Racism, Nazism, And Other Stereotypes That Hurt Us
Sat May 1 23:13:36 2010
Did you know that women are bad drivers, that Indians are always dirty and Russians are all alcoholics? Is that common knowledge or just an unreasonable stereotype that is a fruit of your imagination?
Today, I visited a certain house my dad owns to help him change locks and rid of unwanted drunkie tenants that never pay rent. While I was changing a lock, there were three guys in their forties, drinking, and this conversation took place (for those who don't know, I live in Canada):
- Drunk Guy 1:
- Where are you from?
- Me:
- Russia
- Drunk Guy 1:
- I hate Russians!
- Me:
- Why?
- Drunk Guy 1:
- They have an attitude... I have an attitude too!
- Drunk Guy 2 to Drunk Guy 1:
- Well, at least he's white!
I wasn't really offended by their comments, nor the person's hypocrisy, but rather upset that such racist and nazi comments are so openly given out to a complete stranger off the street.
To quote Jacque Fresco: "If you raise a white baby in a black family, he will talk and act like a black person"
. It's not about person's race or nationality, it's about the environment in which they were raised, or spent prevalent amount of time.
A lot of new-comer Russians are biased to think that Canadians are dumb and that English language is very limited and full of low-grade words. Of course, such beliefs stem from cultural factors and limited knowledge of English by those people. Most of them won't know what "exultant" means, so they'll use word "happy" for everything, and think that English is a low-grade language with not a lot of words. Due to the state of Russian economy in the past and even right now, there are naturally more handy men who know how to fix stuff, simply out of need. Most Canadians are accustomed to simply throwing the broken thing away and buying a new one - it's the way they were raised. Does that make them a nation of stupid? I don't think so.
I've met quite a few men who would say that women are worse drivers than men. Is that too much generalization right there? I am quite positive that those men did not take into account all the male drivers that cut them off or failed to drive the way they wish. It's all in the head...
Human mind is a fascinating instrument. Seed it an idea, and it will seek out everything it can to support or disapprove that idea, based on which you feel to be truer. There is a lot of ambiguity in this world as well as things that simply cannot be proven. It's up to us what we decide to be true.
If someone seeds us with an idea that women are bad drivers, every time you see a bad male driver, he would be just another idiot, whilst every time you see a bad female driver your brain will add it to its collection of facts that support the idea that women are horrible drivers.
On the other hand, if you believe that women being bad drivers is just a fruit of stupid men's imagination, the opposite will take place - every time a female driver does something unlikable by you, you'd feel the need to justify her actions, but male driver would always be wrong.
How many of your stereotypes fed by such mistaken facts? I might be bold to claim this, but I believe no matter who you are, you'd have at least one mistaken stereotypical belief. It might be something as harmless as thinking that all Russians love vodka and drink it constantly, but it's there.
There is not enough of recognition given to people these days - there's so many of us. This creates the need for our mind to create fallacies that would make us more apt and better than a certain group of people. If you're white and claim that black people are lazy, it makes you feel as you're a part of a group that is hardworking. If you're from Canada and claim that Indians are always dirty, it makes you feel like you're better than someone - cleaner.
Faulty stereotypes are even used to manipulate people. In Russia, many suffer from a delusion that Jewish people are greedy (we already saw how such belies can spring up due to cultural differences). Now, I personally witnessed several times when one Russian person would ask another for a certain thing, and when the person would refuse to give it, the other would ask whether or not the person was Jewish, as to imply the greed. Of course, the person who's perhaps unable to provide that thing would not wish to be thought of the part of "inferiour" group and give it up. Manipulation based on mistaken beliefs at its finest.
Stereotypes are more prevalent than you think. Most people would probably settle on race, nationality and gender. What about age? What about the job a person holds? Their haircut? Their tattoos? The way they dress? What car they drive? It's all there.
Next time you think less or more about a person, make a friendly joke based on where the person is from or what color their skin is; trust less or more, fear them less or more. Think. Does such a belief come from an idea that was seeded to your mind and was supported by faulty facts?
Comments
-
Sun Apr 17 03:09:36 2011
Ppl like you get all the brains. I just get to say thanks for he anwser.
-
Tue Feb 22 06:55:45 2011
I think hiding EVERYTHING will not work. Even if everyone will look the same, and racism is eradicated, people will feel much worse - imagine how much your freedom would be restricted. I think I would rather tolerate verbal insults than be forced to hide my face. By the time everyone would agree to hide themselves, human race would evolve to a single entity (remember that inter-racial offspring are not of pure race of any one of the parent).
Moreover, some race factors would have to still be shared. For once, people of different races react differently to medications. Also, how would people mate? Mates would have to know each other's race eventually, if they are to take care of the children.
I think the real reason racism still exist is a simple matter of ignorance. People see someone different from them, and automatically take a defensive stance. They try to justify why they are afraid, but don't wish to appear weak - so they automatically make up various discriminatory things about the race different from theirs. It's tempting to say people should be educated about other races, and such education should be mandatory - but I can hardly see this doing much good. The real improvement would show when people of varying races have to interact closely, have to depend on one another. As our Earth is getting too full of people already, I can see this type of conditions appearing - at least in some parts of the world - quite soon. -
Mon Feb 21 20:57:06 2011
Racism will always be a problem in a multi-racial, multi-ethnic country where racism is allowed. If the US, among many other countries, for instance, unanimously decided that racism should be completely eradicated, then people could start looking for reasonable solutions on how to do that effectively. Unfotunately, our past and present have shown that forcing tolerance on people does not per se eradicate racism. All it does is change the nature of it.
For instance, these days racists don't have to use racial slurs against the person of a different race with subsequent physical violence, in order to express racism. Racists can simply harbor racism deep inside, and cause the person they target any type of damage (imaginable and unimaginable), while telling these people that racism is absolutely terrible. You would think that they really mean it, and they have no problem with your racial/ethnic background. Or they may simply not touch upon this topic. However, the harm will be done, and proving that such harm is racism driven, will be very difficult. Not only that, you may not even realize that it is.
Reversely, a person may not be a racist at all, and cause damage to a person of a different race, either by accident or not, his actions will be deemed racist, especially if they were heard say something deragotory about other races as a joke, though without a malicious intent. It's really hard to prove that you are not a racist in a situation like that.
So the question is - how exactly do we define a racist? There are people, who openly state that they are racists, and they are quite distinct from skin heads, for instance. Can you simply feel a racist, or does a racist have to have a certain feeling? But what if your feelings are wrong? And how can you prove the existence of a feeling, especially if it does not manifest itself physically?
Or should you just not say anything about other races, when you're not a racist, and never socialize with people of other races to avoid causing damage or being damaged by them, in case your innocent actions towards those people are perceived as harm? Would not socializing with people of other racists in this case could be considered racist as well?
There is one viable solution that could be potentially implemented in the US in order to avoid problems associated with racism.It also applies to the discrimination against what is viewed to be "bad" looks, such as "unattractive" face, weight and size above average, "bad" skin,and so on.
Every single person will be required, by law, to completely cover/disguise their body and hair, including face, eyes, hands and feet, in a way that will also disguise their body size and even height. The disguise should be exactly the same for everyone in order to avoid the discrimination against the disguise. Or, the disguise could be diverse, as long as it's within the above mentioned parameters and requirements.
In this case, people, who claim to be persecuted for their race,will be protected from racist attacks if not identified; and racists may not be bothered by race to the same extent, if they fail to identify a person's race. But then again, who would listen to the advice of a person, who's themselves a victim.
If a person's race can be still identified by their accent, language or voice, then oral communication can be substituted by other means or types, including new ways currently in development, for instance, telepathy.
After all, your looks should be only your business. Or do people really need to know what your race is and what you look like, but what for? If that's the case, why nobody cares about the stuff disguised under the skin. Or is it too gross?
Would seeing what's on the inside equate people way too much, like the fact that there is a 10-foot long intestince full of feces and 3 pounds of mucus hidden under each person's skin.
It would be interesting to see what kind of outcome this particular solution will lead to.