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My friend's son was bullied and beaten at a few majority "black" schools and had to be transferred a few times (he's white). He then went to a majority white suburban school and did very well. He learned on his own what they were about.
In my high school many hispanics and blacks were in groups that fought with each other. The white people just tried to stay out of their way. The 4 tables in a lunchroom hallway were understood to be black and woe to the white person who tried to sit there. My first time in a middle school I sat down for breakfast(free breakfast for us poor kids) and I was one of the first ones. Next to me came and sat a black girl and I was thinking, oh how friendly, to sit next to someone that she doesn't know. Then two more of her friends came and then a few more. Needless to say, they didn't invite me into their group, they told me to leave. The other thing that formed a big impression is hearing the N-word about 10 million times in my youth and only hearing it from one particular race(which wasn't white).
These events and memories can happen to anyone and I'm sure the same thing has happened to black kids in white communities. I think people tend to group themselves when they get old enough to realize there are differences between us. The first grouping is typically by sex.
As far as my opinion, people present themselves in public in a certain way. Someone dressing as a thug or gangster rapper would be the same as someone else dressing as a punk rocker. I think most people would tend to stay away from either person. Unfortunately dressing as a thug or gangster is much more acceptable to society than dressing as a punk rocker. Imagine if half of all white people starting dressing as punk rockers and came up with their own vernacular which could only be spoken by white people otherwise white people would get mad.
If I walked into a fast food place and had to sit with one of two groups, one black and the other white, the race wouldn't matter that much to me. If the white group was dressed up as skinheads and the black group as professionals, then I'd probably sit with the black group. On the cable show "What Would You Do?" they tried an experiment where they had a group of black teenagers vandalizing a car and then a white group of teenagers vandalizing a car. They saw who had the police called on more times. Of course the black teenagers did(because that was the whole point of their experiment). The thing I couldn't agree with is that they dressed the black teenagers up as gangsters and the white kids up as preppy college kids. They should have dressed the white kids up as skinheads and the black kids up as preppy college kids and repeated the experiment. My hunch is that they dressed them both the same initially and saw no difference in phone calls, so they had to repeat the experiment but make the black teenagers look like gangsters to get the outcome they wanted.
I have no prejudice against any race, I've dated black, white, asian, my wife is hispanic and my children are half hispanic. However, I really wonder why such racial inequality exists in the world. Why do countries that are predominantly black or hispanic struggle so much while predominantly white ones do so well? Why do some races seem to do so well in the U.S. while others do not? These are questions that really have no answers, but things that a 3 or 4 year old are not seeing. When your child grows up they will watch the news and learn about the world and different countries they will probably wonder some of the same things.
The history of society is all about inequality, some people prospering and others failing. Some people come away from this with a racist/prejudice view and others do not. Even if we were all one race, then maybe we would divide ourselves by hair or eye color, or maybe height. Some people push this viewpoint and exploit it while others do not.
It's like any other aspect of parenting, lead by example, and talk, talk, talk. There is no guarantee, but most children develop attitudes towards race either from their families or peers. However, I am an example of that not happening. I grew up in racism ground zero, and do not consider myself at all racist.
And for the people saying young kids are unlikely to be prejudiced, I so wish that were true, but it's not. My children are biracial, and have already in their young lives heard disparaging remarks, some at their expense, some at others, all equally hurtful. My 8 year-old was recently introduced to the n-word being used by an 8 year-old aimed at another 8 year-old, who happens to be Indian.
It's like any other aspect of parenting, lead by example, and talk, talk, talk. There is no guarantee, but most children develop attitudes towards race either from their families or peers. However, I am an example of that not happening. I grew up in racism ground zero, and do not consider myself at all racist.
And for the people saying young kids are unlikely to be prejudiced, I so wish that were true, but it's not. My children are biracial, and have already in their young lives heard disparaging remarks, some at their expense, some at others, all equally hurtful. My 8 year-old was recently introduced to the n-word being used by an 8 year-old aimed at another 8 year-old, who happens to be Indian.
I think the question is - how did the 8 year old get the n word in their vocabulary, and how did they come to understand that that word is hurtful? I don't know if at that age they understand much of the ramifications of what they're saying beyond that it's an insult likely to upset someone.
Somebody somewhere is planting the seed that being biracial is something that's OK to mock. Because little kids, in the preschool range, don't seem to have an innate sense that it matters - at least from what I've seen. They get that idea from somewhere, as they get older.
And I wonder, between the 8 year olds that find buttons to push on other kids who are different to them to high school kids that only hang out with kids in their same ethnic group - how many of those kids actually turn out to be bona fide racists as they mature, and how many of them are just going along with the crowd?
I think the major influence is parents - racism seems to be a generational concept passed down from people who are scared that another group is going to take what's "theirs" - be it tax dollars, their neighborhood, their jobs, their daughters, their language - whatever it is they're afraid of losing. And from my experience, those people are not afraid to be vocal about their fears, and they have no compunction passing their bias on to the next generation.
I think the question is - how did the 8 year old get the n word in their vocabulary, and how did they come to understand that that word is hurtful? I don't know if at that age they understand much of the ramifications of what they're saying beyond that it's an insult likely to upset someone.
Somebody somewhere is planting the seed that being biracial is something that's OK to mock. Because little kids, in the preschool range, don't seem to have an innate sense that it matters - at least from what I've seen. They get that idea from somewhere, as they get older.
And I wonder, between the 8 year olds that find buttons to push on other kids who are different to them to high school kids that only hang out with kids in their same ethnic group - how many of those kids actually turn out to be bona fide racists as they mature, and how many of them are just going along with the crowd?
I think the major influence is parents - racism seems to be a generational concept passed down from people who are scared that another group is going to take what's "theirs" - be it tax dollars, their neighborhood, their jobs, their daughters, their language - whatever it is they're afraid of losing. And from my experience, those people are not afraid to be vocal about their fears, and they have no compunction passing their bias on to the next generation.
And of course you are without any "bias" whatsoever in your life.
I think the question is - how did the 8 year old get the n word in their vocabulary, and how did they come to understand that that word is hurtful? I don't know if at that age they understand much of the ramifications of what they're saying beyond that it's an insult likely to upset someone.
Somebody somewhere is planting the seed that being biracial is something that's OK to mock. Because little kids, in the preschool range, don't seem to have an innate sense that it matters - at least from what I've seen. They get that idea from somewhere, as they get older.
And I wonder, between the 8 year olds that find buttons to push on other kids who are different to them to high school kids that only hang out with kids in their same ethnic group - how many of those kids actually turn out to be bona fide racists as they mature, and how many of them are just going along with the crowd?
I think the major influence is parents - racism seems to be a generational concept passed down from people who are scared that another group is going to take what's "theirs" - be it tax dollars, their neighborhood, their jobs, their daughters, their language - whatever it is they're afraid of losing. And from my experience, those people are not afraid to be vocal about their fears, and they have no compunction passing their bias on to the next generation.
Oh, I absolutely agree that it is learned behavior at such a young age, most likely from the family. And as you say what constitutes real engrained bigotry as opposed to herd behavior is hard to ascertain. Whether or not such beliefs remain or not, and why, are the interesting question for me.
I was just using myself as an example that it's not always the case, but probably is the majority of the time.
Bias toward race? Or bias toward anything? I'm pretty biased toward any kind of bigot. Is that a satisfactory answer?
My point is, you think think your bias is correct over that of others and gives you some moral high ground over everyone else.
Sorry, thats just hypocrisy.
My point is, you think think your bias is correct over that of others and gives you some moral high ground over everyone else.
Sorry, thats just hypocrisy.
I do not agree. Tolerance of opposing opinions is one thing, but one does not need to tolerate hate.
A room full of 3 and 4 year old children and there is no racism.
If liberals/progressives/democrats would stop having kids then we would end racism.
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