Psychology of Racism

[quote]Professor X wrote:
rainjack wrote:
2. Socio-economic level

  1. Education level

I personally knew/know some very well educated racists. [/quote]

I know of some very wealthy, well educated blacks that are extremely racisit as well.

But, with that being said, I think that racism is more prevelant in the poorer, less educated populations.

At least that has been my observation.

There have been a lot of great posts so far exploring the reasons that racism is so firmly rooted in the collective conscience of the world today. I also believe that upbringing plays a major role in the problem.

But I wonder, what about the “nature” side of the argument? Does anyone believe it’s possible that humans are inherently more likely to be trustiing of and/or attracted to other humans who are like them? From the evolutionary standpoint, this might point toward a biological basis for this type of behavior. It’s like different breeds of large cats don’t generally live together in spite of the fact that they might share the same habitat.

I’m not looking for rationalization, but I wonder if anyone has studied that side of the equation?

[quote]ALDurr wrote:
It only takes a small semantic change to make a statement go from a non-racist opinion to racist garbage. [/quote]

That is exactly why these supremacy groups are able to “convert” (from the pasted clip) people and keep their organization alive. If they can twist someones words around and make them THINK that is what they believe, then a weak minded person can be convinced that he believes in something that he didn’t really buy into in the first place. This works in both directions, of course.

I beleive that lack of education and poverty are contributing factors to racism but are for more indictive of criminatly.

I think that the root of hatred and racism lay in underdeveloped psychological and sociological developement as mentioned previously.

I think that often many of the following happens when descussing Racism and Hatred.

  1. People to often lock racism down to Blacks and Whites.

  2. People to often interchange Hate and Racism. While Racism in itself is Hateful not all Hate is Racist.

  3. People to often over complicate these topics, There are many contributing factors for Hate and Racism all of them seem to fall unto ignorance and fear. But at the end of the day the Hater or Racists unwillingnes or inability to grasp the inherent wrongness of these veiws. Albeit intiated by contributing factors of some type.

  4. It is often overlooked as well that some people lack the ability to do the right thing again this may be something that at one time was triggered within them. How many times have you said I could kill somebody but you didn’t yet someone else says it and does?

My point being that once you remove the triggers or the circumstances that brought upon these veiws it is all about self control, knowing right from wrong and ones narrow mindedness and unwillingness to realize these veiws/actions are harmful to the future of society as a whole.

As for those that claim they are not racist but just call for separation of the races quit kidding yourself you have bigoted veiws you may not be extremists and you are entitled to think that way. But history has shown us nothing good comes from these separatist veiws. I might also ad how sad and pathetic it is that some people even concern them selves with what color someone is or what they do. I cannot honestly say I have ever concerened myself and I don’t think anyone that actually has a life does either.

[quote]Cunnivore wrote:
There have been a lot of great posts so far exploring the reasons that racism is so firmly rooted in the collective conscience of the world today. I also believe that upbringing plays a major role in the problem.

But I wonder, what about the “nature” side of the argument? Does anyone believe it’s possible that humans are inherently more likely to be trustiing of and/or attracted to other humans who are like them? From the evolutionary standpoint, this might point toward a biological basis for this type of behavior. It’s like different breeds of large cats don’t generally live together in spite of the fact that they might share the same habitat.

I’m not looking for rationalization, but I wonder if anyone has studied that side of the equation?[/quote]

That’s an interesting perspective, and might be true to some extent, but couldn’t the opposite be said as well?

Some may be instinctively attracted to other races to produce the greatest mix as possible. Maybe the more mixed the person is the more good qualities he/she will have.

If you think about how messed up a person can become as a result of incest (being with a person most like ones self), maybe the opposite will produce a person with the least chance of the deformations or other problems that can come from incest.

(I’m a bit partial, I have 7 Nationalities, mostly European but not all, and my wife is of a completely different race with at least 3 nationalities herself)

I’ve got family in NYC and i swear that everybody there is racist. You want to hear racial slurs? Forget Texas , go to NYC. But nobody there is prejudiced b/c they have to deal with and be exposed to so many other ethnicities its impossible to be prejudiced unless you explode. All these NYC people will talk some racial smack upside one side of their mouths and slap their black friends on the back with the other. I thought it was BS at first but its just NYC.

[quote]Cunnivore wrote:
There have been a lot of great posts so far exploring the reasons that racism is so firmly rooted in the collective conscience of the world today. I also believe that upbringing plays a major role in the problem.

But I wonder, what about the “nature” side of the argument? Does anyone believe it’s possible that humans are inherently more likely to be trustiing of and/or attracted to other humans who are like them? From the evolutionary standpoint, this might point toward a biological basis for this type of behavior. It’s like different breeds of large cats don’t generally live together in spite of the fact that they might share the same habitat.

I’m not looking for rationalization, but I wonder if anyone has studied that side of the equation?[/quote]

                                    Cunnivore, as I do more research for this paper, I find that humans have this inherit fear response of the unknown which develops as a fear of strangers around the age of two. Many believe the origins of this fear response developed during primitive times, when cavemen and other early humans stuck together in tribes, as a result of being able to survive and hunt more efficently then individually. Over time the group acknowledged that other groups were a threat to their resources and their peers.  Check this site out, it explains it better than I could. http://members.aol.com/markr13/OriginsofGT3.html 

[quote]thabigdon24 wrote:
I’ve got family in NYC and i swear that everybody there is racist. You want to hear racial slurs? Forget Texas , go to NYC. But nobody there is prejudiced b/c they have to deal with and be exposed to so many other ethnicities its impossible to be prejudiced unless you explode. All these NYC people will talk some racial smack upside one side of their mouths and slap their black friends on the back with the other. I thought it was BS at first but its just NYC.

[/quote]

My grandfather live in NY and always told me when I was a kid that the racism is different north v/s south. The southern racist hates the group but loves the individual. The northern racist loves the group and hates the individual. As much as I hate generalizations, I have found that to be pretty true in most of my travels.

To add to my last post. That’s probably why everyone stereotypes southerners as racists, when in fact the south is no more racist than the north, it’s just the approach.

[quote]rainjack wrote:

I know of some very wealthy, well educated blacks that are extremely racisit as well.

[/quote]

I agree, racism is prevalent on both sides of the (black/white) fence.

[quote]thabigdon24 wrote:

btw what kind of doctor are you?[/quote]

He is a doctor of “postology.”

[quote]Cunnivore wrote:
But I wonder, what about the “nature” side of the argument? Does anyone believe it’s possible that humans are inherently more likely to be trustiing of and/or attracted to other humans who are like them?
[/quote]
Environment is one side (see the excellent post by Prof X). “Nature” is another (see my previous post).
Now, both nature and environment are not uniform. People are exposed to many different types of influences, some of which lead them to racist views, some which don’t. Similarly, some people’s nature is simpler and narrower, therefore more prone to “fearing the alien” - therefore to racism, while other people possess more evolved structures natively. And also people do evolve, change over time. It’s a dynamic equilibrium, not a static one.
It’s all fairly complex and I don’t think it’s too easy to disentagle the internal and external components for an easy analysis.

And, folks, please do not equate racism with hatred. Hatred is the mask, but the face beneath it is fear.

Racism is fear.

It may try to disguise itself as something else. The mask may be an entirely unconscious one. But at the bottom it’s still the same thing: a small creature cringing before this huge unknown Universe. They may learn to relax later on, but for now they need this hard shell of “racism” or “hatred” (i.e. fear disguised) to make the existence bearable.

[quote]ZEB wrote:
rainjack wrote:

I know of some very wealthy, well educated blacks that are extremely racisit as well.

I agree, racism is prevalent on both sides of the (black/white) fence.

[/quote]

I totally agree, institutionalized racism against whites is a very serious problem. It has been for hundreds of years, or so I hear.

[quote]ZEB wrote:
thabigdon24 wrote:

btw what kind of doctor are you?

He is a doctor of “postology.” [/quote]

Better than being a doctor of “dickology”.

[quote]Aleksandr wrote:
ZEB wrote:
rainjack wrote:

I know of some very wealthy, well educated blacks that are extremely racisit as well.

I agree, racism is prevalent on both sides of the (black/white) fence.

I totally agree, institutionalized racism against whites is a very serious problem. It has been for hundreds of years, or so I hear.[/quote]

Totally true, racism against white people is STILL a reality. Unbelievable. The system is totally biased towards blacks and asians.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
ZEB wrote:
thabigdon24 wrote:

btw what kind of doctor are you?

He is a doctor of “postology.”

Better than being a doctor of “dickology”.[/quote]

Or an ass doctor…

[quote]Professor X wrote:

Who are these black people that are getting stuff because of guilty white people? What things have you given? You give black people admiration because you are guilty for being white? I have to say, I seriously doubt this is going on to any degree worth even speaking of. I suppose Rosa Parks falls into that category.[/quote]

Now I hang out w/ counter-culture types and hippies. They are all very liberal as in FightingIrish liberal. I have become a lot more liberal just by being around them, i see things differently right now. When i came to college i was a republican southern baptist , things have changed tremendously both with my religous outlook and political beleifs.

Every group you hang out with is a little different and all will have different outlooks on things. Mine , seems to have a fascination with being better friends to others than everyone else, being more giving to disadvantaged groups we have people that will brag about it if they helped the homeless for example im afraid to mention my collection of " bumfights " videos. To awnser your question, its not a huge thing that i have noticed either so your point that it isn’t is true. But also, if there is a group out there that would do this it is probably mine, and i think its really just something that mine does more than any others again b/c we are so liberal so i have to agree with you X. Just what i’ve observed. have any thoughts on my other posts on this subject?

[quote]Professor X wrote:
ZEB wrote:
thabigdon24 wrote:

btw what kind of doctor are you?

He is a doctor of “postology.”

Better than being a doctor of “dickology”.[/quote]

LOL…is that why you gave it up?

[quote]thabigdon24 wrote:
Professor X wrote:
ZEB wrote:
thabigdon24 wrote:

btw what kind of doctor are you?

He is a doctor of “postology.”

Better than being a doctor of “dickology”.

Or an ass doctor…[/quote]

I heard that job really stinks!

[quote]ZEB wrote:
thabigdon24 wrote:
Professor X wrote:
ZEB wrote:
thabigdon24 wrote:

btw what kind of doctor are you?

He is a doctor of “postology.”

Better than being a doctor of “dickology”.

Or an ass doctor…

I heard that job really stinks!

[/quote]

I have doctors ( father ) and other med people in my family. I know that many of these have a need to help others yaddy yadda , but those proctologists…seriously thats gross man. I would think that male or lesbian gynecologists would likewise get sick of looking at it all day.

Is there anything a doctor can do that isn’t gross? Surgeons , psychiatry b/c of the crazy people are all out . I guess anesthesiologists if my spelling is correct would be a cleanest doctor job you could get.