As Long as I'm Avenue Qing: Are You a Little Bit Racist?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I suppose it's fair to say that I'm a little bit racist, but I think I'm a comparatively mild and enlightened one. I don't want people to be treated differently under the law based on their 'race', but I do have certain prejudgments about groups of people:

-An English shopkeeper will always try to short change me.

-There hasn't be a Finn born who couldn't do with a good arse-kicking.

-Parisians are all snots. French people generally are very nice.

-The concierge at a Swiss hotel with do everything possible to make you comfortable.

-The concierge at an Italian hotel will make you wish you were in Switzerland.

-Athenians all smell like piss.

-Egyptians make the best coffee in the fucking world.

-I wouldn't trust an albino Chinese nymphomaniac with mechanical thumbs as far as I could throw her.

Boru

[The Valkyrie]

I got my head bitten off in another forum on a similar thread.

I honestly think that we're all racist to some degree.

I know I am, and I strive not to be.

I believe those of us who are honest and decent will generally admit it to ourselves and try not to be.

Those who are honest but not decent people will admit it and use it as a source of pride.

Feel free to rip me a new one.

[Jenny A]

That's pretty much it Beccs. It's a problem because there's more than a grain of truth to many stereotypes and yet individuals will fool you every time often in a good way.

[Violet]

One of my two major artistic endeavors challenges our usual cultural norms purposefully to increase the open-mindedness of the reader, while also attributing some separation from this world into an equally valid alternate set. Such attempts include, but at not limited to:
*A North Korea style of governance of a semi-tropical nation peopled predominantly by an analogue to the English, which invaded and "settled" this land within the previous three generations (~65ish years).
*A people of Incan analogues (had they developed with their culture to a napoleonic level of development) largely interned within work camps by the above NK government.
*A progressive technologically-focused arabic-african world superpower.
*An utter absence of east asian peoples and american natives... sorry yall, but I just couldn't find much of a reason for you to abuse the ICE. You should be thanking me, really... as you do not want to be a part of this. Really, I'm doing you a favor by leaving you out of this... trust me. (But worry not, there's... still none of you in my other manga either. Dammit... well, at least you're overdone, right? Right? Actually, you also don't want to be a part of that manga. When not including a regional ethnicity is less racist than forcing them to participate with the rest of us... )

Use of racism benefits entertainment that intends to put the reader in their place, as well as that intended to generate a world the reader will recognize.

Culture/palette swaps can lead to somewhat interesting results

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That's pretty much it Beccs. It's a problem because there's more than a grain of truth to many stereotypes and yet individuals will fool you every time often in a good way.

I dearly hope I don't get to inventing any new stereotypes. If this catches on... white people could come off as terrorists (they are), rapists (yup), and psychopathic mass murdering fuckheads (not to be mistaken with terrorists, which they also happen to be).

And black people gain a whole new layer of badass. Not that you can see it, or anything

[Exian]

About a year ago, I had an experience that made me rethink my honesty with my racism. I like to believe I'm not an outward racist who hates a certain type of people based on sweeping, superficial, generalizations, and even after the experience, I still like to think that. But, my racism was put to question when the chips were down. Here's probably a long story:

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It happened about a year ago at work. I worked at a produce wharehouse on 3rd shift (nights, whatever you call it); part of my job was to back up the big box-trucks into the docks to be loaded. This meant walking through a huge poorly lit parking lot, looking for the truck number that was needed. I was never particularly scared doing this, because I worked in the same area I lived, which is pretty damn country. The sticks, you might call it. In fact, behind the parking lot and the surrounding area is a huge corn field.

One night, I pull a loaded truck out, park it, go looking for the next one, and hop in. I swing the truck around and get it lined up with the dock, and as I'm checking the mirrors to back up, I suddenly see a guy out of the driver side window. I'm only mildly startled to see a man in the parking lot, as it was common for delivery guys to get there early. Protocol was to tell these guys, when they came to the building, to go back to their trucks and wait until morning. We don't do deliveries at night. The other common thing here, and getting to the point; the delivery guys were always middle-eastern.

So, I suddenly see the guy approaching my window. He has a hood on and its night, but I know he's middle-eastern. I'm mildly startled. Then, I see his right hand is slack to his side, and it's holding a long skinny metal object. It's the size of a handgun and its being held in the crook of his thumb and pointer finger; ie held like a gun. So I start to panic, but not outwardly because I don't want the guy to think I'm rude. Well, I say not outwardly, but my hands were instinctively shifting everything from reverse into drive and popping air brakes. If he pointed that thing at me, I was about to steal the company truck and let my coworkers deal with it (I'd probably call the cops once I was safe; I'm not an animal). While my hands are readying to take me to safety, my eyes are frantically jumping from the "gun" to the man's face back to the "gun". In retrospect, I guess I was looking for signs of agressive intent. He motions for me to stop and keeps approaching. He says some stuff that I couldn't hear over my heartbeat and I "act" like I didn't hear him, mouthing "wha?" I really couldn't form a single thought other than fright. Here I was in a real situation that you only see in movies or read in the papers and my response is to panic.

Eventually (one sencond, maybe two), he moves the object to his other hand and I see its a flashlight, but not before he looked down at it and realized what it looked like. I think my attempt to not be rude failed. I roll down the window and he asks about deliveries. I tried to calmly explain the protocol, but I was having trouble modulating the volume of my voice and ended up shouting it at him. He thanked me and went away. I slammed the truck into the building, because I was having trouble controlling the muscles in my lower leg.

When I play it back in my head, I realize that I knew he was middle-eastern and hooded before I saw the "gun". I worry that those things played a part in my reaction. I try to change details in the story to see if I would react the same. Maybe if it was: a white guy, no hood, daytime, a girl, a black guy, and then I saw the "gun" would I have reacted differently?

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I don't know. What do you say? Was that racist?

[Alex K]

About a year ago,
[...]
I don't know. What do you say? Was that racist?

I'd say it's generally an unpleasant situation, and some the usual ingrained racist prejudices have made it worse. No more, and no less. Could have happened to me.

[Violet]

When I play it back in my head, I realize that I knew he was middle-eastern and hooded before I saw the "gun". I worry that those things played a part in my reaction. I try to change details in the story to see if I would react the same. Maybe if it was: a white guy, no hood, daytime, a girl, a black guy, and then I saw the "gun" would I have reacted differently?

I don't know. What do you say? Was that racist?

I'd say that you got yourself a bump in the night. Unless a hooded stranger fills you with any less fear in the dark with an apparent gun and an interest in you... then it's not remotely racist.

Besides, even if it *is* even a touch racist: that's not on you... that's on the fear culture mongered by your media and government when regarding 'foreign nationals'.

[Exian]

Alice, I think you cut to the heart of my unsettled feelings after that experience. I can sort of relate it to the stories that popped up after 9/11 about people making a big deal when a middle-eastern guy boarded a flight they were on. In the comfort of my home, I would classify those people as ill-informed and quick to judgement; another part of me understood their point of view, but mainly I would distance myself from them. I'm well aware of the affect the media can have on me, and I liked to think I was able to temper any bias with either just acknowledging it or informing myself, but none of that ultimately mattered when faced with what I thought was a real threat. Maybe in the end, I was too quick to judge those people.

[Violet]

What's worse is the effect that our wartime policy of fear is having upon our "enemies"... they're afraid of us... and we have ensured that they have little left to lose.

The jaded strategist in me would have you never trust, as that is the avenue by which most of your attacks will be received... but I sent her to the kitchen to make me some curry, so I'll tell you this instead: holding yourself aloof in all cases, distrusting your own shadow, spreading your assets, being alert at all times... is no way to live a good life. Is it safer? Yes... should you avoid endangering yourself when possible? Usually..

But should you check every green banana you buy for mold? I say no. Safety and security are difficult to maintain, and the aggressor always has a major advantage in knowing when, where, and with what an attack is coming.

Civilians should only react to potential danger only when they feel threatened. You felt threatened, and you did what you had to... it was a harrowing experience, and your self-control to not drive over an apparent major threat to your life is admirable

[Ben Davis]

Not everyone is a little bit racist. I'm not. To be clear, that means I don't stereotype based on ethnicity, full stop. That doesn't mean I'm free from experiencing tensions caused by institutionalised forms of racism but it does mean that I'm better equipped to recognise them when they occur and take appropriate action (if required). Generally I oppose stereotypes (and 'archetypes' ) when I encounter them.

@Jacob re. Q on skin colour blindness: I'm not blind to it. It's a useful physical descriptor and I don't find myself stopping myself from using it out of a misplaced sense of 'anti-racism'. If I'm talking about a black person, I may or may not use skin colour as a descriptor, depending on its usefulness in context.