours as per where you belong to what might be your common belief and much more... elsewhere racialism does not exist for me... its all waste and cheapness of minds ... we have moved too forward now sticking to such matters is no more imp. plus it can cause you disadvantage ( racialism may cause you to loose a good friend or a talented employee )

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  • MegaGrenny
    11 years ago

    rasim is horrible. people near me get killed because of race. for this year i almost got killed at least 10 times from rasised assholes.im a mixture of white and chineese. its hardcore to live my life. doesnt it make you feal safe when rapers are spreading rasim.

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