but am saying that humans are social animals and generally prefer to be parts of some "group" - it's a survival tactic ("safety in numbers" ) - and this is not just something that relies on a few instances that we "hear about". There will always be individuals who operate independent of "group", but society shuffles people into "groups" and "subgroups" and each of those "groups" have "rules".
And regarding this comment - "White people who choose to be racist wouldn't be "punished" for not being racist.".... there is a derogatory term "nigger lover" that many whites got tarred and feathered with if they were a "member" (resident) of certain regional (geographic/town) "groups" and socialized with blacks, and they were further "punished" by all different means. Hell, look at how Elvis was pilloried for adopting black music and its styles (he appealed to one "group" but was denigrated and used by a group who was "in power" ) -
"To put on the cultural forms of blackness was to engage in a complex affair of manly mimicry," Eric Lott argued in his famous book Love and Theft—or as Stefan L. Brandt writes "Elvis absorbed as much ‘blackness’ as possible to embark on the popular trends of musical hipness and as much ‘whiteness’ as necessary to cater to the consciousness of the majority." These comments echo Sam Phillips himself, who, before Elvis arrived on his door, was supposed to have remarked wistfully, "If I could find a white boy who could sing like a nigger, I'd make a million dollars."
Criticisms of Elvis often were shot through with racism; the New York Daily News said his dancing was "tinged with the kind of animalism that should be confined to dives and bordellos," while the New York Journal-American actually compared Presley's performance to "an aborigne's mating dance." Such a shocked reception only made Elvis more exciting to a younger audience.
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/07/whats-so-great-about-elvis-he-didnt-invent-or-steal-anything/374081/And regarding this -
They seek out others who feel the same way, or they go along with the herd, but there are always lots of individuals who resist. If this weren't true, the majority would never give rights to minorities.
This is what I am basically saying too. But I think you are putting the emphasis on the "individuals" and I am emphasizing "the group". And although you mention that "the majority would never give rights to minorities" if it hadn't been for "individuals", well some of us are still trying to get those "rights", because as we have learned, rights are often "given" (Reconstruction) and then "taken away" (Jim Crow) and then "given" (Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts) and then "taken away" (nullification of parts of those Acts), so "groups" (and group-think) still dominate over individuals unfortunately.
= new reply since forum marked as read
