Are most people non racist in public but actually racist in private.

Prometheus · 02-01-2013 01:46PM #1

There have been several elections in the US where black and white candidates have been neck and neck in opinion polls, but at the actual election, the white candidate has thrashed the black candidate. Which has to imply, if these polls are done correctly, that a large number of people questioned are lying. The book Freakanomics goes into details about actual elections for those interested.
It got me thinking are Irish people like that as well, do we put up the liberal compassionate face in front of our peers, but in reality are we racist?
From experience with friends, colleagues etc, I believe we are.

bluecode · 02-01-2013 02:00PM

Everyone is a little bit racist, xenophobic or whatever. It's actually human nature. Your own family, tribe, group or race are what's important to you.

It's really a question of whether you act on it. A racist is someone who thinks racism is a good thing.

MaxSteele · 02-01-2013 02:04PM

Well I wouldn't say most people, but at the moment I'd say the majority of people are to a degree.

HHobo · 02-01-2013 02:05PM

Science says YES!

Though not very in most cases, thankfully.
It's an ingroup - outgroup thing. Basically hardwired in us. As societies become more racially diverse children may begin to see other races as part of their ingroup natually and this particular ism might fall away.

summerskin · 02-01-2013 02:06PM

MaxSteele wrote: »

Well I wouldn't say most people, but at the moment I'd say the majority of people are to a degree.

WTF?????

The Dagda · 02-01-2013 02:06PM

Well I'm not a racialist, but...

doyle61 · 02-01-2013 02:07PM

Imo everyone is racist in one form or other. Doesnt have to be the stereotype racism against blacks, other religions or gays etc but probe a bit and I think everyone has at least slight racist views. Me I'm racist against the "traveling community". I know I'm generalizing but imo they're always on the take with some scam or other and don't contribute to society (in a good way). Now just because I have these views doesnt mean I'm going to go out the door and bash the head off one. My idea of racism is would you be happy to see your son/daughter go out with someone from a community/background different from your own or for someone from a different background to move in next door and you to be happy about it.

MaxSteele · 02-01-2013 02:09PM

summerskin wrote: »

WTF?????

Yes.

hyperborean · 02-01-2013 02:09PM

In the privacy of my head I would discriminate against certain other groupings on instinct, but upon reflection I usually refrain from letting others know what it was I had thought as its usually just that> instinct. What makes us really human is reflection and opinion forming after analysis of things not instinct or acting on it by admiting instinctual prejudices.

old hippy · 02-01-2013 02:10PM

Racism and xenephobia is for people with limited imagination. Fear and ignorance often inform their views. To challenge this is not being "pc" or a "do gooder". It's simply that many of us wish to make hatred and discrimination a thing of the past.

summerskin · 02-01-2013 02:13PM

MaxSteele wrote: »

Well I wouldn't say most people, but at the moment I'd say the majority of people are to a degree.

MaxSteele wrote: »

Yes.

You do realise that majority means "most"(i.e. over half the subset, or population this case)??

The post makes no sense. You say the majority are racist, but don't think most are???????????

LostBoy101 · 02-01-2013 02:14PM

Yes some people would be racist in private but are afraid to do so in public. It's just the way people think and nothing new.

MaxSteele · 02-01-2013 02:18PM

summerskin wrote: »

You do realise that majority means "most"(i.e. over half the subset, or population this case)??

The post makes no sense. You say the majority are racist, but don't think most are???????????

I only use most if 80+ % are in favor of something. I always assumed majority meant anything over 50%. Sorry for the confusion.

seamus · 02-01-2013 02:22PM

As said, we tend towards segregating ourselves for the benefit of our families and communities. I don't think humans are inherently racist, but in exercising our segregationism, we look for ways to distinguish those who aren't in our community from those who are.

And when it comes to looking for distinguishing features, there are few things easier to pick out than skin colour.

Removing racism is more something of a long-term game. There's still quite a large amount of racism against black people because for hundreds of years they were actively segregated and therefore not "one of us". It's only in recent times that this segregation has ended so while some people will still have some residual racism, in many countries it is no longer possible to separate "them" from "us" on the basis of skin color, hence why racism is quickly dying out.

Our children and grandchildren will be far less likely to judge someone based on skin colour, as they will grow up with and go to school with kids of all shapes and colours, so even their inbuilt segregationist tendencies won't view a black person as an outsider.

I think the question in the thread title itself is a little bit loaded. It implies that there's some kind of facade in public settings which hides an unapologetically malicious agenda.

I would be lying if I said that I don't immediately have preconceptions when I encounter someone "different", be they black, disabled, traveller, etc. It's a natural reflex of the mind, not something I have conscious control over.
The key is how you act (or don't act) on those preconceptions. I make the greatest effort to ignore whatever preconceptions have jumped to mind and treat the person as I would anyone else.

dd972 · 02-01-2013 02:24PM

There might be a bell curve ranging from complete non racism to full on racism, though I think very few people though are ideologically racist. The whole nature of the issue and how it's dealt with evolves and morphs all the time.

Lollipops23 · 02-01-2013 02:30PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbud8rLejLM

kowloon · 02-01-2013 02:32PM

For a lot of Irish people it would depend on whether Travellers are a race or not.
Personally I just keep with traditional forms of racism against the blacks and the Jews. Are women a race?

02-01-2013 02:33PM

MaxSteele wrote: »

Well I wouldn't say most people, but at the moment I'd say the majority of people are to a degree.

Where's your evidence for the above?
I sencerely hope that it's not wishful thinking.

Reekwind · 02-01-2013 02:36PM

I think that those who claim that everyone is racist to a degree are just trying to justify your own unpleasant views

Capt'n Midnight · 02-01-2013 02:37PM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/07/heart-drug-makes-people-less-racist-study_n_1328122.html

Researchers in Britain have found that a common drug called propranolol does in fact change the hearts of those who take it. While effectively lowering blood pressure in heart disease patients, the medication was found to lower "implicit" racist attitudes as well.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00213-012-2657-5

Our results indicate that β-adrenoceptors play a role in the expression of implicit racial attitudes suggesting that noradrenaline-related emotional mechanisms may mediate negative racial bias.

crockholm · 02-01-2013 02:41PM

Yes, many in a personal capacity are racist,racism is a taboo. If a person were to be actively and openly part of a racist group,remaining in employment may become trickier and C.V.'s become more "interesting". People here are generally canny enough to preach to the converted within their own groups.
Is it exclusive to Ireland ? of course not. Or race for that matter, in the U.S.A. you can find many instances of minority voters,backing their candidate on a racial basis, I am sure aware ethnic Irish do in in cook county chicago.
Im just not sure what constitutes racism nowadays, if I notice that I enter an area that is predominantly black,I reverse, If I enter a chinatown somewhere,I don't.

bbam · 02-01-2013 02:43PM

I'm not surprised that the opinion is that most people are, somewhere inside, maybe we all are.
The true strength is in suppressing any bit that is there, this allows us to open our minds to countless experiences in life. There is great fun and interest in opening yourself up to another culture, challenging yourself to see life from another cultures perspective.
It's all too common for people to make judgments about other cultures without first making a true effort to understand it.

MaxSteele · 02-01-2013 02:44PM

9959 wrote: »

Where's your evidence for the above?
I sencerely hope that it's not wishful thinking.

From what I've seen and heard people like in public and in private. A lot of people are racist and non-racist when it suits them.

Micky Dolenz · 02-01-2013 02:46PM

I'd be more prejudiced then racist.

I'd like to think I treat people with equal disdain.

02-01-2013 02:52PM

MaxSteele wrote: »

From what I've seen and heard people like in public and in private. A lot of people are racist and non-racist when it suits them.

How would it suit someone to be racist?

MaxSteele · 02-01-2013 02:59PM

9959 wrote: »

How would it suit someone to be racist?

Well "non-racist" when it suits them I should say. i.e "I don't care if your black, white, yellow ..."

*Jump to Sunday morning* "Jaysus, not going back there anymore, place is full of blacks". I remember a particular nightclub in Dublin city which always had that kind of remark made about it every weekend on Facebook.

martingriff · 02-01-2013 03:01PM

Petca4 wrote: »

There have been several elections in the US where black and white candidates have been neck and neck in opinion polls, but at the actual election, the white candidate has thrashed the black candidate. Which has to imply, if these polls are done correctly, that a large number of people questioned are lying. The book Freakanomics goes into details about actual elections for those interested.
It got me thinking are Irish people like that as well, do we put up the liberal compassionate face in front of our peers, but in reality are we racist?
From experience with friends, colleagues etc, I believe we are.

Barack Obama would disagree here

To your question the answer is No. AS they might say something against someone of a different colour sexuality or religion they may not mean it for all people of the race/sexuality/religion but by todays definition it is racism

pabloh999 · 02-01-2013 03:03PM

doyle61 wrote: »

Imo everyone is racist in one form or other. Doesnt have to be the stereotype racism against blacks, other religions or gays etc but probe a bit and I think everyone has at least slight racist views. Me I'm racist against the "traveling community". I know I'm generalizing but imo they're always on the take with some scam or other and don't contribute to society (in a good way). Now just because I have these views doesnt mean I'm going to go out the door and bash the head off one. My idea of racism is would you be happy to see your son/daughter go out with someone from a community/background different from your own or for someone from a different background to move in next door and you to be happy about it.

Cos you'd get yer head kicked in boss..

Gauss · 02-01-2013 03:19PM

The white man fears the black man's pendulous genitalia. This is where racism stems from.

fonecrusher1 · 02-01-2013 03:22PM

The Dagda wrote: »

Well I'm not a racialist, but...

.... I hate all them smelly fardeners.:mad:

Oranage2 · 02-01-2013 03:22PM

What's the big deal about being racist anyway its hardly a crime!

Are most people non racist in public but actually racist in private.

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