Is racism really that "evil"?

Question

if ppl preach so much about tolerance and acceptance, why cant they tolerate racism too? maybe racism isnt as evil as liberals say it is. racism is just a personal viewpoint, racists can still be good, honest people. they just see things differently than the rest of you, so why are you putting them down? they are not all bad.

Answer 1

I think the real problem with racism is that it is almost always evolves into discrimination.  Having a thought or opinion, however separatist it may be, does no harm.  What is harmful is when such an opinion becomes an action (such as turning down a qualified person of color for a job simply because of his or her ethnic background).

The reason racism (as opposed to discrimination) is often the target of complaint is because people don't realize just how often their views color their actions.  It's too easy to rationalize or make excuses for one's choices when the underlying reason for the choice may very well be an inherent racial prejudice.  

Another thing to think about is the messages we pass on to our children.  If you are a racist, your children will pick up on your beliefs -- even if you don't express them aloud.  Will the children internalize those beliefs?  Perpetuate discriminatory practices?  Hate you or themselves for holding opinions that are not in line with the rest of the family?

I don't think any thought is, in and of itself, evil.  However, it is important to consider how our thoughts dictate even the most subtle of our actions.

Answer 2

Yes, its a horrible thing.

Answer 3

I agree overall with your statement in support of your question.  Racists are entitled to their viewpoint.  That being said, I don't want any as friends!  But I do believe people and private enterprises are entitled to be racist.

www.LP.org

Answer 4

Awareness that different genetic makeup can make us different is not evil. Nor is a well researched position that some family differences appear to produce welcome or unwelcome results for the offspring.

Humanity can decide to split up into warring groups... anything not identical becomes our enemy.  Well, the cells of our body follow that rule. We do set out to destroy cells that are significantly different, not from the cell but from the recognized cellular identity common to the  cells of the person.

What we as human beings can do is narrow down the set of beings we will recognize as part of our species, or we can broaden it to include any organism that is part of what we regard as having our common cellular identity.

We realize that if we  narrow our acceptance criteria, we have more enemy individuals, and we know that we have a risk of do ourselves in.

Granted we have a possibility that we can kill off everyone slightly different until we encounter a more powerful variant.

Now, within a racially mixed environment, we face a problem is not only other racial groups but also our own sees it as too dangerous to treat other peoples as enemies. At that stage it becomes prudent to blend the races so that we stop seeing other races as being different organisms.

Well, there is a problem here too. if we start to think of the non-blended members of our society as different organisms, we have merely created more different organisms.

So, we need to stay the course, and welcome all members of our human race as having our identity and working to ensure that every individual can accept that view.

Answer 5

I live in the South so I know some "good honest people", but some of them have issues raised up in them about race.  I do not think that allot of them are going to change because it is generational but I do not see the olive branch going out from Gangster Rap either.  The older generation is just raised up in it.  I know that they have opinions that are not mine and I know their limitations.  

Racism is a horrible thing but it needs to be addressed from ALL sides.  Non-whites seem to get a huge pass.  Listening to some of the quotes that come from people like Obama's " Ex Pastor or others and it is nothing more than the Clan in reverse.  It all is wrong but it needs to be addressed equally morally as well as legally.  When is the last time that a hate crime has been prosecuted when it was a white victim?  I rest my case.  We need to all get along and all try but we do not need to be all Hippy about it, just respectful enough to have an even playing field and aggressive enough to call Racists out of all persuasions.

Answer 6

Racism is one of the single most evils of the human race. To even insinuate the question is gaging. 6 million jews disappeared from the face of the Earth at the command of a racist zealost. Many other mass genocides also was attributed to those who took their racism too far. There is no place in society for the object that has caused so many lives not even in the secret chambers of ones heart and mind.

Answer 7

I wouldn't call it evil... burning seven babies in a giant broiler might be evil, but racism isn't evil... just a view point the ignorant, lazy, naive or so forth might fall into.

Answer 8

Sorry, I don't see how demeaning another person because of their skin color can in any way be considered a good thing. If you can explain it, I'll consider it... but I doubt that you can.

Answer 9

Racism is ignorance, and ignorance isnt illegal or "evil".

People DO tolerate racism....especially "liberals"!  When the Klan (intolerant) marches down the street without being mangled by the masses, it is because progressive thinkers (tolerant) understand that "free speech" extends past the things we all believe or want to hear!

Racism, as a concept, is almost as benign as you claim it is....it doesnt hurt much more than feelings and the collective unconscious.  Unfortunately, it is what people DO ABOUT their racism...from lynching, to not hiring qualified people, to the many forms of segregation......that is more than just a "personal viewpoint" issue.

If you can understand the concept of "we arent wrong, just different" for your own side, but dont extend that to others.....you really need to rethink your point of view or be happy being a racist AND a hypocrite.

Answer 10

Racism is seperatist and lame. When the people of Earth realize it's ONE PLANET-- ONE PEOPLE  they you will all be alot better off.

                                 Sincerely,

                                      Alien Gnarly-regula4

Answer 11

EVERYBODY IS A LITTLE RACIST when you get right down to it.

Just look at how we live, every city has a "black area" a "chinatown" a "little tokyo" a "little siagon" or a "little mexico city". Every major city has a "black chamber of commerce" or a "black leadership council" or a "black baptist ministers council".

The KKK is banned while the NAACP is praised.

The real gut busting belly laugh is that most of these separatist groups are liberals.