Category: Let's talk
We've all encountered some type of racial discrimination. Maybe it was directed at you as an individual, or maybe you witnessed a discrimination incident with a friend or acquaintance. Either way, it does exist. Now, my question to you is: Is racial discrimination just skin deep? Do we as totally blind people, (or people who can't see peoples' skin color), participate in racial discrimination. Sure, we may not "see" the person as Black or Hispanic, but do we automatically judge a person by say, the sound of their voice, their hair texture, or maybe the terms they use might sound "Black" or "white." Judging by all the information we've picked up on a particular person, we may then treat them differently because of what we pick up. Are we as blind people racist? Do you feel that we have a "right" to be racist? Have you met a "racist" blind person? I've met tons. Do we judge by what we're raised with? Or could it be an in-born, automatic hyper-vigilant mechanism that says, "This person can't be trusted," and we as a racially aware society use a person's race or ethnic background to determine that? Here are my views:
I am Caucasian and married to an African-American. We have a mixed-race son, who actually looks more "white" than black, but has his Daddy's eyes, face shape, long thin frame, and big bright smile. Some people may say that my marrying a Black man and having his child is setting our child up for years of teasing and discrimination. I feel that what oesn't kill you makes you stronger, and my son can blame us if he wants for his problems, but part of a person's view of themselves is determined by how they're raised, and the values they are taught. I pan to make my son aware of racial discrimination, help him learn to love himself for who he is, and teach him ways he can avoid some of the stereotypes, but that's all I can do. I was raised as a young child, that non-whites (particularly blacks) were to be hated and not associated with. I was not allowed to have black friends, and I've witnessed countless times my parents picking fights with a "nigger" who took their parking spot, pushed ahead of them in lineor stared at our family in a way they didn't like. It was God and moving to a different family, that helped me not to turn out that way. Also, for some reason, I had a sense that what my parents were doing was wrong. I've seen a lot of "racist" blind people who "hate niggers" and "don't want anything to do with niggers." Stuff like that. It appalls and offends me. It hurts to know that even though people won't see my son's skin, they may judge him in the way he says something, the type of music he likes, or just the meer fact that he has biracial parents; and without even being able to see him. So, tell me what you think of all this. Maybe it should go in the "news and views" board, and if so, CL'S can move it, I don't care. Just tell me what you think about all this.
I am not racist. If i come to the opinion "this person can't be trusted" that is jsut instinct and we all ahve that racist or not. And yes, if I hear or talk to a black guy, and the conversation gets aroudn to his lifestyle, ghetto, whatever, then I'll probably get the same feeling. but I would get the feeling from whites and other races too.
I think the world concentrates too much on racism. the blacks especially because they think most whites are racist because of what hapened in the past. Anyway, those days are over and we all just need to move on.
I've been told I was racist at a few times. Where the hell do they get that? I am married to a Mexican, have several black friends, and asian friends as well. So I don't get how poeople can say I'm racist. But yeah, totally blind can be racist too because it's teh stereotype.
well, but here is the thing: Racism is highly linked with stereotypes and discrimation... if you are blind and dislike a certain race, do yourself and others a favor, and consider yourself a race too. Sometimes sighted folks really really dislike blind people. So before judjing or believing that you are better than someone, please put yourself on that person's place. The worst thing is that racism directed at you... is not your fault!
From what I understand, racism is a learned behavior and not human nature. You have to be taught that your particular ethnicity is superior to others or whatever. So, blind people can actually be racist. What can also complicate things is that if you mention somebody's race in a discussion, you can be accused of being racist just for pointing out somebody's race but not making a statement involving any malice or hatred.
Personally I don't care if people don't like blind people. It's not everybody so it doesn't matter. Most people don't like fat people, or any other appearance. We don't get mad at those people and start slinging names calling them a racist (even though it's not race) and stuff. What about those who make fun of blondes? Life is life. People shouldn't take what other people say or think to heart because it doesn't matter. Do your own thing, be your own person, and if people don't like it tough shit for them.
I agree with post 5's comments. Be who u want to be, and if people don't like it, too damn bad for them.
I agree with post five. You can't like everyone and you can't expect to be liked by everyone. But I also think going around hating people is a waste of time. OK, do you really think if you hate somebody enough that they'll either disappear and torture you no more, else they will change to accomodate your will? Dream on, it'll never happen. At least as far as day-to-day life goes, including here on this very website, what most people think does not matter unless you have an emotional connection or investment in them. But I would not even waste time telling someone I hated them if I ever felt it for the reasons listed above. Maybe in situations where you are in competition for a job position or you are a performer, people's opinions might matter more, but outside of that, most people who act like they know what you're all about are most likely full of it and should be ignored.
It all depends by what you mean by "racism". I acknowledge the sad fact that crime is much more common amongst blacks and hispanics, if we're talking the total population. It may be a racial fault or it may just be that they are the most disadvantaged people with the least amount of money so they turn to crime. I think there are, broadly speaking, racial differences and different emphasis (at least in America). I see black people there are, in general, much more show offy, they prefer to drive an expensive car but live in a run down building. It's different from my values, but I'm not saying they are wrong. It's just different.
Basically I think there are racial differences, whether they are reflected in every individual is a different story, I don't think that.
I have black, Mexican and Asian friends and acquaintances and I do not run away if I meet someone of a different race. I actually enjoy talking to them, to see the world from a different point of view, to learn about other people, (sometimes, sometimes they're just the same).
We've been renting out our house to a few different renters and sadly I must say the black renter we had was the sloppiest and also hardest to collect money from, he complained about his girl friend stealing money from him and he wouldn't pay us, but then he told me he just bought a new iPhone. This will make me slightly more reluctant to rent to a black person next time around, sadly, but it isn't racism, it's caution based on experience. That behavior was right in line with everything I've seen before regarding black Americans. I'm not saying I would not rent my place to a black person (and the guy was nice and fun to chat with) but I would require more up front deposit and I'd monitor them more closely.
I don't consider this racist, I consider this simply learning from my own experience. Others will probably say it's racist but I will have to live with that. By the same token I'd be very careful dealing with an Arab sales man in New York and I'd expect a Chinese guy to be top of the class in math, or I'd expect a Mexican to make the best tequila and a French person to know most about wine(all of these can be wrong, but they are all my pre conceived ideas, sometimes positive, sometimes negative).
I think we all have the right to be happy and I don't want to stand in anyone's way who wants to achieve that. I would never exclude anyone from my friends group because of race, may be I make friends more easily with one race than another (but I don't think so, seeing as I've had friends of all races and I really don't care much).
I do not easily make friends with people who appear uneducated, use a lot of swear words and ghetto language and generally do not appear intelligent, but that applies to anyone I meet regardless of skin color. I just don't have much in common with such people.
I think we need some stereo types and perceptions to simplify the world around us, it's so complex sometimes it needs a bit of categorizing. These things are useful, but they can also be dangerous, of course, and we must always beware of the fact we may be mistaken.
wait but what reason is there not to like blind people, o or fat people? who said blonds were dumb? that's a form of being racist, goo. especially if its due to the reason of not likeing them cause they'er blind, or fat so can't move, or blind so they are stupid. tha'ts a. not gettin to know the person for whom they are, and b. basing anything about said person on stereotypes. its wrong.
John
I've known people who might be afraid of how to act around blind people, and I've heard of people who thought they were not obligated to help blind people, but I've never known anyone who just hated, I mean, violently hated blind people just for existing. I do know that society tends to look disfavorably upon fat people, which is silly because I'm told most people are either overweight or obese, but I guess people think of these super-thin supermodels as some sort of ideal, even though I'm told such pictures are enhanced one way or the other.
Post 8, very well written post. Although I would like to add that whether we mean to or not I do think everyone is a little bit racist in some way. Just because we may not lothe a race, or lothe the things they do doesn't mean we're not racist. Sometimes, when you say something like mexicans needingn to learn to speak english to live in this country, that's racist. Or when you automatically include that arabs are shady and you always watch your back in those types of convenient stores that's also racist. There's also the whole whole everyoen telling jokes thing sure, it may be a joke, but technically a little bit racist.
I'll admit it, sure, I've been racist sometimes. But not to the point where I lothe races, I have friends of many different races as well but I don't judge them for skin color or anything like that. It's just minor little things that we might do subconsciously without realizing that sometimes make us just a little bit racist.
Just like that song in the musical avenue Q, everyone's a little bit racist sometimes.
Just my thoughts.
Jess
well then again, to have a clear picture of things you should consider that humans are humans, and really what can different is perhaps the thought patterns and the way that erson expresses their emotions . So what if i rent or sell things to a white person, an Asian,... you name it, who complains about his girl not lending him money and then comes with this other expensive equipment... I mean that happens to everyone regardless if the person's hispanic, black ETC. Of course i can understand that it was an experience and that perhaps because of that you wish to be less lineant on that race. Though I agree with the bits on post 9. You would really create pre-conceived images of a certain kind of people, though i really don't care for aperson's background; they are all just people and there is all "kinds, shapes and sizes" everywhere. You'd be a bit struck when a person from other race is of course not at all like what you had on the picture. In any case, i have noticed this problem happening in the UNited States more than in my homeland and in other countries for that matter. Spain is said to be racist too, though i haen't been reading on te subject or been there to experience anything like that to confirm.
Hi
Well, good point. I think I didn't make my meaning very cler. I mean, in the rental situation, because I had a bad experience with a black guy (or not entirely bad, just worse than with other renters), I might hesitate to rent again to a black guy, and that might be considered racist (and it is to some extnet), but if it were a Mexican guy or a yellow guy or an English guy, I think I'd feel the same way, to some extent. I know there are millions, billions of people of a certain race and nationality. I can't possibly know them all and I know I can find every type of person imaginable within such a group I'm sure, but I have to go on my little experience to make sense of my world. So, in this case, my hesitation or extra carefulness may be construed as racism (and may be it is), but, to me, it just makes most sense to rent to a similar type of person who gave me least trouble, excluding others (who are often good renters I'm sure).
I'm just trying to say one can't avoid creating some kind of notin of people, based on one's experiences. Sadly all one has to go on are one's personal experiences and the media (or other surroundings). Therefore it only takes one black or Chinese or blind person to create perceptions (even if it isn't right or just in any way) so I think it's easy to become biased or prejudice against anyone and anything.
If I rented the place to 3 black guys who all did the same thing I would probably be very hesitant renting to a black guy, if I tried to help 3 blind people who were all rude to me I would get hesitant to help more.
That's why I think we must always try to do our best and to be the best we can when dealing withothers, we aare responsible for creating perceptions of everyone who could be perceived to be like we are, even if we don't want to and it isn't exactly correct.
I think, just based on the fact that people have ideas built in and they do stereotype, that prejudice will always be there. I don't think though, that it's strong enough to be impossible to change, but I think we must both enlighten others about us and "our group" even if we don't feel we want to represent a group, and also we must always do our best to be good friends/business partners or just embers of society,. Sometimes there is a rason for negative stereo types (I understand why Arabs are searched more thorroughly at an airport, to others, they're the only people crazy enough to kill themselves and fly planes into buildings). Sure only a small group of Arabs did this, but they must understand why the rest of us are afraid f them now, and that there are millions of smart, hard working, nice and generous Arabs who are affected by what happened. We must also work on remembering this was a very small minority of an otherwise great group of people. I honestly think there are some differences in how races thinks (or may be the difference is more class based, not race based), and I think acknowledging that is not racist or prejudice, but I think assuming the way you think is superior is perhaps dangerous and trying to understand why a certain person thinks a certain way is the right way to go.
I think that after the civil rights movement, extremist people like the KKK were forced to back down, or at least work in secret, so even though racism still exists today, people are even more uncomfortable with it than they were before the civil rights movement. Back then, everyone was racist, or if they weren't, or worse yet, if they supported other races or were in relationships with them, they were hated or had crosses burning in their yards. But because society has become more multi-cultural, it's seen as less acceptable to express those beliefs, which it is, so when a hate crime occurs, or people make racist comments, it's harder to get somebody to do something about it, because they're confronted with their own beliefs and the evils of society. It's hard to get someone to change their mind if they grew up in different times especially. I really don't blame these people for feeling the way they do, though, because that's how they were raised. They were probably afraid to think differently. This is why you have young people getting into inter-racial relationships and everyone around frowns on them. I don't actually know anyone in real life who would admit to supporting me and my boyfriend. What I don't understand is how we've made so many advances to eliminate other types of discrimination. Think of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Blind and otherwise disabled people are finding it easier to get jobs, and are being treated more equally. They can bring their guide dogs everywhere in public, and there are the white cane laws too. Of course we still encounter problems with some closed-minded people, but that's life. No matter how modernized our society becomes, there will still be people who think differently, that's why we're in a free country (if you really believe that, but that's another story.) Another good example of this is how it's OK to talk about homosexuality. You see gay people on TV and in movies all the time. Think of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and all the other media attention gays receive. Although some of it is stereotyping, it focuses attention on them, making people less afraid and uncomfortable, even if it makes some people laugh. They'll see a gay person on the street, or personally know a gay person, and they'll be more likely to accept it because society has exposed it.
Inter-racial relationships, on the other hand, are the unspoken phenomenon. I don't know anyone who can look me in the eye and say what I'm doing is OK. That's sad to me. It makes me feel alone sometimes, even though I know I'm not. But it's such a taboo that I've just learned to keep my mouth shut. I'm afraid to tell people I don't know about it. When people ask me if I have a boyfriend, I say I do, but I never disclose that he's black, because I'm afraid I'll get beaten up or something for it. I was never really supported about it, so I'm afraid. It doesn't stop us being together, but I wish people would open their eyes and see that times are changing. If love can be created between the same sex, why can't it cross racial lines? People need to see that this is not a "phase" or a "disease" or a "demoralization of society"--it's normal, and they need to open up their minds to it because it's not the most horrible thing in the world.
I would also like to recommend a book called I Lock My Door Upon Myself. It's about an inter-racial couple in the early 1900's and everything they had to go through. If you really want to see what it's like, if this subject hits close to home, read it, it just goes to show how closed-minded society can be.
Somehow I think one thing we need to do is sort out what racism actually is and what it isn't. A visit to a good on-line dictionary would be a good helper for starters. For one thing, prefering certain types of people over others due to life experience is not racism, and neither is just mentioning casually another person's ethnicity. As I understand it and as I just saw on dictionary.com, racism is the belief that a person's race determines their place in the general scheme of things, or the belief that one's own race is superior to all others and has the right to rule all others. so, for good or ill, we all will stereotype and we will all have preferences for certain types of people according to our life experiences, and I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with that unless you take things to extremes. But most things if not all things in extremes are dangerous.
That's true. Not all stereotypes are bad. Some of them can be funny as long as you don't say them to the person's face. But we all think certain things about certain groups, no one can deny that, and if you do, then you're obviously not telling the truth, because even I do it, but it's never to hurt anybody. It's because it's funny, or because that's what I know to be true from personal experience. For example, if you call tech support places (not companies specific to the blind like Freedom Scientific), you're going to have problems if you're blind. First of all, they hardly speak English half the time which complicates things. Then they ask you a question which you would have to have vision to answer and they're very rude when you tell them you're blind. This happened to me twice, so of course I'm going to think that.
this may totally wanna make people wanna shoot me, but firstly i believe that if you are in this country you should speak english at least well enough to hold down a conversation, get help to find things in the store or on the road, order stuff to eat out, etc. After all if I went to Franch and didnt' speak french, there might be some problems for me i'd think. cant' get angry at the french for not understanding me for example when I can't speak even enough to make myself understood. Now if one is visiting one can have a translator for there week's vacation, that i understand. but i'm talkin 'bout those who move here from another co country, or if i were to move to F Franch for example. Also, i can't say i've had problemw with the tech support and being blind bit, but i've had problems with not understanding the non-speaking english people very well due to my hearing impairment and there accent. Notice there's a difference between being able to hear a person (ha having them speak loud enough), and understanding what said person says. If you are working for an american company or even a non-american company and are dealing with US custimers, shouldn't you be able to speak english enough to understand there problem with said product and offer advice on how to fix it?
John
Definitely. That's why it's frustrating. I also agree about the fact that if you live in this country, you should speak English. As John said, we're expected to know a little bit of the language if we travel to another country, so why are we so different? It makes me mad that people will try to say you're racist if you feel this way. No, it's just called common sense. You live here, learn the language. There's nothing wrong with them speaking their own language in their homes, or to people who also know it, but when you're dealing with the general public, you should know what you're saying, and not have to make people guess. It's really not fair.
Franch? Do u mean France?
Yes i mean france.
John
You know....I used to feelt he same way. But then I got to thinkin. We white folks came from europe overe here. America wasn't ours. We stole it from the native american indians. So we want to get technical, maybe we should speak their language since they were here first.
maybe we did? or some did? Would be interesting to find out, i can't say i was around that long ago and nor can you.
John
So are you saying that we're getting some kind of karma because we weren't around back then, but we stole this country, so it's alright for other people to come over here and do the same thing, and we deserve it because of things that happened a couple hundred years ago? Well, to me it's not that far-fetched, I do believe in karma, that's an interesting theory though.
I think it's not karma (I don't believe in Karma anyways, I think it's just an illution people have, something that makes them feel better when they've been treated badly, that the person who did it will have to pay, I don't think it's necessarily always the case).
I think it's more saying that humanity hasn't changed, we came over (supposedly) and didn't learn the language, we still do, now people from South America come over and they don't learn the language either.
I think a course of Spanish is something I need to take once back in the States.
I think peple should try to learn the language, but that's a totally different topic really.
Something interesting to note is that while in many societies that racism exists in, it does not manifest in the same way. For example, the racism portrayed in the US, which has diminished, but we can still see aspects of it in the way that black and white culture is divided (white radio stations, black radio stations, white neighborhoods, black neighborhoods...), is very different to the racism portrayed The Spanish speaking isles of the Caribbean (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico) in which there might be some preferential acceptance for whites and light skinned people, but there is no separation of culture: Everyone listens to the same music, lives in the same neighborhoods, has similar interests, and are one people, as opposed to groups of people living in one nation.
Another example would be to compare the racism portrayed in South Africa and Brazil, two countries that went about taking in immigrants and treating the native population in very different ways.
Racism is taught behavior, but some think there is a bit of xenophobia ingrained in our brains, something which might have helped us out way back in the roaming through the plains, and hunting for food days. Perhaps we had to think of our own group as first, in order to survive, and fear those who are not similar to us, because they might pose a danger to our survival.
Then again, there are many sharing societies in the world who don’t think like this, and there are many people in the world who do not exhibit this xenophobic behavior. Sharing is caring, right?
Well, I'm finally getting back to this topic... Seems to me it kinda spun out of control. My question was: Is racism just skin deep? Do we as a blind community discriminate by how a person sounds or how they act? Have you met a blind person who was outright racist? Maybe they said, "I don't like Mexicans people because they're loud and dirty." (This was said by a blind girl in a program I attended once as a teenager. Do we as blind people discriminate because of how we were raised or what we hear? I didn't ask for your opinions about what you thought racism was. I didn't ask for an argument between oposing viewpoints. Just opinions.
Thing is, on here, that's gonna hapen. Your gonna get that pretty much no matter what u wanted it to be in the first place.
SunShineAndRain, if you carefully read the posts on this board, you'll find that indeed people have answered your questions.
And who's arguing? I'll answer your question if you want though. I think blind people can be just as racist as sighted people. If someone grows up with parents who are racist, whether they're blind or sighted, they're more likely to pick that up because they lived with it. Of course this isn't always true, I'm a good example of that, but it's all up to the individual and how they choose to look at things. When you're a kid you're very impressionable, you believe what you're told because you don't have the capacity to think for yourself yet, and the people who influence you the most are your parents. When I was little I used to hear my dad make racist comments and I just thought it was right because he said it. But when I got older and started to form my own opinions, I did realize how wrong it was. Now not everyone will sort out their own opinions, a lot of people are scared to be different, so they'll force themselves to think and believe like everyone else, but I never really did that. So I don't think it makes a difference whether you're blind or sighted. It's what you think about the world around you and what you hear.
I want to bring up a point I made in a previous post that I'm surprised no one has commented on. I had said that in our society, it's become acceptable to talk about homosexuality. If you think about it, you've seen drag queens, you probably know someone personally who's gay or has thought they were, and you hear about it all the time on TV and movies. Think of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, not to mention all the attention gay marriage has been getting lately. Yet no such advancements have been made in an effort to make inter-racial relationships more acceptable to discuss. I don't know anyone, like I said before, who is in one except myself and my boyfriend of course, and it seems equally unlikely that I will, because it just seems like such a forbidden thing to talk about. The more media attention is focused on something, the more acceptable it becomes to talk about. This is why I think society is so uncomfortable with inter-racial relationships, because you never hear about them, thus making it a stigma. I'm not saying media attention is always good. In a lot of cases, it's not. But if something is brought into the spotlight, it somehow increases people's comfort level with it. Does anybody else have any thoughts on this?
The city I live in, is pretty mixed when it comes to people' being of different "races" and ethnicities, so seeing an interracial couple, for me is not a big deal. It's not a big deal at all, but I have to admit that when I see a someone who is considered white, with someone considered black (both American) I do tend to wonder about their relationship. I do this not because it is unacceptable to me, but because American society finds it so, and I wonder about the things they must face.
However, I don't notice this in couples that are not of my age group...
No, but I do go against the other class. I am you could say, the middle class, but I do partake in teasing the ignorant poor. I look up to elitists, and want to be just like them. Successful and rich.
Um, were you brought up to "tease the ignorant poor"? That has to be one of the most cruel, arrogant, and prejudiced statements I've ever heard in my life, and the fact that you have no shame in this horrible act shows me what kind of person you are. You, Rachel, are truly the one who is ignorant. You claim to be so smart and so philosophical, and yet you don't seem to realize, or care, that many of the so-called "ignorant poor" are working just as hard to better their lives as you are to become rich and successful which, by the way, is never going to bring you happiness if you don't change your attitude. Maybe one day if, gods forbid, you and your family lose everything and end up one of the poor, on the street in the cold, unable to have access to the knowledge you love to lord over everyone else, not sure of your next meal and constantly in fear for your life, perhaps then you'll be able to broaden your very, very narrow perspective and realize you're no better than anyone else. Seriously, stuck-up snobs like you are the reason for some of the biggest problems in society.
Damn, she pissed me off so much with her bigotry that I completely forgot the point of this board.
I've met a few blind racists in my lifetime, so, as everyone else has said, blind people definitely have the ability to be racist. It can indeed be a learned thing, but that's where willpower comes in, the will to break away from your family's prejudiced beliefs. I myself am living proof of such willpower. I come from a family that has threatened and disowned its members for alleged interracial relationships, and I couldn't be any more different if I tried. It just depends on whether you have the courage to be different.
As for the aversion to discussions of interracial relationships, I think it's partly because homosexuality has only recently been discussed in a public form, so it's still a bit of a hot topic. I think it is also partly because we're still fighting for gay rights. There's no law that says two people of different races can't get married, but we in the LGBT community are unfortunately still fighting for that for ourselves.
In all honesty I'm a little bemused as to what you're really asking. Or perhaps to put it another way, I think what you're asking is nonsensical. What does visual impairment have to do with racism? I mean in your very first post you ask is racism something that we're born with, or is it something learned as we grow, but the thing is, whatever you believe the correct answer to that question to be, and for the record I believe the latter, it doesn't make a jot of difference whether you have a visual impediment or not. If you're born racist, with racism pre-programmed as it were then visual impairment is an irrelevance because like racism, you'd just have it. If you learn racism from your elders as a child then again, what does that have to do with how much you can see or not? The question as a start point doesn't really make sense.
By the time you're old enough to start appreciating the difference in peoples looks visually, your mental programming is already well under way. Your parents, and the other people around you through out the early part of your life will most likely determine your outlook on race.
I lived in Northern Ireland for a few years before I came to America to live. It was both extremely interesting but also a little frightening. But it is an example that perfectly illustrates the point I'm trying to make. it is a small corner of the island of Ireland in which both protestants, loyal to the British flag, and Catholics, loyal to the Irish flag, all live. The frightening part though was seeing first hand just how much hatred could be bred into children from birth, just by telling them what a bunch of murdering no good bastards their near neighbors were. Now the point here is that these were people that didn't look any different to each other at all, they had the same colour skin, they ate the same foods, they were born in the same hospitals and yet, Catholics and Protestants hated each other almost from birth, indeed quite often wanted to kill each other almost from birth, and really for no better reason than that's what they were taught.
So far as I am concerned it is your experiences as a youngster that form the person you are and blindness in that context, is an utter irrelevance.
Oh and just to second what Inu-princess said, Friendly Philosophical Rachel, your own ignorance with statements such as the one you made in post 32 is so breath taking that I hardly think you're in any position to look down on others.
Dan.
Some people are just obsessed with being blind. Now there are blind people suggesting that the blind are a race. What ever next? Just when I think I've heard and read it all, I discover that there is more to know about the blindifieds (as my sister calls them).
Back onto the more interesting topic of race though. It isn't just about the skin. It's about the nationality, and it's about economics. Some people hate people from other countries because they speak a different language, or they perceive them to be taking their jobs. Even unemployed people say their jobs are being taken by immigrants. That one ammuzes me. I think people are suspicious of people who have a culture that is very different to theirs, and of racial groups they perceive to be more involved in crimes than their racial groups. For those reasons, blind people can be and are racists.
Personally, I am not racist. The colour of a person's skin and the ethnicity of a person are not important factors to me. I am aware of many people who say they're not racist but they are. Everybody who makes race an issue whether they believe they are doing it for positive or negative reasons is in my view a racist and I don't approvee of their actions.
Well, this is an interesting topic, so I will post to it. First, In my oppinion, racism is neither learned nor are you born with it. It's a choice each one of us makes. I am not racest, but I do believe that there are people that make their races look bad, and can further the stereo types of that race. I personally, judge on indeviduality. I refuse to blame something that one or two, or even 4 people do, on a whole race. as far as it goes, my family is pretty much racest, but I am not. I can't understand that shalow way of thinking. I also believe while trouble can arise, and there can be complications with it, there is nothing wrong with being with someone of a different race. The problems that come from it, are only the ones that society created to be honest. Also to the Screaming turtle, I believe, Interratial relationships/marriages are becoming more common, but I think it depends on where you live as well. People are people, and that is all I can say. Rachel, I almost feel sorry for you, but your open disdain for anyone that is unlike yourself, prevents me from doing so. I hope and pray that as you get older, you will grow up and realize that what you are saying, and how you are acting is quite sad, and very wrong. You are deffinitly not portraying what you say you are, in your profile. Okay, that is all I have to say for now.