What is the ESSENCE of Racism?

[reddread]

In my opinion, it is
THE BELIEF THAT SOMEONE ELSE IS SIGNIFICANTLY AND UNACCEPTABLY DIFFERENT.
this is, of course, complete nonsense.
we all function in the same manner, doing the same things.
Simply because a religious or political denomination insists upon fundamental falsehoods
does not make them true or adherents harmless.

they all know better.

[merrily]

1. I know this is implicit in what you said, but let me try to make it more explicit.

Racism--or any kind of bigotry, is not the belief that some ONE else is significantly and unacceptably different. It's the belief that an entire group is inferior and undesirable in one or more ways and that all members of that group share those undesirable characteristic(s). Or maybe you identify one or more "exceptions," one or more members of that goup that you think somehow escaped or rose above the stereotype. If this is you, you just may be a bigot.

If you look at everyone with fresh eyes, letting him or her show you or tell you who they are, you just may NOT be a bigot.

Or, you can take the approach a college friend of mine took: we're all bigoted in one way or another against some group or another. Recognize that, then spend the rest f your life trying to make up for it.

Either way, don't stereotype.

[nruthie]

2. Stupidity.

[msanthrope]

3. Lack of empathy. This is why some white people can look at a

racist situation and simply not see the racism....they have no idea how someone other than themselves would experience it.

[malaise]

4. Economics

Always follow the money

[Orsino]

5. Biology.

We evolved to cooperate with our clans, and to compete with anyone not in our clans. Alien tribes would have worn different fetishes, worshipped different gods and even spoken different languages.

Civilization gives us the luxury of not fearing others who would take the resources we need.

[Sheldon Cooper]

7. Fear of The Other.

Which probably made sense in primitive times, but we should be past that now.

[Orsino]

8. We haven't evolved for civilization yet.

We are running around with savannah genes and brains designed to form beliefs based on what our clans decide truth is.

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. I've concluded that for most people, stereotype and arguably bigotry is the default setting.

I think all relationships are one to one, not one to many. The only thing that cures a person of homophobia is making friends with a gay person. They then internalize a positive stereotype to generalize other gays to replace the negative one. The same is true of racial stereotypes or people with disabilities.

Viewed in that way, the problem is fixable. This is the primary benefit of inclusion for people with differences.

[Bad Thoughts]

9. No, it's not a belief. It's a STRATEGY!

It is a strategy to gain power by exploiting (real and perceived) racial differneces. People who are perfectly willing to coexist with people of other races and ethnicity will oftentimes insist there exists a natural racial heirarchy. Your definition does not cover them.

[reddread]

11. actually I think that is what I meant

by religious denominations and political factions and adherents.

[scarystuffyo]

10. I always the thought the essence could always be traced back to a persons upbringing

It's not something you're born with it's a learned behavior

[bhikkhu]

12. Belief that race determines who people are, in essence

Its been pretty well established that the differences between individuals within any race is much greater than the differences between the races. There are differences in the races, but they are far smaller than the differences between the individuals that make up those races. That's the basic argument for the "race is irrelevant" or "race differences aren't real" statements.

Humans of all sorts can be sifted and sorted in many ways, and race is one of the least meaningful. When you think of a black man in Alabama, for instance, that the man is black determines very little. That he grew up in a relatively poor southern state determines much more. The circumstances of his family life determine more than either of the first two, but the character of the individual himself will always be an unknown without actually learning his thoughts and perspectives, his goals.

Racism is a cheap and easy way that people use to remain ignorant and uninterested about other people.