Would you consider this racist?

14 Comments

I sometimes ask questions such as

"Can you tell the difference between [ethnicity] and [ethnicity]?"
"Can you guess which one is not [race]?"
"On a scale of 1-10, how [nationality/race/ethnicity] does this person look?"

Not once in those questions do I say anything like "This race is inferior/superior" and I do condemn answers that do disparage other ethnicities.

I know all humans are equal, regardless of their ethnicity or nationality, and that they all deserve equal respect. Being a specific ethnicity says nothing about what the person actually is. But whenever I ask such questions, people keep saying that I am being racist.

would you still consider such questions racist?

Yes 20
No 49
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Comments ( 14 )
  • dom180
    10 years ago

    Not by every definition, but as suckonthis9 would put it: "you are creating divisions in society". (Although I suppose you're not creating them... just perpetuating them.)

    Particularly saying "how white/black/Asian... does this person look?", which is stereotyping people of different races as looking a certain way, and thus heavily implying that people who don't conform to those racial stereotypes aren't "normal" for their race, nationality, identity, whatever. That's ignorant.

    So it depends on how you define racist. You're not discriminating or being hateful, but you're being very heavy-handed with racial stereotypes. Such heavy-handedness would indicate the sort of ignorance that characterises a racist person.

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    • anti-hero
      10 years ago

      VIOLATION!!!

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    • NotStrangeBird
      10 years ago

      I never agreed with SOT9's 'creating divisions'. I wouldn't even say perpetuating. More like observing and discussing them. We can't get past them by ignoring them.

      I miss that person, whoever they are. Maybe they have been relegated to the Quark Realm. Kickin' it with the VHATC-L2. Good times.

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      • Anonymous Post Author
        10 years ago

        Is he still even here?

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      • dom180
        10 years ago

        Yeah, I think he rarely complained at the right time about "creating divisions". Most of the time people weren't creating divisions at all. I think he just wanted the attention :P

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      10 years ago

      Wasn't trying to perpetuate them. Just trying to expose them in others. Most of the time, when I do that, I throw something in that is far out of the common stereotypes just to break down their stereotypes in their head (like showing a chicken to someone who only knows the sterotypical Trex view of dinosaurs).

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  • [Old Memory]
    10 years ago

    Why are people these days (White people, to be precise) so concerned with whether or not they may be considered "racist"?

    Is it racist that I like rock more than rap?
    Is it racist that I'm not particularly attracted to Black women?
    Is it racist that I don't eat Chinese food very often?
    Is it racist that I prefer plain milk to chocolate milk?
    Is it racist that I think my own European culture is kinda cool?
    Is it racist that I prefer colors like white and pink to colors like brown and yellow?
    Is it racist that I would prefer that my children look like me?
    Is it racist that I want to live in a clean, quiet, progressive area?

    Is it?! Is it racist?!?! Please tell me -- I HAVE TO KNOW!!!!!

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  • Fammer3
    10 years ago

    Yes. You are drawing the line between 2 or more [nationalities/races/ethnicities].

    Don't get me wrong though. A lot of people don't quite understand the true defenition of racism. Racism doesn't necessarily have to be negative. It might be neutral, or even positive.
    Racism isn't a bad thing by definition. It's just been put in a bad daylight.

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  • Demundo
    10 years ago

    It depends on the context. Racists tend to use very similar language such as suggesting that everyone from <insert continent/region> looks the same. It also depends on how much exposure you have to people of other cultures. The best advice I can give you is to stop analysing differences and just get on with your life.

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  • Erik963
    10 years ago

    Yes

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  • Theadage
    10 years ago

    I'm still trying to figure out what the point of those questions are...

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      10 years ago

      My intent is basically to show the absurdity of certain geographical race labels.

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  • Terence_the_viking
    10 years ago

    We are the race known as men (fuck you feminists) that is all.

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  • Shrunk
    10 years ago

    LOL didn't you ask this on Yahoo Answers (OC&G)?

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