How do you define racism?

Earlier today, something happened to me that hasn't ever really happened to me in my life. My dad and I were in the car driving home, and stopped at a traffic light. We were in the middle lane and a middle aged white woman was in her car behind us. She suddenly started honking at us for no apparent reason; I thought maybe she wanted to squeeze into the right side lane to take a turn? Eventually she gets to the lane beside us (still stopped at that red light) and pulls down her window.

Don't you f**king asswipes know when to move your f**king brown asses?! Get the f**k out of our country you dirty f**king foreigners! And go back to the f**king hole you came from! *middle finger*

There was more, but pretty much the above reworded. Now had my dad not been there I would certainly have engaged in a royal Jerry Springer style cuss-off with that b*tch, but I somehow managed to keep my mouth shut because I think my dad would have been more disappointed in me for stooping down to her level.

Ironically, my skin is either the same color as hers or lighter, so racism doesn't just come down to skin color, does it? I'm Pakistani (I've never lived in Pakistan though) and this happened in Canada. Before today I'd never felt like I was the victim of any sort of racism, but now I think I finally understand what it might feel like to people who have to experience much more serious types of racism (when things get violent).

Have you ever had an experience like this? Is this really racism?

It's the lighter sort of racism. The bad stuff is when you're in a dark alley and a bunch of "locals" come to teach you a lesson of their country's history, so to speak.

Happened to me in foreign countries, after saying that I'm Jewish. I look completely european, but god forbid if I visit a country and say that I'm from Israel to the wrong person...

Needless to say that I lost most of my family more than 60 years ago because of racism...

Wow, that sucks. Most people would consider that racist (from what you've told us it was completely unprovoked so it sounds like she just has hatred for other races). I think its kind of hard to identify "true" racism so I usually just categorize these kinds of people into the much more clear status of "****** moron".

Just curious, which state do you live in?

well is that really racism, i mean maybe she has serious road rage, one of the most annoying things ppl say too me is that i am racist (i swear a lot and a lot about their race when angry) but I am not actually racist, i just think that if you are gonna swear at someone you should go all out and hold nothing back.....

is it really racism if someone is angry, could just be the anger

By "really racism" I didn't mean it as in "really good" or "just good", I meant "really" as in "truly" (as in "is it truly racism?"). Hope that clears it up. But I agree with you, the situation doesn't matter; if you yell a racial slur at someone in a mindless tantrum it still means you had those racial ideas in your mind about the person, therefore it's racism.

I think the wiki definition is as good as most:

I agree with much that has been said here, except the concept that "anger" could be a valid excuse for racist comments.
Being a Jewess who has been called names in my own country, city and neighborhood. I have a understanding of what it feels like.
Sitting in my office on a cool summer evening with the door open to enjoy the breeze, I suddenly heard the word "kike" soon followed by "white power" etc.. You get the idea. I was horrified to be quite honest. A group of young neighborhood boys standing outside were the culprits. Btw most of them are not as european looking as I am, but then I live in a very multi cultural community on the south coast of Massachusetts. Racism, to me is a sign of ignorance, it becomes dangerous when u mix in hatred and feelings of superiority. Racism can be based on color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation to name a few..all of these things seem to feed into what is nothing more than a validation for hatred of those different than you.

Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.

It's meaning #2 that Bannik is talking about. Rappers use that word a lot. But then again they also use the "n" word a lot.

You could also argue that there is a mindset that only white people can be racist. The use of the word nigg** (Which can't even by typed on here?) for instance,is used widely in the black community,in every day live,in song,in movies,but for a white person to use the same word there is always controversy.

Quentin Tarantino for instance got a lot of flack for use of the word in his movies,even though the word was always used in context with the characters. One of his main accusers was Spike Lee (A black director) who often uses the word himself in his own movies.

As for the word cracker,i had never even heard of it until i read this thread,it must be an Americanism.

Can one say then that ultimately racism is founded in our differences, maybe we need to look at how we deal with our differences, not only whether racism is right or wrong.

I think the only people who can genuinely be non-racists in the true sense of the word, are people that look exactly like one another, and are copies of one another and do not know about differences. As soon as you introduce individuals to them that look different, then the differences will give rise to racists. The differences will also be absorbed according to the character of the same-looking individuals. Perhaps it is human then to be racist? But equally human to resist it when people are being hurt by racism. It becomes a huge dilemma. So right now we say we have to accept everyone who is different to us. I like that. Racial tolerance. Would also be nice if we could have religious tolerance. Be more compassionate and accepting of our differences as human beings and less rigid, dogmatic and judgmental about our differences. I would say that racism comes from our differences, and if we can learn how to better deal with our differences, racism would become much less of a problem.

I hate to bring up the point, but *are* there human races?

Races are defined as categories of thought, which have no real equivalent.
So, by definition, races are phenotypical, meaning they are catgories of appearence rather than real differences.

Now, if I say that all innuit/eskimos are short and stocky, am I a racist? Especially in a society which values slimness a a sign of willpower and success? At first I define races in an arbitrary way by some differences, and then I´m a racist if I point them out?

OTOH there are some functional differences in populations, not because of race but rather for geographical reasons. Isolated populations tend to develop distinguishing traits, which in time could lead to a different species altogether.

For practical reasons, am I a racist if I say, that innuit are better adapted to living in a cold climate than, say a massai? Is pointing out a difference raciscm?

I don´t see myself as particularily racist, but as every human being am to a certain degree distrustful towards people, who are different from my own population, a rather sane concept for all of human history. I have friends from many different cultures in Europe, America or Asia, but sometimes find myself still surprised by the way they react to certain situations. That is not to say they turned into monsters, suddenly, but that there *are* cultural differences, and for most of our history different looks meant different social and philosophical values, too.

But what *really* pisses me off is, that, being an Austrian myself, I can´t tell a stupid jewish person, that he is just plainly an idiot, because of automaticalle being called a racist nazi!

What you say about race is true - the idea that there are sharply defined racial groupings is nonsense.
As far as whether you are a racist or not - I think it is fairly easy to answer if you stick with the definition I gave earlier - "Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."

Now, assuming that we can agree some sort of loose 'groupings' that we would call 'races' then you can test whether you are a racist or not for yourself by considering the above. From what you have written it is clear that you are not expressing racism.

racism is a funny thing, if you look at it from a different angle.

I've seen indians who hate other indians from a different state, including pakistanis and including arabs.
Also in the US, there is racism about people from north and south, as well as from east and west, and thats just apart from coloured folks.
Fact of the matter is if your white, and you hate blacks, after certain time, you will start hating other whites, and then eventually your own family... untill you end up hating yourself.
We are all humans and we have to live together as one.

Without turning this into a middle east political forum, I disagree with those who think it isnt racism.
It is exactly the same genre Helios is speaking of and has been going on for millenia. The players change but the story doesnt. Racism of sorts exist in our world. Only when we can rise above it will be truly able to say it is not at the root of many of the issues of unrest in the world today.
liljp617 stated:

this is racism as she discriminated against you...racism is when one person discriminates against someone who is of a different race as theyfeel more superior.

When I was a kid, I knew what racism was, but I always thought it was a thing of the past, something only used nowadays for comedy purposes. However when I moved country I found out the hard way, how real it is. While it is natural to stereotype people to some degree (it is something foreign, your reaction is to be on guard) and feel different towards those stereotypes, I think it is up to our intelligence to be concious of it and not to let it affect our judgement.

But, I really overestimated the human race when I expected others to share my view. People don't think. People want to believe that just because they are born someplace they have more right to be there than say a person that wasn't born there. A ridiculous concept, an instinct of a primitive animal. Being a self-proclaimed cosmopolitan (think of what the word implies), I also found the concept of nationality pathetic. I've often been told "get out of my country", which always tempted me to reply: "not before you get off my planet" (and even so, not because I have any particular right to live there, but i don't really get a choice, neither can i go someplace else), but I tend to turn a deaf ear to low-lives. Nationality is just an illusion made up by and shared by a small mass of people to have some an imagined similarity so they won't feel as entirely alone as they are and to isolate a much bigger mass of people. Then the arrogance comes into play and the belief in the greatness of the country is born, then that there's something special in the blood of the people who live in the same piece of land, apart from the inbred arrogance.

I will give credit to the fact that there are differences between races, since humans living in different climates etc adapted accordingly.

What's the most funny thing however, that all the racism I endured was because I have an accent when I speak English (incidentally I probably know the language better than the people who try to make fun of that fact, or some other racist comment), apart from that I should be able to fit in, in any country where having white skin is common and English is widely spoken.

I believe the only grounds for justifiable differentiation is intelligence. Although I tend to discriminate any sort of religion (apart maybe from Buddhism) as a failure in character/intelligence, but that aside. That's me done with my little rant.

I see some of the racism as belonging to a clan in different variations and to different degrees, such as we see at schools when kids click together and bully other kids. Sometimes there is positive racism in that the kids tease one another's differences, with an undertone of accepting them, but there is also negative racism where kids hit on kids who are from different cultures, beliefs and races. I think we have come a very long way from the sixties when King did all his marches and they had to work very hard to fight racism, however there is still some of it alive and kicking. Not only white on black racism, but the other way round as well, i.e. racism inverted such as when the Professor friend of Obama's from Harvard University hit on the young white policeman. I saw it as racism in reverse.

I define racism as aggression towards another for there own personal gain such has pranks, jokes , humility, richness , political view and so on. People do it because they know other MAY follow. If no one follows it slowly dies off.

Having read all that is man hating women or women hating men racism?

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