Is racism somewhat inevitable from multiculturalism?

[UFO Fever]

have you ever wondered why it is entirely socially acceptable to call a Caucasian person "white", but it is incredibly offensive to call an Asian person "yellow"? Fundamentally, both colors are simple, somewhat accurate descriptions.

No, because I know the reason is white people generally don't mind being called white... Because the minority's inferiority complex becomes the driving force - i.e. the 'blacks' and 'yellows' keep squealing as soon as someone refers to the fact that they look different from other races, and they CHOOSE to take this as an insult. THEY perceive that their skin colour makes them a lesser person. THAT is why society accepts people being called white, but not any other colour. It is racist only because the victim cries out, and needs to be reassured that the world doesn't hate them just because of the colour of their skin... But do they listen? No. If they did, racism wouldn't exist. However it perpetuates, and only because of the victims, not the name-callers.

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHA HOLY FUCK! "Racism is actually the victim's fault" HOLY SHIT

[UFO Fever]

Whenever a headline asks a yes or no question, the answer to that question is always "no," otherwise, the headline would be a statement.

[UFO Fever]

The root cause of racism is not multiculturalism. For sure, that exacerbates the problem. The reason racism exists in the first place though, is because of human's competitive nature, as well as our inclination to be suspicious of what we do not know or understand.

Additionally, in my very honest opinion, the biggest propellor of racism is the victims themselves. They lash out that someone made them feel bad by calling them a "nigger", etc. They choose to be offended by it. Why? Why not choose to be not offended. Why don't you choose to be proud of your skin colour, and understand that this neither makes you a greater or lesser person? Or is the driving factor here that you yourself believe you're inferior, because of your skin colour. If you believe you're inferior, you become inferior. By screaming "he called me a nigger and that offends me" you're only inviting more people to offend you in the future. If you just think, "you're trying to put me down, but I don't care because I know my worth" and do nothing, that triggers nothing. Nobody gets a kick out of mocking you, and so they don't do it again.

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words with never hurt me.

You sound like someone that's super upset he can't use the N word to every black person he meets.

[Agnimandur]

You know. This is the first politically incorrect opinion that I agree with 100%. W2R.

[condude1]

Racism is inevitable from lack of education. What might be true is that multiculturalism makes racists act more overtly, but it doesn't cause racism. I'm of the opinion that racism generally stems from people saying "Wow, my life sucks. Who's fault is it?". Next to no one will admit that their life sucks because they were sniffing glue in school rather than trying to get an education, or that they were unable to learn from their mistakes because they felt like they were infallible, so they kept making them. Instead, people realize that they've missed their goals, and want to blame something, ANYTHING that isn't themselves because it's a lot harder to live with yourself if you realize that you're the person who screwed yourself over, not some bogeyman group that is the target of your hatred today (be it blacks, muslims, asians, immigrants, Irish, Catholics, Protestant, atheists, hindus, armenians, whites... I think you get the idea).

And then there are those who gain from racists. The people who shout "Look, it's [Insert demographic scapegoat here], it's their fault!". Politicians, community leaders, religious leaders etc. who want a group of people mobilized against a different one, whether it's to divert attention or to remove people who don't support you, or even to just get rid of a group you don't like.

I'd say that cultures who are multicultural are generally less racist, it's just more apparent. If you're living in your entirely white town and no one enters or leaves, you can't really go around lynching black people.

[Strategus]

have you ever wondered why it is entirely socially acceptable to call a Caucasian person "white", but it is incredibly offensive to call an Asian person "yellow"? Fundamentally, both colors are simple, somewhat accurate descriptions.

No, because I know the reason is white people generally don't mind being called white... Because the minority's inferiority complex becomes the driving force - i.e. the 'blacks' and 'yellows' keep squealing as soon as someone refers to the fact that they look different from other races, and they CHOOSE to take this as an insult. THEY perceive that their skin colour makes them a lesser person, and that is why society accepts people being called white, but not any other colour. It is racist only because the victim cries out, and needs to be reassured that the world doesn't hate them just because of the colour of their skin... But do they listen? No. If they did, racism wouldn't exist. However it perpetuates, and only because of the victims, not the name-callers.

I agree wth this. I also think that racism and really any type of insult really depends on the INTENT. If something is intended to be racist, then it is, whatever language is used, and if it is not intended to be, then it isn't, regardless of whether taboos are ignored (or even the person is ignorant of them).

A sort of example I had recently at work was a guy leaving the team to work in another area of the company. My boss is a young woman late twenties, and got him a card to say thanks for all he has done. Now he is a black guy of West Indian heritage in his early twenties. She got him a card with a bunch of bananas on it, with the phrase "thanks a bunch" on it. So she passed the card around for us to sign. Now I am in my fifties, and I would not have chosen that card, as I would consider the possibility that it COULD cause offence. Knowing the woman who got the card is a really nice person, who had obviously no idea of the possibility, I thought about telling her this, but decided that if she was that innocent of this part of life, it would be better if she stayed that way. So it got signed, and the guy loved it. No offence intended, and certainly none taken. I thought after that maybe if the guy was my age he might have taken offence. But that's a moot point.

So anyway, to answer V's original question, I think multiculturalism both creates the problem, but also solves the problem. But I think based on my experience it is a generational thing. The younger generation are much more diverse, and much more used to it. I think the more open the world is to movement of people, the more diverse it will get and the more tolerant, and less prejudiced people will be. At the present time, there are still a lot of communities out there, where there are pockets of people whomare isolated from multiculturalism, and I think those places are ehere the problem still exists. Bad habits are passed down the generations in these areas. Nut over time, I believe this will disappear, as the world grows smaller.

[Strategus]

Racism is inevitable from lack of education. What might be true is that multiculturalism makes racists act more overtly, but it doesn't cause racism. I'm of the opinion that racism generally stems from people saying "Wow, my life sucks. Who's fault is it?". Next to no one will admit that their life sucks because they were sniffing glue in school rather than trying to get an education, or that they were unable to learn from their mistakes because they felt like they were infallible, so they kept making them. Instead, people realize that they've missed their goals, and want to blame something, ANYTHING that isn't themselves because it's a lot harder to live with yourself if you realize that you're the person who screwed yourself over, not some bogeyman group that is the target of your hatred today (be it blacks, muslims, asians, immigrants, Irish, Catholics, Protestant, atheists, hindus, armenians, whites... I think you get the idea).

And then there are those who gain from racists. The people who shout "Look, it's [Insert demographic scapegoat here], it's their fault!". Politicians, community leaders, religious leaders etc. who want a group of people mobilized against a different one, whether it's to divert attention or to remove people who don't support you, or even to just get rid of a group you don't like.

I'd say that cultures who are multicultural are generally less racist, it's just more apparent. If you're living in your entirely white town and no one enters or leaves, you can't really go around lynching black people.

I honestly don't believe that prejudices are due to lack of education. It is a possible contributory factor, but there are a lot of very well educated bigots out there. I think it is more about cultural upbringing, either from family or peer groups.

[Jack007]

racism

It comes from the attitude "we are the good, the others are the bad guys". Something that is programmed into us by evolution at times when tribes had to fight eachother for territories and resources. It is sort of "natural" or "biological", and manifests itself everywhere down to the smallest corners of our daily lifes, for example when "we playdippers" visit "them professionals" at a WDC.

So, if we want to be humanistic, non-racist, altruistic, good, or however you call it, we have to ACTIVELY behave against our nature. This is well possible, but requires a certain amount of energy. And we must make this effort permanently.

Jack

[StarkAdder]

If 'White' people were a minority group in most places where they lived, that adjective would be considered an insult, too.

It reminds me of what Stephen Biko said when on trial in apartheid South Africa, and an Afrikaner judge referred to him as 'coloured.'

Biko responded: "Your Honour, when you're born, you're pink; when you grow up, you're white; when you're sick, you're green; when you go out in the sun, you turn red; when you're cold, you go blue and when you die, you'll be purple. I will always be black to you, yet you have the nerve to call ME coloured!"

[DavidMaletsky]

If racism is inevitable, it’s due to discontentment; not multiculturalism, not human nature, discontentment. The source of the discontentment can range from existential to economic, but people that are truly happy don’t have a psychological need to run down “the other”.

The antonym of multiculturalism, if you look in a thesaurus, is nationalism. Which is by its definition a prejudicial belief state: my country, its people and its way of life are superior to others. Multiculturalism attempts to foster understanding and at least tacit acceptance of others; so, at least deductively, racism doesn’t fall out of multiculturalism.

And it should be patently obvious to anyone whose senses aren’t faulty that if you spot another entity running around that is similar to you in all regards other than skin color, said entity is probably A LOT more similar to you than say a rock, tree, panther, etc.; among the most likely candidates you will find to ascribe recognizable personhood to. Of course, humans that are struggling with socioeconomic inequity, disease, war, etc., are frequently assholes, but there’s nothing about our genetics entailing racism.

The last thing I would mention is that belief isn’t dichotomous. You don’t have to agree with something or disagree with it; it’s possible to withhold or suspend judgment on matters.