Well, 99% of the times stereotyping is what racism is about. Or maybe, better, extrapolating conclusions on a person based on stereotypes of that person’s nationality, race, ethnicity and so forth is definitely being a racist.[/quote]
Soooooooo sorry I’m not sure if you are actually saying YES or NO.
Are you leaving yourself some wiggle room by saying 99%?
If a person stereotypes, is the person a racist?[/quote]
I merely pointed out a strong correlation between stereotyping and racism.
What I am saying is that stereotyping most often ends in racism, because it stems from applying coarse, at times ungrounded, generalizations to specific people or groups. I would personally say that if stereotyping influences one’s actions and decisions in a way that appreciably impacts someone else, that’s what I would call racism. If stereotyping is used in a conversation and, most importantly, is shown to be applicable and true with valid arguments , it might not be what I call racism.
A) “I have two candidates for this job. One of them is Italian. Italians are lazy. I’ll give the job to the other guy.” Racist.
B) “Jee, that guy still lives with his parents even though he’s 30 yo. Well, that’s pretty common for Italians after all” Not racist[/quote]
So I would not be racist if I was back home and driving through West LA and say, “Jee theres a black kid rolling up behind me. I better make sure my doors are locked because most blacks in this area are gangsters and will try to carjack me.”?[/quote]
Seems prudent, but it depends which part of ‘West LA’ you are in.
A functional awareness of race is not racism.[/quote]
But you will agree that I am stereotyping the black kid just because most blacks in the area are in fact gangbangers and I would be more at risk of getting my car jacked as opposed to an old white lady rolling up behind me, right?
So the question again is if stereotyping makes you a racist. And you said 99%…
Let me rephrase. Stereotyping, to its core, categorizes certain races/nationalities. And if you don’t like the race/nationality, then that would qualify you as a racist. Sure I can say, theres a Chinese guy and a Mexican applying for the job. I haven’t seen either of them, but the probability that the Chinese guy is smarter than the Mexican is higher than the Mexican guy being smarter than the Chinese guy. Thats stereotyping, but… the question is “Is it necessarily wrong?” Theres an arab cruising around with shades and a full beard and dressed like a terrorist. Is it racist or stereotyping to even think that he might be a terrorist?[/quote]
This is the “I think gay lifestyle is wrong” discussion all over again. I for one think that whatever goes on in your mind, if it doesn’t make you act like a dick to other people, it does not matter . You can be as wary as you want of arabs, black people and mexicans. Heck, you can even install more alarms in your house because you don’t like the looks of those new not-perfectly-white neighbors. If you keep this to yourself and don’t try to damage, inconvenience or oppose them based on their race, it does not matter and it is imo pointless to even discuss.
To use your example above, if you roll up your windows and lock your car door when you see a black guy driving behind you, who gives a damn. It’s your freedom to do what you please and act on your worries, however justifiable (or not) they might be.
If you were to call the police on him because you’re absolutely convinced is about to carjack you because he’s black, you’re a stinking racist.
It is naive to think we don’t all have little, well rooted prejudicies and discomforts in the preesence of certain categories of people: it’s what you actually do and say (and that therefore influences others) that counts and makes you a racist or not.