Why are people STILL racist in 2019?

[malificent7]

Is is fear or something? Just feel that so much is fuelled by xenophobia...Brexit, stabbings, right wing extremism is on the rise.in a more interconnected world i would hope for the opposite

The only difference I can see between now and the 1970’s is that racism has become more covert. You no longer see signs saying “No blacks, no Irish” on rooms for rent, and most people aren’t openly disparaging about other races.
But it’s all still there. My black BIL is amused by “reverse racism” - a white bus driver who ignores the greetings of his white passengers or gives a surly grunt, but who effusively welcomes BIL, to try and hide his racism with some woke virtue signalling! If he was genuinely not racist, he’d treat all the passengers the same.
When I was a junior doc, some consultants openly admitted that they threw out all the job applications with foreign names, then threw out all those with female names, and shortlisted from the white male remainder.
Now they may interview a token foreign applicant, but the post is still likely to go to the preferred local chap. I had black colleagues who told me they’d suffered from racist bosses at our local teaching hospital, and that’s within the last five years.
Making it unacceptable in public doesn’t change people’s subconscious bias.
I think all humans have a notion of “us” and “them”, going right back to tribal prehistory.
We forge bonds of loyalty and mutual protection to family, then tribe or village, then country. Very few people can genuinely claim to include all of humanity in their “us” category, however much they feel they ought to.

Because some people are idiots.

It's still reducing, though.

It's well up there on the shit-media's clickbait list right now, though, so it's always in the papers, which is pretty horrible.

Dont get racism confused with being territorial, even people moving to the country, or to a new town are sometimes shuned, as this means less houses and jobs for locals. There are plenty of settled immigrants in the UK, that are worried about hoards entering the country. Mass immigration from countries that abuse their people is what should be outlawed. I love the different cultures, but our boarder controls have been seen wanting, when it comes to allowing criminals into our country.

Some people cant feel good about themselves through who they are or what they've done so they achieve that feeling by thinking they are superior to other races.

@Breez
But surely this is a minority of immigrants? You can't judge everyone by the actions of the few.

I believe it is a universal truth that you should treat others as you wish to be treated, regardless of race or religion.

More importantly I think that ALL races have an equal proportion of wankstains. If they had recently transported 3000 liverpudlian (or any city, race irrelevant) in to your area, the same problems would persist. This is why the gypsies have such a hard time.

The fact is that nowadays it is considered ok to be of any race except white, as being white means you automatically benefit from white privilege (which is in fact true) but you haven't chosen that, you haven't done anything beyond being born, to be automatically lumped in the racist camp.

Luckily my social circles are not so ignorant, we are all human, we all respect each other. But my daughter being in high school where there is less than 5% white representation DOES suffer racism. But this doesn't matter because she is WHITE.

Society needs to stop this hate spreading and actively call out individuals, not whole communities.

History, family views and upbringing. Superiority complex.

@LiveInAHidingPlace

I'm calling you out for this...
Discussing race on mn is always so pointless. Full of white people talking about how there's no racism anymore but if there is, white people have it just as bad.

And

Yes chicken, poor whitey and the terrible prejudice we face on a daily basis, it is a real struggle, how do we manage.

WHITEY? Really?

Not racist at all.

Yes definitely tribal thing and sticking by what's normal to you.

It covers religion, my dm used to say things like... Blah is one of us, Catholic... But I don't think she actually understands that much about it.

I see time and time again on here with some very political posters, it's clear they have been brain washed into tribe mentality.

Other religions keep it going now and don't like their dc to mix with white kids, who don't follow the their rules.

Countries from behind the wall, seem to have been closed off from immigration and can be racist, oban etc...

But essentially it's that tribal thing and I think abusing people politically is just as bad as abusing colour, race etc.

It isn’t about whether white people may or may not face racism in certain, individual incidences. But the historical context is not the same, nor is it institutional or yet another example of how the uk is entrenched in minority privilege, as it is for other groups.

Your dd might have been on the receiving end, but that doesn’t remove the white privilege she will still benefit from in life. It’s a bit of a red herring, same as the privileged, sheltered experience of a black child from a wealthy home and their minimal personal experience of racism as of yet isn’t really the best way to demonstrate the level of racism in the uk.

I’m not arguing that only white people can be racist, therefore can’t ever experience it. But just like an Asian person being racist towards an African or vice versa, it doesn’t have the same power imbalance or consequences because it’s white privilege that rules.

I'm calling you out for this...
Discussing race on mn is always so pointless. Full of white people talking about how there's no racism anymore but if there is, white people have it just as bad

Thats true though isn't it? The few white posters who do get it are shouted down by racists who think they're not being blatantly racist.

You were quick to pick up on the word Whitey which at least isn't as bad as the untold number of 'golliwog' threads aimed at making black women feel like shit with derogatory terms.

What racists want is for black people to never respond in frustrated fashion despite years of microaggressions, Dail Heil style news reporting, even on here told by MN admin that racism must be challenged 'robustly' as opposed to threads/comments being removed. As if it's our job to challenge bigotry.

All that - as opposed to 1 word which doesn't even equate to what we are called.

I won't stand for any racist nonsense from anyone in real life. No Kumbaya. Online is just par for the course - Racists can hide then with their hypocrite selves go and say good morning to the black neighbour or colleague

I'm sorry but what annoys me in these threads is the sanctimony. I think we're all racist to some degree, even those who will deny it. I think most people are racist because culture exists. And as a result we all have biases towards certain cultures and against others.

So there is no room for the individual and history determines everything. This is part of why racism still exists.

There can be no open discussion, there can be no equality, because of what went before? And yet I have never met a bitter Jewish person, or Muslim.

Yet with my EXDP it wasnt the whitey types shouting abuse, it was the people from every other race, because of the colour of my skin.

I have grown up in a generation where it is shameful to be white and there isn't anything that I can do to fix that.

I am lucky, I live in a very multicultural area and we do mix well, it isn't divided up like many parts of the country, so you dont get the gang mentality.

Racism is an attitude that excludes or judges anyone for the colour of their skin/culture, not a genetic trait that MUST continue.

My parents are racist - they're of a certain age and make certain comments. While they would never hurt anyone different to them or be rude to their faces for eg, they do have outdated views towards Islam for example. I've argued til im blue in the face - they won't change and I can't make them. Agree it's less overt now. I watched old episodes of porridge and only fools and horses and the casual racism is shocking.

Re immigration, that is different to racism. I'm not saying their views towards immigrants is right. The vitriol should be directed at companies and the government etc.

But when people born here struggle to get social housing while their foreign counterpart does, when theres a reduction in services (nursery, children cente support ( as people with English as s second language are prioritised, when all an areas lovely greenery (Welsh valleys) is being destroyed to build more houses, when you can't get a gp appointment for love nor money when it's oversubscribed, when there is high unemployment and zero hour contracts, when fireworks go off at all times of the year and scare pets not just new year's,bwjen school place are oversubscribed, when the NHS is on peril - it's not amiss to suggest more should be done to support a country's nationals than encourage more immigration. There's ways and means to do that differently though of course

Atmos why be sorry for your view?

I couldn't care less if a racist over the way doesn't like me. So what?

I do care tho when racists impact on job opportunities and prospects, believe and spread racist propoganda etc, all designed to minimise another human being just because they're a different colour and/or from a different country. Such a narrow xenophobic attitude to life.

Just last week I pulled up a colleague who commented on a younger colleague's height - He's 6'1" - 'ooh you're sooo tall. Pause. "That's scary". There are white men at work equally as tall, and taller but she'd never said it to them. & in her pause, I knew somehow what she was going to say.

She'd bo thought as to, how would she like to be called' scary?'

Of course on being called out, on went the waterworks🙄 not least because I guess, another colleague (white woman who heard) told her she was out of order.

My mum was a nurse in the 60s when all that 'dont touch me' stupidness was going on in hospitals. Decades later its the same attitude - If you're different, you don't belong. If you retaliate, you are wrong. Alongside being told by those who don't experience racism how we should think, feel and speak about it.

There's a little bit of Hitler in a whole lot of people here. If he were alive in these times there are more than enough people on this this island who would welcome him, albeit mainly in sly fashion.

@Madein1995

Immigration is essential to the running of this country. There are highly qualified immigrants who wont be able to take up positions in healthcare, education etc should immigration be further cut.

As for immigration at times of crisis, these people are suffering the worst of human atrocities. I'd rather they were safe here than I had a nursery place x days a week.

Be careful not to believe the media hype and dont read the daily mail

I think people are more openly racist now than they have been for a long time. I saw some really horribly racist posts (masquerading as jokes), on facebook the days after brexit vote. It's as though the leave vote gave them permission to come out. It's very worrying and depressing.

People are just jerks and a lot will go along wit whatever the current prejudices are if they think it will benefit them. I am Irish and we've had hundreds of years of experience with this.

Ask a few Bexiteers..

I think there are a couple.of contributing factors

1. it's been human nature to focus on "other" people like to categorise themselves by what they aren't. People find arbitrary differences and focus on them.

1. People lack empathy - inability to relate to others. Astonishingly people who've faced prejudice themselves can be quick to dish it out, we don't seem able to see others as like ourselves. Eg my Irish mixed race MIL voted for Brexit even though she faced prejudice as an immigrant and has been treated well by the state. She can't see that other people might want or deserve what she got.

1. Race relations stir uncomfortable feelings... Mention racism to many white people and they can't have a sensible discussion about it without going on the offensive defensive so they don't actually learn anything they just lock down.

1. Lack of understanding about what racism is... Clue the classic "well once a black person was rude to me - I've experienced racism." Not understanding that racism is deeply embedded in power structures and those who own power in the UK are mainly white men.

It's a huge issue I could dive into these in a lot more detail but it's so vast.

atmos I think there’s a difference between a cultural bias against certain people as a group that you have genuine reasons not to feel any affinity with, and a bias made on assumptions and ignorance. Or bias towards individuals.

I have no doubts that on some level I subconsciously other a particular cluster of very recent immigrants in the nearest town. I struggle with the fact that for them, women are very much the inferior sex, and expectations are limited to wife and mother. And the language barrier and lifestyle means I’m unlikely to find out what I do have in common with them, beyond a shared smile about a tantruming toddler or similar.

But the same is true of my feelings towards some white, middle class women from the American Bible Belt I’ve encountered. We might share a skin colour, and in upbringing anyway the same religion, and outwardly have the same history regarding privilege and class. But their sexist culture isn’t something I can gel with. Or get over my feelings towards.

Whereas I don’t feel any different towards people that share a religion or an ethnicity with the first group than I do towards anyone exactly like me.

I’m always going to have more common ground and feel unconsciously biased towards someone with a similar outlook on life to me, regardless of race or religion, (or sexuality, disability or background for that matter) than I do with some stereotype from benefits Britain that I happen to share a skin colour with.

Sod off already with this Leave vote shit.
Are lovely non racist Remainers are offering everyone a British Passport who wants one?
Of course not. There are always criteria. Why is a Remainers criteria different to Leavers then?

'Brexit has caused more racism' klaxon!

'Brexit has caused more racism' klaxon!!

Change the record!

@Scorpiovenus

Because the older generation grew up with racism.

Your going to have to wait for them to all die for that to stop.

Are you having a laugh?

I know WAY more younger people (under 35) who are racist as fuck, than I do 'older people..' And not all racist people are white.

In fact this 'only white people can be racist' narrative fucks me right off. I can't believe that people are so clueless and ignorant that they seriously believe that people of other races are not capable of racism. (Towards white people AND other races.)

This tired old 'all white people are racist' chestnut is so boring and done-to-death now that I can't even be arsed to rise to it.

Crack on with your stereotyping why don't cha?! (you AND everyone else bashing the white people!) If it makes you happy!!!