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Hey, Micheal Richards was using a racial slur to insult the people heckling him, not insulting the entire race. He was a bit over the top, but I don't think he should have to apologize. If you have ever seen a Chris Rock show, you'd know he is very insulting to white people. There's no way there will ever be a end to racism. It's a personal choice of people. I personally try to educate myself about it, I'm taking Aboriginal Studies this fall because they are the ones that need help. If I can help one community or reserve then I'll be happy with it. It's what you do with your own life that counts. It's good that we are all different and we should celebrate it.

Ahem, I feel I must address the big elephant in the room.

One major problem in the world is the belief that racism has been for the most part "cured" when in fact the meaning of the word has changed.

Take for instance a study that was conducted recently in which a college admitted several students from Zimbabwe. The study was done to see if there was still racism around today. When the researchers asked the white students already attending the college whether or not they were racist, they all proudly said "no."
Yet when the new students came in, they were not able to make many friends and in fact, most of them left before finishing college, because they couldn't live as secluded as they were. Yet the same question was posed after the study, of whether or not the students were racist, and they all again said "no."
What was determined by the study was that it was not the color of the skin that set the students from Zimbabwe apart from their classmates. That form of racism has been effectively dealt with. Yet the cultural aspects of the Africans were so much different that communication between the two cultures was almost nonexistent.
In our society, we have a certain way of talking to one another. We stand at roughly arms length, and talk in what we have come to call "classroom voices" or something like that. When we have something important to say, we say it louder, and when we speak to one another we generally change our tone of voice to make points.
Now in the African students culture, they had many French influences. When talking to others, they tended to stand at roughly shoulders distance, which invaded our cultures comfort zone. They also had the tendency to talk louder than we normally do in our society. The effect this had on what many of the white students thought of them was that they were loud and annoying. While this is not necessarily racist, the minorities could not understand why nobody else wanted to talk to them, and concluded that the entire school was in fact racist.

To conclude, our society, although we may be able to look past simple skin color, still has this problem dealing with the way people act differently.

=/
You think if a white child who had no influence from parents met a black child they would wanna hang out with other kids that are thier same skin color?
Besides, that is racism, just because its not derogatory doesn't mean it isn't segregation or unintentional unequality.
With groups thats for each race, a hierarchy within society is built and usually some will feel like they are outsiders and it creates tension between the groups.

People don't see this? If you were black you would notice it, and think about it every day.

Little kids dodn't care about skin color. When we desegregated schools, it was the older kids (High school/college) and adults that had the problems coping.

And one other thing I hear a lot.
People often say that they don't really dislike African Americans, but they hate the "gansta" attitude many hold. In much of society we have pretty much accepted that there can be "wiggers" who are white kids acting in the same fashion, and it has almost become an accepted norm. (Living in a place where 99% of the people are white, I see lots of them...) But why don't we see many punk Africans, or preppy for that matter. They are not as accepted by the rest of us. (In fact the only black person I have ever seen dress punk is Saul Williams, who is a great poet and puts many racial differences to shame.)
Even black business owners still have to constantly prove themselves that they are qualified for the job, and they have to work harder at it. (A national poll suggests that African business care roughly 20% more about their job then leisurely activities and family.)

Racism has nothing to do with any of that.

What's your point? Just because they couldn't understand some aspects of American culture doesn't mean anyone was being racist. If you were to go to Africa right now in your current state, people would think you were a strange person. You can't just expect people to accept cultural differences in their own country, it's courtesy of the visitor to learn to assimilate in the new country. People these days want to be so politically correct that they are invading things that are already as good as they get.

I experience the direct opposite of what you experience, this is just dependant on where you live. Also, more Africans tend to dislike "punk" and take education less seriously. That's not racism, that's just what happens.

Of course I think that. Let's make an imaginary situation. You like ice cream. You see a man who doesn't like ice cream and a man who does like ice cream. You prefer the man who is more like you. That's basic human preference. It's just natural, not bad intentions.

You argue in the same paragraph that we should accept cultural differences. Haven't you considered the possibility that this is another cultural aspect of Africans? Evidence like this doesn't support anything in your statements.

Look up racism.
Also, outsiders aren't restricted to race. I don't see anyone complaining about how "goth" people don't like "punk" people, or anything of the sort. We just like people who are like us, that doesn't mean we think we are better than anyone else. You can't just tell people to make friends with others who don't share the same interests, that's an invasion of freedom.

Yes, thats imaginary, because children don't discriminate like that. I know I didn't because my best friend when I was young was a black girl (I'm a white guy).

Of course there will be white people with black friends. I never said there couldn't be any, I just said it was more likely.

Except the fact that the black students blamed the white student's RACISM for their exclusion. (Instead of differences in the way they acted.) My point in bringing this up is that we dislike people for the way they act, not the way they look. Yet the miscommunication between two peoples can create false judgments about which is the true dissimilarity.

Exactly, you share common tastes.

If two kids like collecting magic cards it doesn't matter if one is fat and the other skinny, or one is tall while the other is short, or if one is black while the other is white; they both enjoy doing the same things, so it is only reasonable to assume they will like doing things together.

On the other hand, if one kid does not like magic cards, he will be excluded from the game and probably other events. He will feel left out, and will look for differences that could cause this exclusion. One of the first major differences you find is skin tone. Hence, the kid who like magic cards is racist.

And another thing, human nature is whatever we say it is. We tend to follow guidelines we set for ourselves. So when we are meant to do something, because it is natural, we do it more often.
It is human nature for us to wear clothing, because big companies would go out of business if we didn't.

It sure is hypocritical that two black people can call each other africans but when Michael Richards does it, it's racist.

Except the fact that racism is when people believe that one race is superior to others, which is NOT the case here.

It has been human nature to wear clothing since the dawn of mankind. Human nature is human nature, there are no "edits" to human nature, ever. You can suppress human nature, you can create artificial human nature, but you can never get rid of the original human nature.

Once again, that has nothing to do with racism. It is just the basics of preference.

If that is the narrow view in which people with other skin tones can feel oppressed by a more dominant race, then I'd say that racism is pretty much solved.

There is a difference between a foreigner coming to your land and crushing your beliefs, and going to a foreigner's land to get your beliefs crushed. Also, yes, I'd say anti-racist efforts have reached a peak.

Well scientifically speaking, there aren't even really races anymore due to recent studies. Basically the melanin (the pigment in our skin & hair that gives it color) changes with the amount of vitamin D we take in and melanin is so effective that it has to create many more cells or get rid of cells. By doing this, we create the races White, Black, and the things in between. The closer you are to the equator, the more melanin you make from the sun, so you have to block out more vitamin D which creates a black skin, as you move away from the equator, you need more vitamin D so melanin is destroyed and you get more vitamin D and a whiter skin. Now you might ask "But black people are in america and they aren't white!" Well this process takes over 20,000 years to change from white to black, however if you look at black people in Africa and in North America, there is a huge difference in the skin color. The other questions about some races such as asians still remain how their eyes got like that, which is just thought of being a way of shielding light out of their eyes (genetic mutation). So in my eyes, scientifically we cannot be racist, we are all the same type of species, there are no races, there is only a hatred of different cultures, languages, traditions, and so on and so forth.

My views on Racism, I will not use any specific evidence.

1. To many racism is when somebody says an offensive word that depicts their origin, or if they exclude them from group activity because of their cultures characteristics.

2. PwnPirate, you are very nieve to believe that racism is only when one race believes they are better then another / others. If a white person for example made a racial slur on an african-american because of their skin colour, is that not in matter of speaking, saying the white person feels they have the right to treat the black person like that, because they are white and the other person is black? Which in terms is saying that white is superior to black.

3. Blacks calling each other the "N Word" isn't really racist if you read the above statement, however agreeable that it is very irritating and abnoxious.

4. White people hanging out with white people, brown people hanging out with brown people, black people hanging out with black people, isn't racist at all, It is fair to say that people with the same toned skin, have the same or similar ethnic background as one another, their culture may have specific hobbies and past times which is passed on through generation to generation. For example; Asians and video games, African-Americans and rap. ( White was not included because I am from England and I am not aware of all the similarities between Europeans and Americans, so I can't distinguish the similarities in culture )

5. Racism is wrong, no matter what the context.

6. There will always be minorities and majorities (unless of course the research that in about 300 years we will all be brown is correct) thus racism will always exist, and with all the expectations of the ice caps flooding before then, we probably wont live to see the day that we can't be racist -- even then people will find ways to being racist. For example, Harry potter: Hemoine Granger ( spelling? ) and that really nasty kid with blonde hair ( forgot his name malthius or malcius or something ) and he called her a "mud blood" because she didn't have a family background of magic.

7. Need this debate go on, the topic will last until the day we die.

First of all, I most certainly am not the Spanish word for snow.
Second of all, I don't detect that you are making any conscious effort to make any sense, so I wont respond to that.

the act of racism is:

an excuse to think your better then anyone who doesnt look like you.

well.. thats my opinion.

My thoughts of racism is. Being cocky fagget and thinking your better than everyone else and which your not most likely your just pathetic. As Pyro-Fire said but in my words.

And I think you two fail.

that was freaking crazy ass crap. african african THATS WHAT U GET FOR MESSING WITH A WHITE MAN. crazy crap crazy

Sorry, just had to respond to this. Race is more than just pigments, it's also bone structure, muscular build, and basically many other features of the body along with some general genes that characterize a race. Yes, there are races.

Might I say, PwnPirate seems to be the only one who knows what he's talking about in this topic.

There's a difference between making a racist remark and being racist. For instance, if I say a racist joke, it doesn't make me racist; however, if I were to hate somebody for what they were instead of who they were, then that would make me racist.

Now, Kramer said a racist insult. It was a reaction to a heckler, the key word being reaction. As said before, it's hard to build up a joke and if somebody is ruining it for you, then you get incredibly pissed and react. Kramer wasn't hating the person for who they were (though it may seem like it), he was hating them for what they were doing, ruining his act. The insults were meant to be an equalizer, but instead got out of control. Kramer isn't racist for insulting him with those existing conditions.

Base word: Race Affix: ism

ism means to discriminate based on aforementioned word. ex Sexism, ageism, hieghtism, etc.

Sometimes discrimination is good. Women have less muscle than men in general, and thus less should be expected of them physically (if you had to guess for some reason). Usually it's bad.

If you tell a racist joke, you are specifically talking about a race, and not others, thus, discrimination.

Sorry the word 'racist' has negetive connotation these days, but if you differentiate people based on their race with any regularity, then you are a racist. Anyone who tells racist jokes or makes decisions about people based on their race, is infact racist. If they don't believe this, they do not understand the English language.

I'm so sick of hearing people spew out the most flagrant racial comments, and then telling me they're not racist. Enough bull****.

On a note to the topic: I don't think Kramer did it out of evil intentions. It's so present and alive in our society that under the right amount of anxiety, that would probably be the first and only thing someone could think about. Kramer's outburst is a reflexion of our society, not how sinister and backwards he is. We need to start watching how we talk about race as a society, not rant about how terrible Kramer is. The first step to solving this problem IMO is to stop using it in our humor. At least not as juvinily as kids do today.

Cry me a river, build a bridge, and get over it. Has Kramer insulted blacks every single day? I don't think so. So far, this is the only act that came across as racist to others. If you don't like how there's a difference between racism and racist remarks. Also, check your definition of -ism again. What Kramer did that day was racist, but he himself is not racist.

It appears we both didn't read eachothers posts. lol I actually agree that Kramer isn't racist, because he doesn't do it with any frequency.


Then?

Odd, must of accidently deleted the "then tough" part.

Kramer just made a bad choice, and to make matters worse, people interpreted said choice badly.

You've all read Huck Finn? Does that make Mark Twain racist for using racist language and? I'd say no, but people have legitimately argued it different ways...