To think that no racist ever admits they are a racist

[Sweetiedarling7]

“I’m not a racist but…”
I hear this so often. Does any racist ever come out and say they are a racist?
I don’t think so.

It’s interesting, because I’m sure they do know, or some of them do. Back in the mid 90s, there was a television programme called People’s Parliament. I was on that show for one series as a liberal/leftie talking about things such as racism, parenting, prostitution, immigration etc. The programme makers often struggled to get more right wing people onto the programme because, in the words of one producers, “they know how stupid they sound”!

Another honest question, would you include a man, who because of his religion, thinks a woman should behave/dress a certain way. Or who is against men who don't enforce the same rules, as he does? So is against other people who don't follow his religion or culture?
In other words are we just talking about white people being racist?

It depends what your 'concerns' are though.

Yes this is what I've come to believe as I've got older.

I really admire you for your honesty and for your willingness to reflect and learn. I wish others would follow your lead.

We have all been born into a society where there is deep structural racism. That is not our fault.

It is our fault if we choose to perpetuate it.

I don’t think all racism comes from people feeling superior. Often it’s just “difference”.
I do think cultural difference is often more divisive than skin colour.

Possibly. But it's fear of difference isn't it. So you think your ways are better as they are familiar to you.

The word “racist” has been so over used it is practically meaningless. The latest example of this is “the countryside is racist/too white”. I’m mean what is “too white”? It indicates being “white” is somehow incomplete, even though the British countryside has survived for Millenia by being almost exclusively white.

The dog friendly nature of the British countryside, with businesses catering to dog owning patrons is now “problematic” because certain groups have an opinion about not liking them and people are calling for dog free areas, bugger off!!!! We love dogs in the countryside, nearly everyone has a dog, if you go somewhere it is up to you to behave accordingly.

The pub with no halal meat is problematic- serving beer and not having halal meat on the menu apparently puts certain groups off. Well, all the pubs I’ve been in serve lemonade and most have a vegan option - so they do serve suitable food to eat and drink.

No doubt some Guardian reader will think the above is racist, well it’s not, it’s about valuing our local traditions and culture. Anyone is welcome, but respect the local traditions and culture, learn the countryside code, put on your hiking boots come for a walk, shut the gates, don’t disrupt the animals (livestock or pets) and join us and have a pint of coke and the vegan option in the local pub. By pushing the trope the countryside is racist, people will dig their heels in and it will become problematic- there’s increasing numbers of flags going up I’ve noticed.

Because the word racist has lost meaning and people are labelled as such for not being racist all the time. Not hard to work out.

I was literally called racist once because someone found out I voted Tory in a recent election. No other context needed apparently.

Father ' I hear you're a racist'
Where does the church stand on the old racism.
Father Ted.

No feeling of superiority here whatsoever.
Infact I usually despise the sort of person who corrects grammar.
I suppose I'm just so fed up with openly racist people hiding behind immigration issues that I resorted to belittling them.
I don't actually like that I did that, it felt a bit like eating a dirty McDonald's tbh.
I am in lots of pain after a horrible ski accident and have a horrible racist misogynistic neighbour who is really really getting to me.
I am so fed up with the lack of compassion lots of people can have and how easy they find it to blame immigration for everything.
I shouldn't have done it, but it comes from a place of frustration rather than superiority.
I say all this as someone who has concerns about immigration and the sort of people who come here un vetted. I just don't think this justifies racism.

Actually it definitely does matter. I have zero control over how someone reacts. A person can only be racist if they intend to be racist. Other people taking unreasonable offence is beyond my control!

I think it's very rare that racist people actually admit that they are racist.

I was watching a news item a few months ago about a "whites only" community in the USA which had been established by taking advantage of some sort of legal loophole - can't remember exactly what. The residents were interviewed and they insisted that they were not racist. I'm not sure if they had actually managed to convince themselves that they weren't, or if they were just saying it because they didn't think they could admit to it, but it was a very curious thing to watch.

I agree, about if we choose to perpetuate it.

I also think structural racism NEEDS to be taught in schools, because its a complex thing to realise that you are an unwitting product of your environment. And I think we live in such a media saturated environment and we're increasingly exposed to so much. I think its a leap to go from 'I don't feel hatred in my heart so I'm not a racist' to 'society is inherently racist and I'm a part of it so I need to think this through really carefully'... I don't think everyone has the luxury of time or motivation to think about this so it needs to be taught.

And social media etc is doing the absolute devil's work as far as this stuff is concerned. And yes I realise I'm on social media lamenting social media. 😬

I don't agree. If you are unwilling to reflect on your own behaviour and learn why you have offended someone, then you are part of the problem.

Why do you think your assessment of whether or not the offence taken is reasonable is the only correct one?

This is why people no longer worry about being called a racist. The kids at my school
make it into a joke. I told one child he had to wait for something, him and his friend jokingly called me a racist. This is year 6.

Should I have pulled him up on it? Im white he’s black. Apparently I don’t have an opinion on it.

Forgot to add, I laughed. It was quite funny.

What absolute nonsense. You're actually suggesting that decent young men have turned into racists because people have called racist young men who are not them, racist? Should we stop criticising MVAWG in case it turns decent young men into violent misogynists?

Course not. Just like a bully never admits they are a bully. They believe that whatever they are doing is justified

No, you’re ignorant and lacking in self awareness

I would say that a man who wants to control women is sexist not racist. If he despises other men who don't want to control women in the same way he is demonstrating toxic masculinity.

“The whole crux of racism is they genuinely think that other races are inferior. That there are legitimate reasons why they feel that way.”

I 100% agree with this.

In all the racist encounters I have ever had, then people genuinely believe that I am inferior or less capable, purely because of my skin. That is what they actually think - that my race is inferior.

Ergo you get comments like:

I never expected you to be able to swim.

You speak so well for a Black person.

And my favourite:

You are ok, you are the right kind of black. You’re not like the others.

So they are upgrading my inferiority from baseline of “black people are xxxx (insert word of choice for racists) but you are a little less xxxxx than the others.”

Meanings change though. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the sentiment “Make America Great Again”. Now it’s a short cut for being the worse sort of Republican.

Being racist used to mean being offensive or discriminatory to people who were black and brown. Now it’s a catch all term to describe anything that differentiates people by skin or culture or country. The post about the countryside is spot on.

I think youre a racist. ( not you, obviously! )

I think if you behave in a racist way and say racist things then you're a racist.

I was really interested to hear what everyone thought about it.

I met a man once who was very open about it. It was in a work capacity, he’d been arrested for sexual assault (wrongly to be fair, mistaken identity) and I met with shortly after he’d been released with no charges - he quite jovially said ‘I’m a racist not a rapist!’

It's so depressing.

This is why we have to move away from the stance expressed by a pp that it isn't racist if the speaker doesn't intend it to be racist.

The people you describe in your post probably didn't "intend" to be racist and probably wouldn't identify as being racist, but they are horribly racist nonetheless.