How would you react to racism?

[stappard]

On the flip I was kinda shocked how ignorant some european countries were towards arabs. Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy worse than anything I've seen in the states in the past 10 years or so.

Interesting, I always feel like the "scary muslim conspiracy" thing is pretty strong when im in the usa, although by that i mean when i watch fox news for the lulz

[noam]

i find it really irritating when people feel offended by everything

in your case, yeah thats horrible you should have beat the shit out of him, cause he actually had no reason to act like that towards you.

i dont approve of people using other peoples races as a form of abuse there is no logic in that and its just ignorant.

things like blatent racism where its obvously not meant i find funny though. i dont understand why people would be offended if they know someone doesnt mean it
like my black people thread, i dont think anyone commenting in that genuinely had hate for black people.

Thats what i see racism as, an actual hate for a certain group of people, because it is too easy to define a group of people and not actually have a genuine dislike for them.
when it is covert racism, that is still someone with a genuine dislike of a group, it may not be as obvious but they still generalise in a bad way, and they actually mean it.

when you say all africans live in the forest and are raised by wolves on the other hand, it is obvously not true and i dont see a reason for people to get offended.

Racism is more than just about hate though. It's about considering race to be a factor in a person's character, abilities or disposition which can lead to unfair judgements and preconceptions but it can apply as much to race as it does age/sex/orientation/musical taste etc. It just so happens that some things you might be judged by are more conspicuous than others.

it does though...

before the outcry, im not condoning racial abuse

regardless, a persons race IS impactual, its not a neutral, irrelevant feature of a person, its important and intrinsic. if you dont believe that then ask yourself why people even care about racism so much?

also i know thats not exactly what you're saying but that kind of comment always implies the 'race doesn't matter' card which is a weird thing in itself

and comparing racism to your musical taste is again, a bit ambitious! theres a massive gap between a fundamental part of an individuals existence and what music they listen to

above all else, people shouldn't have to ignore what fucking colour, creed, religion someone is to accept them as a person, that reeks of superficiality... just out of interest, anyone who claims to do this- what colour do people look like when you see them then?? cos i know for a fact even white people have different looks, skin tones, attitudes, based on their 'race'. you should be able to accept differences in origin, attitude, culture, if you dont like it you dont like it, if you do you do, who cares?? but in the end racism shouldn't be 'ended' by painting the world the same colour

[Genevieve]

above all else, people shouldn't have to ignore what fucking colour, creed, religion someone is to accept them as a person, that reeks of superficiality...

I agree, but I don't think he's saying that at all. He's saying that people should first and foremost be treated as individuals and characteristics such as ethnicity, religious upbringing and gender are of minor importance when compared to the exclusive personality traits of the individual.

I don't think there's anything wrong with noticing people's ethnic differences and hell, I even think it's healthy to poke light-hearted fun at it and racial stereotypes, but the individual always comes before the collective and people should be judged based on that.

[noam]

i find it really irritating when people feel offended by everything

in your case, yeah thats horrible you should have beat the shit out of him, cause he actually had no reason to act like that towards you.

i dont approve of people using other peoples races as a form of abuse there is no logic in that and its just ignorant.

things like blatent racism where its obvously not meant i find funny though. i dont understand why people would be offended if they know someone doesnt mean it
like my black people thread, i dont think anyone commenting in that genuinely had hate for black people.

Thats what i see racism as, an actual hate for a certain group of people, because it is too easy to define a group of people and not actually have a genuine dislike for them.
when it is covert racism, that is still someone with a genuine dislike of a group, it may not be as obvious but they still generalise in a bad way, and they actually mean it.

when you say all africans live in the forest and are raised by wolves on the other hand, it is obvously not true and i dont see a reason for people to get offended.

Racism is more than just about hate though. It's about considering race to be a factor in a person's character, abilities or disposition which can lead to unfair judgements and preconceptions but it can apply as much to race as it does age/sex/orientation/musical taste etc. It just so happens that some things you might be judged by are more conspicuous than others.

it does though...

before the outcry, im not condoning racial abuse

regardless, a persons race IS impactual, its not a neutral, irrelevant feature of a person, its important and intrinsic. if you dont believe that then ask yourself why people even care about racism so much?

also i know thats not exactly what you're saying but that kind of comment always implies the 'race doesn't matter' card which is a weird thing in itself

and comparing racism to your musical taste is again, a bit ambitious! theres a massive gap between a fundamental part of an individuals existence and what music they listen to

above all else, people shouldn't have to ignore what fucking colour, creed, religion someone is to accept them as a person, that reeks of superficiality... just out of interest, anyone who claims to do this- what colour do people look like when you see them then?? cos i know for a fact even white people have different looks, skin tones, attitudes, based on their 'race'. you should be able to accept differences in origin, attitude, culture, if you dont like it you dont like it, if you do you do, who cares?? but in the end racism shouldn't be 'ended' by painting the world the same colour

above all else, people shouldn't have to ignore what fucking colour, creed, religion someone is to accept them as a person, that reeks of superficiality...

I agree, but I don't think he's saying that at all. He's saying that people should first and foremost be treated as individuals and characteristics such as ethnicity, religious upbringing and gender are of minor importance when compared to the exclusive personality traits of the individual.

I don't think there's anything wrong with noticing people's ethnic differences and hell, I even think it's healthy to poke light-hearted fun at it and racial stereotypes, but the individual always comes before the collective and people should be judged based on that.

please re-read

and the comment you picked up on was aimed at somebody/a few peoples opinions earlier in the thread mate, no bother, i agree with you entirely, i thought that was pretty clear in my post?

[Genevieve]

please re-read

Ehh, he posted something else as well, earlier in the thread, which supplements that post and puts it in a different light. I thought it was the same post when I typed my reply.

Blah, message boards.

[kay]

The guy was a twat, regardless of whether it was a racist remark or not. But I think you definitely did the right thing in not retaliating physically. Mainly because physical retaliation would have been pointless. But also partly because you would've gotten in a lot more trouble for beating him up over there than you would in the UK. For starters, you're a foreigner. Secondly, citing racist provocation as a reason would just be ignored there. Thirdly, most chinese will have some connections somewhere somehow.

Just out of curiosity, was the guy chinese? It just seems out of character for a chinese guy to swear at a foreigner in english using english terms like Paki. They do it with just about every other sentence in chinese, whether in hong kong or UK.

I'm not sure about letting him have the taxi though.

[WhosZena]

You dealt with it well.

People like that would find something else to call you even if you were of the same race

[firky]

I used to get called a paki because I have brahnish skin even though I am a honky

[crackf]

im white people cant be racist to me

[ketamine]

First of all, Pakistani girls are the hottest chicks on the planet...

[firky]

First of all, Pakistani girls are the hottest chicks on the planet...

They're very wet.









(SORRY!!!)

[ketamine]

First of all, Pakistani girls are the hottest chicks on the planet...

They're very wet.









(SORRY!!!)

I don't get the irony of that statement, but it turned me on, none the less.

[boxxy]

The guy was a twat, regardless of whether it was a racist remark or not. But I think you definitely did the right thing in not retaliating physically. Mainly because physical retaliation would have been pointless. But also partly because you would've gotten in a lot more trouble for beating him up over there than you would in the UK. For starters, you're a foreigner. Secondly, citing racist provocation as a reason would just be ignored there. Thirdly, most chinese will have some connections somewhere somehow.

Just out of curiosity, was the guy chinese? It just seems out of character for a chinese guy to swear at a foreigner in english using english terms like Paki. They do it with just about every other sentence in chinese, whether in hong kong or UK.

I'm not sure about letting him have the taxi though.

they call me gwai lo to my face in china, it means ghost

about letting him have the taxi, in china there are rows upon rows of taxis lining the streets. i think it was brilliant to show how silly the guy was by letting him have the taxi and calmly walk to the one directly behind

[WhosZena]

Ive been called a paki for having brown skin also, everyone was like "ooh Zeennaa, how are you gonna take that?!"
:Matey, I aint ever seen a pakistani with an afro

Paki is used very lightly.

[knell]

how can people tell that someones from pakistani descent as opposed to indian/etc? why is pakistan singled out?

sincere questions

[ketamine]

how can people tell that someones from pakistani descent as opposed to indian/etc? why is pakistan singled out?

sincere questions

Because I've spent too much time Googling images of the two and can now tell them apart. At one point I was even trying to learn Urdu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urdu

[firky]

how can people tell that someones from pakistani descent as opposed to indian/etc? why is pakistan singled out?

sincere questions

They very often can't. 'Paki' is a racial slur for anyone of Asian descent, they're 9/10 British anyway but of Bangladesh / Sri Lanken / Indian / Pakistani etc. descent.

[ketamine]

The only way I can describe it, is (and this will make NO sense): Pakistani women have both their treble & picture sharpness turned up higher than Indians. Now, I DID NOT SAY better. I said, turned up higher. Like their features, hair and stuff are more crisp... Nevermind. LOL

[badger]

racism's just another way for stupid people to show how stupid they are, so do the intelligent thing and try and ignore them. you're not really any better if you go hitting someone because they're stupid than you are if you hit someone because they're black

how can people tell that someones from pakistani descent as opposed to indian/etc?

pakistanis are generally a lot lighter skinned and mostly muslim; and indians are usually darker skinned and most are hindu. so if all else fails you can tell based on religious dress a lot of the time, but not quite as easy when they're more westernised obviously. bangladeshis are usually a bit darker again and with kind of wider features. racial stereotypes in themselves but no other way to explain

but yeah like firky said "paki" generally just means that an idiot has managed to make the incredibly difficult distinction that they're of asian origin

[aspect-dubz]

this thread reminds me of how i used to get into shit with this one black guy at school. By accident mind
I remember one time having a fuck about fight with a mate and calling him a piece of shit only to have said black dude come up to me and be like
i hastily explained myself, that's probably my only interaction with racism or mistaken racism i think