Some people state that in the united states since white people are not a minority and the government is mainly white males you can not be racist against white people. You can be prejudice but not racist. I disagree with this wholeheartedly but I'm still curious to know what the truth is. If anyone can help that would be great.
121704
Being a racist against white people is just as possible as being a racist against blacks, hispanics, or asians.  There are groups that are racist towards white people.  "The Black Nationals" is the most prominent right now, although the "New Black Panthers" is catching up quickly.
165051
American society is very much a "black & white" society, very consumerist society.  People, as a rule, are discriminatory (not the same as prejudiced), they have a definite us vs. them streak.  There are myriad of institutions that reinforce this view, religion and patritotism, to name two.  In the us vs. them view, regardless of fact or opinion I am right and you are wrong.  The educational system in the United States further reinforces this by not making people think, just memorize.  I could go on and on, but I feel that I would end up ranting.  I hope this helps you.
675992
i date outside of my "race" all the time...in fact, most of the time i do. i don't let racism stop me at all nor do i care what my family thinks. besides, as far as i'm concerned...there's only one race and that's the human race.
517650
If the action committed is already a crime why should it be more of a crime based on the identity of the victim ?  Does a person of color have more rights than a white male ? I limit the question to white males because the last time I read anything on the subject there had been exactly zero cases of "race" crimes filed against any person of color in America.  It seems that you must be a white male to commit a race crime.\n\nThese types of laws only further racism in America.
462522
You have just pointed out and responded to one of the most popular and solicited questions of the century!  It goes to show you what kind of nation of people we are, and how really confused we can be. There really is no such thing as "acting black or white" - the reference is only made toward races when it seems each has somehow consumed and metamorphised the ways and actions of the other.  It's like saying that a person's character or personality has to be all or nothing....not true.  The accusation is what people try to limit each other to. No other race or culture of people display such silliness as we do.  You just do you,.
131866
no matta how far we have advanced as a people racism still exists. Our forefathers have cushioned it for us a little  though and we have it a few ways better than our grandfather or grandmother or even our ancestors have had it. but it still exisits. racism now has taken on a few new forms though. experts have argued orgin of where racism began. Some say it was taught through parents. others would say racism is learned. but where ever racism has come from it still exisits. People just hate each other for a reason or we sterotype each other and judge each other and make assumptions that keep us from trusting or talking to differnet race. My father argues its only white and black in the world no asian no japenses no irish no french no nothing it is just black and white. I believe different. I have nothing against no one or no race if i dislike a person it is because i cant stand them not b/c of how they look
65147
>>>>Not to be racist, but it's as if only white people are >>>>allowed to have an identity.\n\nThat's simply not true. \n\nHow many people do you know of who could explain the cultural differences between a Libyan and a Turk? To most Americans they are simply Arabs, white or not. Similarly how many people do you know of who could distinguish between a Boer and a white Kenyan based purely on cultural difference? Both are simply Africans. How many people do you think understand the difference between a Georgian and a Muscovite? How about a Berber and a Taureg? A Kurd and a Sikh? A Lapp and an Norwegian?\n\nYet those are all white people. Quite clearly this cultural ignorance has nothing whatsoever to with skin colur or race.\n\n\n>>>>>Nobody confuses an Irishman with an Italian just \n>>>>>because they are "European".\n\nThat is because America has huge numbers of Italian and Irish immigrants. Try the average American on groups from European areas that haven't emigrated to the US in large numbers. How many people wouldn't confuse a Dane and Norwegian as both being Scandinavian? Or a Frenchman and a Belgian? Or a Spaniard and a Portugese?\n\nFor perhaps the perfect example, even after 20 years of being a major public figure my experience tells me that well over 25% of Americans still don't understand that Arnold Schwarzenegger is not and never has been German. \n\nThe simple fact is that there are far to many cultures and ethnicities in the world to have even a cursory knowledge of them all, even those of us that are interested. We need to lump cultures somehow to get any sort of handle on what is out there. Sometimes that lumping is ridiculously broad, as with your examples of "Africans" and "Asians" but we still need to do that. And African is no more ludicrous as a grouping than “Russian”, and Russians are largely white.\n\nAs we become more and more interested in regions and people we narrow down those divsions. So most Americans can separate out Sicilians and Italians generally. Many now can also separate out Hmong and Vietnamese generally, which is a very fine scale split. \n\nBut the parts of the world we have no reasons to be interested in tend be populated in our minds by "Africans" and "Russians", even though those groupings are more or less meaningless.\n\nBut rest assured it has nothing to do with race. Americans are just as almost as ignorant or European cultural differences as Africans.\n\nBut just to make you fell a bit better, my experience has been that most Africans don't draw any real distinction between Americans and Canadians either. The USA and Canada are usually treated the same way Americans treat Austria and Germany. Everyone more or less knows they're separate countries, but the differences in language, culture and so forth are so small that they feel they can be ignored.\n\nLike I said, nothing to do with race.
49418
When you get right down to it, what REALLY matters is your ACTIONS toward other people, not what's in your mind and heart.  How can anyone really ever be completely sure they're not at all racist?  And does it really matter if they have not purged every racist thought from their mind?\nAs long as you are respectful and do not take any overt racist actions, then, IMHO, you're not a racist, no matter what you think.
5457
everyone is racist to some degree. the very fact that we call whites white and black black shows that there is a difference between the two. so yes, i am racist. but i don't burn crosses and wear a white suit. i am kind and polite to ALL people. and i only expect kindness from others.
530300
You may not be a racist at all, just ignorant of the fact that people still experience discrimination. Sharpton, btw, is amusing, if you like political debate and appreciate snappy answers. You should listen to him sometime on a show like Hardball.
616350
well racist is racist, but there are certain degrees and differences between racist ppl. i mean u got nazis, rednecks and u got small 11 year old who lives in the burbs and watches rap videos and thinks black ppl are gangsters.\n\nsome people are either mature enough or arent THAT racist enough so that thier prejudices dont get in their way.\n\nthis is a tricky open ended question with no simple yes or no answer, at least in my opinion.
332528
I'm not Canadian and I don't think Canadians are any less prejudiced than any other group of people, but I don't think they are any more prejudiced either. \n\nUnfortunately, prejudice exists everywhere in the world. Unfortunately, this will likely always be the case.  Unfortunately, non-whites bear the most prejudice. I don't know why and I'm very sad about this because my child will not be white. However, the best thing is to be proud of who you are. No one else's opinion matters anyway, especially not the opinion of ignorant bigots.
56295
I don't understand it.  Why would people think anyone is different because of the color of their skin?  If you're white and you get a tan, does that change your personality?  No!  So why would being a different skin color mean anything?  Unfortunately I think there will always be racists...makes me sad.
393260
White people say that people will call them racist if they have an organizations and I believe it's the other way around. White people are under the mentality that if they have an organization for themselves that will make them a racist. So they complain and say that they will be called a racist.
390692
why do you think Black,Pakistani,Asian,Chinese people get discriminated?\n\nI think people get discriminated against because the people doing the discriminating do not know enough about the person or race involved or they have had a bad experience with one or a few people which they project on the entire race.\n\ndo you think that in 4 years England will be 80% ethnic minority n 20% white people?\n\nI think what you mean to say is do you think that in 4 years England will be 80% non white and 20% white.  I don't think the numbers will be that high more like closer to 50% of each.  I think this because just like in the rest of the world people are getting over their prejudices and marrying and having babies with whoever they like.  Mixed babies are non-white.\n\nand why do Pakistani,,Chinese,Asians own more businesses then white people?\n\nI don't think this is true at all.  What I do find is you notice it more than you notice a white store owner.  You don't even give a thought to a white store owner but you notice what your brain thinks is not the "norm"
202812
OK, first of all, race is all in your head. The differences among members of a so-called "race" are greater than the differences between one so-called race and another. \n\nOn the other hand, racism is very real behavior, even if the differences between races that inspire racism have no scientific basis. In an effort to track the success of government efforts to combat racism, the US federal government has established five official races: \n\n1) American Indian or Alaskan Native\n2) Asian\n3) Black or African American\n4) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, \n5) White \n\nThe US federal government also recognizes two official ethnicities: \n\nA) Hispanic or Latino\nB) Not Hispanic or Latino\n\nThe definititions for these groups are found in the first link listed below in the "Sources" section. \n\nNow, if you ask people who they are, they either have a tough time putting themselves in these categories, or they don't. Folks in Hawaii often have such complex backgrounds (Portuguese-Hawaiian-Chinese, for instance), that they just shrug and check a box. If you ask them about it, they might say, "It's just a form. It doesn't have anything to do with who I am." On the other hand, children with one Black parent and one White parent find this kind of form much more difficult. \n\nVery often though, even the folks who are pretty sure they belong to just one of these groups are wrong. Recent DNA research suggests that about one-third of White Americans have some fairly recent African ancestry. The Black population in the US seems to have an even greater degree of European and African ancestry. One study looked for known genes with an African origin in the DNA of Black individuals in the US and found none of them in about 5.5% of their sample of that population. \n\nEach of the categories you list has people whose ancestors came from many different countries. The best way to tell who is what is to ask each individual. The US government used to give pictures of eye and nose shape to its census workers to help them tell the difference among races, which is a ridiculous approach. It is much simpler and accurate to merely ask the person.  That's the best truth you will ever get.
436629
That is a good question.  Most of you are looking at it wrong.  Yes there are racist people all over.  He just asked about one group of people, white people.  In your opinion why are white people so racist?  In my opinion most of the racist white people I have met are that way because of history.  History teaches us that the white man or Caucasian or what ever they want to be called accomplished everything.  Even to the discover of America, but how can you discover something that was not lost.  The Indians where there to greet them.  If society stop asking about a person race it would be a step toward stopping racism.  What does the color of my skin have to do with the knowledge I have.  I don't like being called an African American, because what do you call a white person from Africa, they are African descent but now lives in America.