Is this viewpoint racist...or understandable?

mark renton · 06-01-2013 10:54AM

Keno 92 wrote: »

Makes me sick. Taxi drivers are people too.

Yes they are people too, its just that they are people who are a danger to others on the roads.

BBDBB · 06-01-2013 10:56AM

secondrowgal wrote: »

Taxi-ist!!!

arent they the ones who stuff dead animals?

mark renton · 06-01-2013 10:57AM

miamee wrote: »

Also as someone else has pointed out, the only common denominator in these incidents is your friend, he might want to take a look at his own driving and observation skills.

Methinks you may have missed the other common denominator.

kneemos · 06-01-2013 10:58AM

Looks like the racists have woken up.

mfceiling · 06-01-2013 11:03AM

I'm always a bit wary around taxi drivers full stop.

Many of them straddle 2 lanes in dublin, stop suddenly and don't bother with indicators.

I'm also very wary around large black women drivers having almost been written off a few times by them. 2 times in particular stand out - people carriers with kids not buckled in. Once on the N7 when she went straight across the lanes with no indicators or looking in the mirrors - scared the sh*t out of me!!

Don't know if that makes me a racist or not?

Gauss · 06-01-2013 11:03AM

Ed Winchester wrote: »

There's no such thing as understandable racism.

What's so difficult to understand about it, a ten year old can understand it, this isn't quantum mechanics we're talking about.

Separately what racism is, is discrimination based on race. If a person's race affects your decisions or beliefs about that person then you are racist. I am a racist, I believe a person who is black is more likely to win the 100m final. I use ethnic origin as a discriminant in determining some of my beliefs therefore I am racist.

mark renton · 06-01-2013 11:04AM

kneemos wrote: »

Looks like the racists have woken up.

A lot of people who use this word dont actually know what it means - would you be in this category?

ToddyDoody · 06-01-2013 11:06AM

If we decide he is a bit racist what do we do then?

BBDBB · 06-01-2013 11:08AM

first we get him drunk, then take him for pizza and try to see up his skirt with a camera phone..........

kneemos · 06-01-2013 11:08AM

john47832 wrote: »

A lot of people who use this word dont actually know what it means - would you be in this category?

I don't believe in categories.

06-01-2013 11:10AM

average hero wrote: »

Thanks for the replies people - AND FOR KEEPING IT (somewhat) MATURE! I can see the general consensus being that he is fairly racist for the views that he holds.

To give my reasons for posing the conundrum was that he has had bad experiences with black taxi drivers. He has black friends in work and shows no sign of being a bigot or racist but does have the viewpoint that black taxi drivers are generally ruder, worse drivers and have caused him all sorts of grief.(Unfortunately, I was present in two of the occasions of car damaging).

If he has had all of this grief, is he not entitled to a CERTAIN amount of disgruntlement? Saying if Roma gypsy people or Unionists in the North, or those 'crazy goshdarn Yanks' gave you grief and you held an opinion regarding them, would you not be understood in holding a certain amount of disgruntlement?

Thanks for the maturity

"posing a conundrum" is stretching it a little, your friend may not be a boorish 'send them all back' type, but the viewpoint that "black taxi drivers are generally ruder" is a racist one.

mikemac1 · 06-01-2013 11:11AM

If it comes to punches the person who gets out of the car first will get blamed.

By all means let your friend call out a dodgy driver, your friend can roar all he wants.

Just be careful getting out of the car.

The gardaí and legal eagles would nail you for it

mark renton · 06-01-2013 11:12AM

ToddyDoody wrote: »

If we decide he is a bit racist what do we do then?

lol, this is ah dude, there are only 2 rules in AH

(1) Decisions are never made in AH
(2) Nothing ever gets "done" in AH

Oh yea, we dont ever talk about AH

Gauss · 06-01-2013 11:12AM

kneemos wrote: »

I don't believe in categories.

I don't believe in trees.

mark renton · 06-01-2013 11:13AM

kneemos wrote: »

I don't believe in categories.

So you are discriminating against me because I believe in categories?

MagicMarker · 06-01-2013 11:14AM

IM0 wrote: »

there is a difference between making generalisations and being racist. if he was racist he would be treating work colleagues with similar racist ****, but he not so its NOT racism just sterotyping

Stereotyping on the basis of race is racism.

Ed Winchester · 06-01-2013 11:15AM

Gauss wrote: »

What's so difficult to understand about it, a ten year old can understand it, this isn't quantum mechanics we're talking about.

Separately what racism is, is discrimination based on race. If a person's race affects your decisions or beliefs about that person then you are racist. I am a racist, I believe a person who is black is more likely to win the 100m final. I use ethnic origin as a discriminant in determining some of my beliefs therefore I am racist.

What did I say I didn't understand? A ten year old could see that's not what I said. But feel free to rattle off any old stuff and say it isn't quantum physics to make yourself feel clever.

Motivator · 06-01-2013 11:16AM

average hero wrote: »

We are both extremely friendly with different black guys who come into the place where we work, so he doesn't seem racist, also he works alongside African, Asian and South American colleagues too.

Can I have a large Big Mac meal with a coke please?

kneemos · 06-01-2013 11:18AM

Gauss wrote: »

I don't believe in trees.

You can't swing from a catagory.

kneemos · 06-01-2013 11:18AM

john47832 wrote: »

So you are discriminating against me because I believe in categories?

No.

mark renton · 06-01-2013 11:23AM

kneemos wrote: »

No.

Good, as you will most likely find on here, motorists dont usually like some categories of people on the road, and with good reason.
Category 1 - Taxi drivers (regardless of color, religion or sexual preference)

iDave · 06-01-2013 11:23AM

We seem to be experiencing reverse nazism in this country (and the UK). Whereby anyone who doesnt love everyone and goes out of their way to show how much they care about minorities are branded and shunnned from society

dvpower · 06-01-2013 11:24AM

RUSTEDCORE wrote: »

NOT RACIST
HE bases his opinion on personal statistical fact that taxi drivers of that ethnic group are not as good as others.There may be basis to back up his theory as these would mostly be people who are not from this nation and lack knowledge of laws/rules or have exhibit different cultural behavior.

Otherwise known as a prejudice.

mikemac1 · 06-01-2013 11:29AM

dvpower wrote: »

Otherwise known as a prejudice.

Based on experience though

When I walk down Ballyfermot Rd going to Spar and the tracksuit brigade are hanging around the entrance is it prejudical to wish they weren't around?

Maybe they are all lovely young lads and help old ladies

But not in my experience

And the OP has had bad experiences too

suicide_circus · 06-01-2013 11:31AM

Ed Winchester wrote: »

There's no such thing as understandable racism.

well it is, by definition, racist.
and it is understandable because it it based upon his own experience and what life has taught him -which is how we form opinions.

RUSTEDCORE · 06-01-2013 11:33AM

dvpower wrote: »

Otherwise known as a prejudice.

prej·u·dice [prej-uh-dis] Show IPA noun, verb, prej·u·diced, prej·u·dic·ing.
noun
1.
an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
2.
any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.
3.
unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.

He has reasons and in my opinion that makes his assumption reasonable

Ed Winchester · 06-01-2013 11:36AM

suicide_circus wrote: »

well it is, by definition, racist.
and it is understandable because it it based upon his own experience and what life has taught him -which is how we form opinions.

To suggest that it's understandable would be excusing it. I don't think there's any excuse for racism in this day and age. In my opinion, it isn't understandable racism. It's just racism.

suicide_circus · 06-01-2013 11:37AM

Ed Winchester wrote: »

To suggest that it's understandable would be excusing it. I don't think there's any excuse for racism in this day and age. In my opinion, it isn't understandable racism. It's just racism.

we'll agree to disagree

dvpower · 06-01-2013 11:38AM

RUSTEDCORE wrote: »

prej·u·dice [prej-uh-dis] Show IPA noun, verb, prej·u·diced, prej·u·dic·ing.
noun
1.
an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.
2.
any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable.
3.
unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.

He has reasons and in my opinion that makes his assumption reasonable

In my personal experience, people who use red font are usually wrong.
Obviously this means you are wrong too.
A reasonable assumption, no?

06-01-2013 11:41AM

He's p*ssed off with black taxi drivers because every time his car gets damaged, it's by a black taxi driver. How on earth is that racist? It's a fact. It would be racist if he said that every black person was a scumbag who tried to damage his car, but he didn't say that. I think people are way too quick to call racism when there isn't any. If he'd said, 'those bloody Wicklow drivers, it's always them', would you have been as outraged?

Is this viewpoint racist...or understandable?

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