Would this be 'Racist'?

[clucas91]

Quote "If I walked past a black man who said to me 'white bastard f**k off', and I reply with 'shut up', the black man seems to think that I am racist"

This was mentioned at my school, and it just got me thinking, many aspects of racism have been discussed recently, anyone else got an idea on this one?

 

[TheMase]

Originally posted by clucas91
Quote "If I walked past a black man who said to me 'white bastard f**k off', and I reply with 'shut up', the black man seems to think that I am racist"

This was mentioned at my school, and it just got me thinking, many aspects of racism have been discussed recently, anyone else got an idea on this one?

I think that aboriginals or people of a different race or colour to the majoirity of the culture are brought up to believe that any insult towards them is a racial comment.

It just seems that way, I mean if I call a black guy a black bastard, I am saying that because he is black, nothing to do with what he did, and its preceived as being racist.

Whereas if the shoe was on the other foot, and a black man was to call me a white bastard, nothing would be though of it, because we dont think of people as being racist towards us.

So really its not racist, but its just preceived that way by them because they are brought up and have had racist comments all their life, that its now only natural for them to preceive such a thing as racist.

Make sense

 

[clucas91]

Makes sense, actually a good point.

 

[Frodo]

From my perspective it cannot be considered a racist remark because it refers to colour and parentage and not race. The former is an observation and the latter a meaningless put down.

In reality this Black person has a psychological problem and is feeling inferior or oppressed. His way of making himself feel better is to insult someone he feels may be representative of those who he feels are responsible for his pain. Most people are not concerned about colour labels. They are proud to be black, white or whatever. And why shouldn't they be?, heritage is usually something to be proud of.
The word bastard has ceased to be a relevant insult as there are so many unmarried couples living together and having children that it is quite a normal situation.

In my experience it's not so much what people say, it's how they say it. That rasping spout with a grimace of piercing eyes can be truly threatening no matter what is said.

 

[Santos L Helper]

Originally posted by Frodo

In my experience it's not so much what people say, it's how they say it. That rasping spout with a grimace of piercing eyes can be truly threatening no matter what is said.

Forget about all our disagreements for one second, and I agree 100% with this comment.
When I have gotten angry with someone on these boards, it's because I have attempted to read some type of context into their words. People can call me what they like, we should all be able to have light hearted banter about pretty much anything, but if I think your serious about a comment which denigrates another person, then I'll fire up a bit.

 

[Frodo]

Originally posted by Santos L Helper


but if I think your serious about a comment which denigrates another person, then I'll fire up a bit.

Then, with respect, it is up to you how to handle that emotion.

The key words are 'think'.........meaning that it is in your mind and not neccessarily fact.

and

'fire'.....which means irrational over-reaction.

And if you live in a society where denigration outweighs praise by at least 10/1 you must surely be a living flame.

Not that I'm saying that I don't misunderstand or misread things at times and I'm certainly guilty of being enraged at times but I think rational reflection proves me then guilty of causing myself unpleasantness. I 'try' to learn from my mistakes

 

[Santos L Helper]

Frodo, where does fire mean an 'irrational over-reaction'?
I tend to think that I'm passionate about a subject and do not consider myself to (usually) over react, but rather realise that a reaction is needed. Hence the 'fire up' analogy.

 

[BrisGirl]

I was out with my dog one day and he was over the top with being out and approached a group of people, I called him back and I was greeted with 'white trash'.

I was perplexed for a moment, but with that statement it made me look and yes, they had coloured skin. But until then, I hadn't even noticed.

I truly didn't understand the reason for the harsh racial attack on me. It is not my fault that I am white.

 

[NYPomme]

Actually - I've heard a school of thought that contends that racism is dependant on the power/economic relations within a given society. i.e can only be perpetrated by the race that is dominant within any given society. Derisory remarks based on racial difference from 'disadvantaged' to 'advantaged' are termed 'discriminatory'.


Re: The Mase comments -

'It just seems that way, I mean if I call a black guy a black bastard, I am saying that because he is black, nothing to do with what he did, and its preceived as being racist.

Whereas if the shoe was on the other foot, and a black man was to call me a white bastard, nothing would be though of it, because we dont think of people as being racist towards us.

So really its not racist, but its just preceived that way by them because they are brought up and have had racist comments all their life, that its now only natural for them to preceive such a thing as racist'.

With respect, you really need to re-think what you are saying here.

1. You 'fault' black people in drawing this conclusion - and presumably cannot understand why someone would consider you a racist. Calling someone a 'BB' is obviously racist - since it is associating a negative attribute (being a bastard) with being black - otherwise why include the racial characteristic in the remark?. Let me draw the analogy - should you call some a 'fat bastard' - you are linking two negative attributes. I believe the same is true with racial 'phenotypes'. I think to call someone a 'BB' explicitly intends to recipient of the insult to assume you are consider his race as a negative characteristic. Do you really anticipate the person you call a 'BB' not to make this connection? Honestly?

2. Secondly - you contend that Black people automatically assume whatever you say is racist - due to their 'conditioning'. This comment is racist in itself. You are making a 'negative' generalisation regarding members of non-white races. ie. your comments are tantamount to stating that 'all black people have chips on their shoulders - cos they were raised that way' (more or less - correct me if I'm wrong here). Would you say the same thing about ...let me see.....black Kenyans, black Tanzanians,or black Haitians? Would it be fair to say so? Also- how are you qualified to pass comment?

In case you are still confused - it is also not cool to call you a 'WB'........so I won't

 

[roobear]

Excellent post NYP. I concur 100%