Are people in the US racist?

I'm flipping and on ABC, Primetime, called, "What would you do"

They have a white kid trying to take a bike that wasn't his in the park. He is hitting the chain lock it with a hammer. People walk by and don't say anything. Finally an old couple stops to ask him if that is his bike, etc....

So they put a black kid out there. And within a minute you have everyone stopping. People snapping pictures, giving him hell, someone calls the cops, etc....

Yes, it is one set-up experiment. But it was eye opening.

Even black people that passed the white kid gave him the benefit of the doubt, while everyone who passed the black kid almost immediately figured he was stealing the bike and stopped to question him.

so now they put a hot blond chick out there.

An old guy stops and she says it isn't her bike, but she might need the bike.

Another older couple comes up, and a guy helps her use a saw to cut the chain.



Guess everyone loves a hot chick.

So we have learned:
people assume a young white kid is to be given the benefit of the doubt and not to assume he is stealing
people assume a black kid is stealing
guys want to help a hot blond chick steal a bike (even when she says she is stealing the damn bike). Men love hot chicks.

guys admit they know it is wrong, but what can you do, the chick is hot.

lol its insane.

People EVERYWHERE are racist, and stupid, and ill informed.

Welcome to the human condition.

Thank you marble. People in the US, specifically white people, the target of this character assassination attempt(racist in it's own motivation you could argue) as a whole are probably the least racist race on the planet in 2010.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Thank you marble. People in the US, specifically white people, the target of this character assassination attempt(racist in it's own motivation you could argue) as a whole are probably the least racist race on the planet in 2010.

I would have to agree.

timthebim wrote:

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Thank you marble. People in the US, specifically white people, the target of this character assassination attempt(racist in it's own motivation you could argue) as a whole are probably the least racist race on the planet in 2010.

I would have to agree.

Don't really know the answer to that. What I can say is of the 20ish or so nations I've been to they either were ethnically homogenous or worse than the US. Canada might be the exception. Canuckistanis are pretty good at the live and let live thing.

wolf, why are white people the target of a character assassination attempt?

marbleheadmaui wrote:

People EVERYWHERE are racist, and stupid, and ill informed.

Welcome to the human condition.

this!

marbleheadmaui wrote:

People EVERYWHERE are racist, and stupid, and ill informed.

Welcome to the human condition.

I think the problem is systemic. Our system in the US (and in many parts of the world) favors lighter skinned people over darker skinned people. There are people of all races who are ignorant and prejudiced, but the system favors lighter skinned people.

Because we're the only race that is bothered by racism. I think it comes from the extreme success European people encountered at the relative expense of the rest of the planet.


White guilt.

Gumby wrote:

marbleheadmaui wrote:

People EVERYWHERE are racist, and stupid, and ill informed.

Welcome to the human condition.

I think the problem is systemic. Our system in the US (and in many parts of the world) favors lighter skinned people over darker skinned people. There are people of all races who are ignorant and prejudiced, but the system favors lighter skinned people.

Nah, there's no consistent system across time and cultures that could be explanatory here. The best explanation I've read is that suspicion of people who look different might be an evolutionary tool for sensing danger. But who the hell knows.

Quote :

I think the problem is systemic. Our system in the US (and in many parts of the world) favors lighter skinned people over darker skinned people. There are people of all races who are ignorant and prejudiced, but the system favors lighter skinned people.

Paradoxically, our system in the US(and by extension copy-cat Europe) was the first to make an effort to separate itself from the core ethnicity of the nation. The Japanese government still looks out for the Japanese people for instance. It's not like that in the West so much anymore.

Indeed the future of many European ethnic groups are in doubt because of this.

Quote :

Nah, there's no consistent system that could be explanatory here. The best explanation I've read is that suspicion of people who look different might be an evolutionary tool for sensing danger. But who the hell knows.

Preference of your own family/ethnic groups shouldn't even have to be justified if we remove morals and look at our race biologically. Too bad we can't do that.

marbleheadmaui wrote:

Gumby wrote:

marbleheadmaui wrote:

People EVERYWHERE are racist, and stupid, and ill informed.

Welcome to the human condition.

I think the problem is systemic. Our system in the US (and in many parts of the world) favors lighter skinned people over darker skinned people. There are people of all races who are ignorant and prejudiced, but the system favors lighter skinned people.

Nah, there's no consistent system across time and cultures that could be explanatory here. The best explanation I've read is that suspicion of people who look different might be an evolutionary tool for sensing danger. But who the hell knows.

I meant to say our system specifically in the US and how it was created. Other parts of the world that were colonized by Europe have similar racial hierarchies (Much of Africa, South America, Australia).

Gumby wrote:

marbleheadmaui wrote:

Gumby wrote:

marbleheadmaui wrote:

People EVERYWHERE are racist, and stupid, and ill informed.

Welcome to the human condition.

I think the problem is systemic. Our system in the US (and in many parts of the world) favors lighter skinned people over darker skinned people. There are people of all races who are ignorant and prejudiced, but the system favors lighter skinned people.

Nah, there's no consistent system across time and cultures that could be explanatory here. The best explanation I've read is that suspicion of people who look different might be an evolutionary tool for sensing danger. But who the hell knows.

I meant to say our system specifically in the US and how it was created. Other parts of the world that were colonized by Europe have similar racial hierarchies (Much of Africa, South America, Australia).

yeah but even if that is true (not granting the point, but for the sake of argument), it doesn't explain racism in ancient Greece or in current day Japan or in Middle Ages Spain and I can go on and on.

The other thing is I think the "system" you cite didn't CAUSE racism. It was the RESULT of pre-system racism.

maui extremely logical today. Which is strange because most boxing fans are usually full on hate-whitey even if they're white.

Ummm....my life experience is that everyone is racist. But racism is stupid when it comes down to the fact that we actually have people of the same race fighting with each other. The people of Sahara Africa, sub-Sahara Africa, white and black in Zimbabwe and South Africa. People of the former nations of Russia, Czechoslovakia, Ireland, Spain, and France. People of Afghanistan, The Indus valley, India period, China, Japan, etc. Racism is simplification for a larger problem people do not want to discuss, because it requires deeper thinking than when is
"American Idol" on?

Andrew the Raider King wrote:

Ummm....my life experience is that everyone is racist. But racism is stupid when it comes down to the fact that we actually have people of the same race fighting with each other. The people of Sahara Africa, sub-Sahara Africa, white and black in Zimbabwe and South Africa. People of the former nations of Russia, Czechoslovakia, Ireland, Spain, and France. People of Afghanistan, The Indus valley, India period, China, Japan, etc. Racism is simplification for a larger problem people do not want to discuss, because it requires deeper thinking than when is
"American Idol" on?

The larger problem being human nature or a lack of cowbell?

Every race is racist. They are usually the most racist to races they have a past with.

Looking at population percentages versus incarceration rates, a black person is highly more likely to be committing a crime than a white person.

Of course some people want to plug their ears and cover their eyes to the truth of the matter, but they are cold hard facts.

Ya, Krazy. I mean, look at the arrest percentage of Krazyhorse himself vs white fighters.

People are entitled to their beliefs,but one's freedom of speech ends at the tip of my nose.