Racism, i dont think anyone has started a thread of this and if they have i am very very sorry for starting this again.
But i was just thinking that racism is a huge thing in this world. And even thought it is illegal you still see it everywhere. I see it alot of places and i always do wha i can to stand up for the ppl. But alot of ppl dont. And i was wondering if you see racism do you stand up like i do, or are you one of the ppl who thinks it is wrong but just sits back quietly and doesnt get involved. I also was wondering what you think ppl should do so that racism can finally be stopped for good, or do you think it can never really demise(die).

racism is terrible.......

i think that everyone should be treatly respectively....
everyone is different not by skin color but personality-wise........
and the saying goes
"no twins are even alike"

Ahh, it's quite all right halfbloodprincess15, just make sure you don't do it again and it's all good.

Anyway, yeah. I get seriously pissed if I see racism. My family really dislike black people. It's stupid....I was watching Pimp My Ride (MTV), and my uncle comes in and looks at what I'm watching. He goes "Why are watching this? It's full of black people!" I was totally shocked that he hated them this much. I'm just wondering why they think that all of them are so bad. Okay, so a greater number would rape/have guns/etc etc. BUT DON'T PEOPLE FROM OTHER RACES DO THAT? YOU REALLY CAN'T JUDGE A CERTAIN RACE LIKE THAT. Not all black people would do these things because I know that they are civil.

But they (my family) are not only against black people, but since we own a restaurant, my family would charge white people more money. When I saw this, I asked my family why, and they said it was because they have more money than us. AND THAT'S A COMPLETE LIE BECAUSE YOU CAN'T PROVE THAT ALL WHITE PEOPLE HAVE MORE MONEY THAN US. I was a cashier once, and so I sold it to them at the right price. My uncle however, keep saying that it was another price (which of course was higher than what I told the guy).

Now you see why I hate my family so much?
It's really not fair to treat other people unfairly just because they grew up different/ have more things/ a different skin color/ and the big one: hear from when you talk about stereotypes.

Just because a big group of people are alike in some way, THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT EVERYONE OF THAT KIND IS THE SAME. I really hate it. I fight back when I can. It's just so sad to see how people are like these days. In the US, doesn't it say that everyone is supposed to be treated equal in the Bill of Rights? And doesn't it say that everyone is created equal? WE'RE ALL HYPOCRITES! Most of us should be arrested because we didn't follow the law.

This is a bit off topic, but I just have to say something:

It's weird. I know I'm not racist, but most of my friends are Asian. But I hate whoever goes around saying things like "AZN PRYDE YO. GOTTA REPREZENT." (No offense to everyone who does this though, I know there are some that really does have Asian Pride) Because they are only doing this just to jump into the bandwagon, and this just causes more hatred from them to other races. Hmm, I seem to be contridicting myself sorta right? Sorry, I really tend to do that sometimes. Anyway, in xanga (web diary things) you can join blogrings (clubs, sorta) and so I joined one that says "ANTI- AZN PRIDE" It doesn't mean I'm against those who really do have pride in being Asian, but it's for people who hate those who say that in order to get attention and creating more hatred between races.

(Although I am a bit anti Asian myself. NOT THE PEOPLE, just the way we live. I hate Chinese food (few exceptions) and I abhor Asian music. I hate these Chinese herbel remedies that we use to cure our stuff because it's smelly most of the time. And the fact that we believe in silly things.)

i totally i agree with you doomed_renascence
i totally agree with you.....

Me to! I totally agree as well. My step dad and mom make fun of black people at times...kind of like mimicking them..and they think they are so funny..but they are not...and i hate it when i see them doing that...they assume ppl are all the same just because of how they look...but that is not true in any way at all. We all are different and so i tell my parents that if they make fun of black ppl they mise as well make fun of me!
I hate Racism!

well am not white, black, or even hispanic
my ancestry takes me back to india....
am not racist to anyone......no one should be!

Doomed, it's not bad to have pride in your ethnicity or anything. That's we have parades like Puerto Rican pardes and Philipines [sp?], etc.

RACISM is one thing I cannot stand to watch. It disgusts me like phlegm in my mouth. In fact, I wrote a poem about it once. . .lol.

Black people call their fellow people "niggas" and Chinese people call their fellow people "chinks". Yet if someone from a different ethnicity calls them that term, they get all offended. Well if they use it, it's telling others that they can call them that too! That really has to stop.

I've heard my deal of racial slurs during my (short) life so far and I really wonder why this happens. Parents teach their kids and this hatred goes on for generation and generation. It really hurts my heart to see such ignorance in the world to just ACCEPT one another. We are no different. If a gun shoots us, we get hurt and blood comes out. That's everybody. WE ARE PEOPLE. If we just stop looking at differences and maybe concentrate more on SIMILARITIES, the world would be a better place.

I try my best to make sure I treat people of different colors equally and only judge by their personality.

I really wish they would get rid of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate organizations like that but sadly, "freedom of speech" in America goes both ways. We can express our freedom to love (well excluding homosexuality ) AND the freedom to HATE.

I'm posting again because this wasn't coherent with my post before.

I really have to say sorry to this little black girl on the swings I saw as a kid. She said that if I didn't get off "her" swing, she would tell her big brother to beat me up. I told her that it was blackmail and it was illegal and she took "blackmail" the wrong way. She thought I was referring to her skin color.

I'm sorry.

I never said it was bad to have pride in my own race Joe, you know how I am about that certain thing.

Hmm, isn't it a normal thing for people wanting to be different? That can lead into picking out differences instead of similarities. But I agree, society can be a MUCH better place if we saw the similiarities, not the differences.

Hmm, yeah. I love my right to express myself in whatever way I want, but I really think that there's a limit to it. The limit being where it just ends up hurting someone I guess =\

(edit)

You could have just edited your post to type that in, but it's okay, just make sure you know that next time.

Anyway, you didn't mean anything bad. You shouldn't really feel bad about it, because you were never trying to discriminate her in the first place.

I have a bit of everything in me. My granmother on my mother's side is a huge percentage of native american. My grandparents on my fathers side were half french and half spanish!
And i am many other things as well like irish swedish etc.....

I agree that racism is disgusting. Have you ever read John Grishams? They're good.
My parents certainly raised me the right way. I don't even hate Arabs. Yeah, I know that sounds absurd. But think about it. Every day, I once calculated, about 2.7 Jewish Israelis are murdered, for that very crime- being a Jew. We're in a war- a twistted war. Every day our leaders chang their mind. The hate for Arabs is soaring, and I don't blame anyone.
My parents, however, made it clear to us kids, that we aren't Khanists. We don't believe that every Arab should be killed on the spot. Only the guilty ones, the terrorists, those who plot and plan our deaths, have earned the right to be hated. Not all Arabs hate Jews- most, but not all. Most of the Israeli Arabs don't. They hate Arafat too, look what he's done to their economy.
I got into an argument with a friend of mine last week, about this. She wasn't convinced. "They're animals" She stated.
"But even a dog has a right to live. If it was a rabid dog- I would understand. But a perfectly healthy one, who didn't do you any harm- would you kill him?"
"I don't care about dogs".
Maybe it's our lack of respect for a human beings life. I don't know.

I do know, however, that the Arabs are taught from babyhood racism. They hate Jews. The Palestinian TV puts on shocking anti-semitic shows. The Suicide bomber from last week, taht murdered two, was a tv show hostess.
It's disgusting.

But back to skin colors, we have a neighbour who is yemenite (there dark skinned). Because of that she didn't get a good education, and is a nursery school teacher. She is determined her kids get a bettr chance, but her yemenite huband doesn't make a good living either. It's rather sad, in a way.

Uh- oh, must get off, Supper's soon and Chag (Holiday) is around the corner,
Thalia E. Muse

Racism makes me sick it is a horrible awful thing filled with stupidity. Unfornatly I live in the South (Southern US) and so people are still biased. Even kids my age are rasicist. There were kids at my old school that would as for no black/asain/any other race besides white be put under the husband column of their MASH or on their Zap (for those who don't know MASH is one of those little fake fun who wil I marry where wil I live, how many kids will I have? type of things and Zap is when someone rights a time on your hand and a person's name on the palm of your hand, if you look at the name before the time then you have to ask that person out). There were even kids who started to hate me when I went out with a person who was black (I am white) Anyways, I believe that rasicim is stupid and ingnorant.

EDIT: Rasicim is against all sorts of people, not just blacks/whites and jews/Arabs. Some people are biased againist my friend wose father is from Iran. He is really funny and nice but people still hate him (hes even cute but some girls dont want to go out with him because of where he is from) its really sad that America, a country fouded on equallity for all, has so much biased and racism alive and kicking, even today.

is there much racism in your country?
I guess in my country there isn't. we have a multicultural country, a lot of people move in every year (I guess at least 20,000 people who are leavibng there country cos its unsafe there move in every year)
In 1982 a boy was killed cos he was dark. Whole Holland was in shock! Since then, nobody has been killed cos he's coloured i think.
It's wrong to put a stample on people, like you are this kinda person, you are that kinda person. Everybody is unique, we need to respect it. We need to be one world.
One voice.
A voice that says:
PEACE!!

(so thatz my speech)

Lynn- not everyone in the US is rasicist or anything but its sure is still alive here. I'll go to school and people won't talk to me because of my skin color or they think I live this little-rich-girl-perfect life because of my skin color and then there are people who are just plain stupid about things like this and people who really are racisit but try to cover it up by acting all politically correct and stuff. At my old school there was a girl who was rich, got everything she wanted, and was racist but you wouldn't want to say anything about her if you couldn't pay for it because then she'd get mad and wouldn't let her parents donate money for field trip fare or parties or new supplies. Its just really stupid.

EDIT: Hey I'm a 3rd year now, YaY!

Much agreement on the 'peace' thing, Lynn. Heh heh. I don't think there's that much more racism here- it's just that in a country of 250 million (I think that's right) there's more of a chance for that kind of stuff than in a country of 16 million, right? I can't believe that there are still racist people in the world- every generation has a chance to correct or change it but no one is brave enough to. In America I thought it would all be over with the Emancipation Proclamation or the decision about Brown vs. Board of Education, but I guess not. And there's also people here that are extremely prejudiced against Middle Easterns now, which I also don't understand- it's only more of a reason for them to hate Americans and besides, not all of them bombed us. One of my best friends has a strong heritage in Iran and people shy away from her for that, which I think is so stupid because she's the sweetest, most innocent person I know. A week ago or more I got an extremely stronger taste of racism than I have ever received.
Someone called me, not racist, but a person belonging to a racist group that hit its rise midway through the 20th century. I couldn't believe they said that- it was only because of my blonde hair. I think people should be praised for daring to be different from the carbon copies of the world and not prejudiced against. Someone once said that prejudice is based on fear, and it grows. I guess they're right. Maybe we're afraid of foreignity, of being different. Maybe that's the cause for so many wars. Maybe that's the cause for so many deaths. It's a sad cause- because it can be fixed. By any of us.

Wow that was the longest post I've made yet. Hmmmm.....oh yes: I also say 'rock on' to whomever started this topic. It is very controversial and a good discussion- and something that should be discussed.

Racism is not really a big problem in Australia.. all though it's surprizing who is racist, the educated rich gentlemen, the surburban teenager, rural folk, it can be anyone. There still a lot of ignorance about Aborigines (our native people) they make up 1% of the population and recieve lots of benefits fromt the government for education, health care. A lot of people are ignorant and they think that the Aborigines don't deserve that but they do because out the population they are the most disadvantaged . The ones that live in outback Australia don't get acccess to proper health care and education.

Really? Not a big problem in Australia? I'll go there then and see if I get made fun of because of my nationality. . .Well I think racism is a universal issue because we really have to learn to accept everyone else's prescence in this earth.

Instead of starting the Ku Klux Klan and announcing white-skinned people are the most superior and denouncing other races and devoting their life to express their hatred. I've watched a video once about this and it just really hurts my heart to think people thinking like that! My global studies teacher went to a parade and saw KKK's representatives. She went to go talk to them. You know how many there were? 3. Three people walking in that parade representing the Ku Klux Klan. That's not a lot, but there are more hate groups, some performing crimes just to express their devoted hatred.

Inside all of us, there is hate. And I really don't want to see it from everybody. It really makes you wonder if World Peace can ever be accomplished.

I think racism is horrbile. I don't thtink there is any way to stop it completely though.

I think racism is stupid. I don't know why it exists today. It's just wrong.

i absolutly HATE racism.
last year, in my old school (i graduated so i was in grade 8 last year) there was this guy who i HATED so much and he would always tell black jokes. i hated them. he'd say one and people would laugh and i'd be the one person who would say something like "thats such a wrong thing to say. you think you have the right to say that!? if you say that next year in highschool your gonna get your ass kicked" etc.
and of course, he simply said "SHUT UP I WASNT TALKING TO YOU" i didnt take that either but thats another story.
so what im trying to get at, lol is that i try to stand up for it as best as i can.

MOD EDIT : Please watch your language. It's no good putting asterisks in if everyone can see what you mean anyway. Please check the rules. Your post has been edited.

My definition for Racism: Terrible, Horrible, Cruel, idiotic and COMPLETLY STUPID IDEA! Sorry i hate it sooooooooo much.

I Hate racism!!! Some people are so ignorant!!!


MOD Edit: No netspeak please, your post has been edited.

I also hate rascism. I think its pathetic. i also dont like it when people classify other people[goth, prep, punk] I also HATE the comment "you walk or talk like a girl" my friend is a feminist, and i agree with her. We read this problem in class about a teacher saying that the girls didnt need help with math because she is a girl and GIRLS dont get math. one boy started laughing and said it was funny. I swear he came so close to get beat up by all the girls in the class.

Someone said that Rowling included "racial issues" in her books. Do you guys see any racism in Harry Potter?

There is the situation with the "half-bloods", "purebloods" and "Muggle-borns". But is that considered racism? I think it fits into the topics of elitists better. What do you guys think?

Oh, don't get me started....I'll be here all day and I really should be trying to get some lab reports written up today!!!!!

The whole thing about Lupin was introduced to illustrate JKR's thought on racism....look at how everyone treats Lupin because of what he is? All those pre-conceived ideas about werewolves instead of judging Lupin as the type of person he is...good, honest, caring, intelligent, thoughtful, considerate, kind and all the other wonderful things he is. But no one cared about that once they found out that he was a werewolf. Suddenly the fact that he was a nice person didn't seem to matter anymore...all that people saw was this stereotypical image of a wild, crazed animal with spittle dripping off huge fangs, rabid red eyes and blood-soaked claws......never mind that Lupin would never hurt a fly (well...maybe a boggart... )....and that he was taking Wolfsbane potion to control it....I think the poor guy would probably have topped himself if he'd ever actually hurt anyone as a wolf....Translate that to people's attitudes towards others as far as racism is concerned and you can see the connections.....

Plus, what I think was particularly clever of JKR is to show how racism can work both ways. Most of the time, for example, it is caucasian westerners who are accused of being racist, but it can just as easily be other ethnic backgrounds who are racist too....I thought that 'Die Hard With A Vengeance' was particularly good in illustrating this...Bruce Willis' comments to Samuel Jackson's character - who had far more issues about his own skin colour than Bruce Willis' character did - 'You don't like me because I'm white'....It's kind of hard to describe, but anyone who's seen the movie will know what I mean. JKR's version of this is the Centaurs' (the minority) attitude to wizards (the majority)....the centaurs prefer to be secluded, they don't like mixing and are exceptionally prejudiced against the wizards....you see what I mean?

Then there's the whole blood-purity thing.....is Malfoy better than Hermione? Nope..... Then there's the money....Malfoy is no better for his wealth than the Weasleys.....

Oh, yes, Joe.....there's a lot about racism, prejudice and so on in the books if you look for it. Elitism too, perhaps, but I don't think that's as big an issue as racism, prejudice, judging people on how they look, disabilities they have, cultural beliefs and so on....it's pretty clear the moral point JKR is making there, at least it is to me anyway.

Yea there are alot of racism in her books. She shows the resielnce in them though. But going back to what someone said about there not being much racism in the US. There is a TON of racism in the US, mostly in the south. Even here in the Mid-Atlantic states there is alot of racism. Take the last 2 elections for example. some polling places in the south (at least in 2000, i dont know about 2004) had people stand outside the doors dressed like gaurds. They were there to stop many of the minorities. Some polling places demanded that minrites showed some ID even though they didnt have to show any ID. Its incredable. And the biggest reason is our political system. It has only 2 real parties and Republicans controll the south. Minorites vote democratic 90% of the time. It makes sense that these people will do things to try and get minorites from voting. Even here in Western Pennsyvania i have heard quite alot of stories about racism during the election. It is scary really that in, supposdly, the land of the free, there are so many problems.

I think i had a couple other things to put in but i cant remember them right now. O well. If i come up with anything il add it when i can

How absolutely wonderful! There's actually a topic that Dana and I agree on!

Yes, racism is a horrible disgusting thing. I go to a school where the minority is white (I'm white, by the way). The school is covered in blacks, asians, and hispanics, as well as a few middle-eastern.

People at my school are always making jokes about race. It's quite funny, because it's often their own race they're making jokes about. I don't make any race jokes. They never did seem that funny to me. But it's actually quite nice to go to a school where race isn't really "seen", if you know what I mean. People of different nationalities are all over the place, and it's so nice to be able to bond and create such a diverse community.

I'm white, and I agree that racism is horrible, however, I have met many, many, MANY more racists who are black than white. All the "ghetto" rappers and stuff(black and white), nearly always say racism things as jokes and all this crap, but then when someone calls them something they get extremely ticked off, which is just annoying, and I also noticed someone else said something about that. One of my examples is something that I heard about happening: Two black teenagers are talking, and one of them says "Hey, what up my nigga?" and then they talk, and one of them mentions "So what about that White Cracka that's annoying you dawg?", and then a white guy comes up, and tries to fit in by saying "What's up nigga?", and then they both punch him. That's stupid and wrong. You can't expect to be able to say whatever you want and then get mad when someone does it back to you.

Racism is an atrocious scar of our society that has been healed to a great extent, but the wound is still open. We as a community have made incredible progress, and our regard for what it means to be civilized and free has evolved.
I agree particular derogatory words and phrases are still used by some people in the manner of salutations, and that when another person may say the same thing, it is sometimes treated as an insult.
The solution at this point is to only say such words to people that personally don't have a problem with you saying it. Friends, or acquiantances. Some African Americans and Black people are okay with others saying that word, either because that is the what they are used to from times past, or they no longer feel it as an insult. Other African Americans and Blacks are not, and still feel it is an inappropriate word which gives a sting that they are inferior, or genuinely prefer someone calling them by their proper name/nickname. The most proactive thing to do is earn a friend and honestly ask if he or she feels comfortable being called that.
I, personally, do not use that word, nor do I respond to it. I just ignore it and move on with the remainder of my day. However, if someone said that to my relatives and we didn't know them, I wouldn't take it kindly. It is an individual's liberty to either feel they were given a salutation, compliment, or insult. Gain a trust with someone before using it.

Ohh, I found a racist thread.....

Well, I know what you guys will think of me when I say this....but I am racist....it is how I have been brought up. Let me explain...

I was brought up in a small mining town (moved to the big city when I was 13). Now, this town was filled with aboriginals (native australians)- the population was probably more than half black. I was brought up with racism- as it, I was called "white trash" and "mingy little white girl". It got so bad that today, I am verging on a violent racist. I got it all- and was forced to give it back- I had dignity to uphold. Now, you say racism doesn't have a reason..... I'm sorry, I just broke that claus. Once you get brought up like that- and still aren't racist, I will shut up. But until then.....

Well, I think racism is really terrible, and I just can't imagine how people came to the idea of killing others because of their descendence. But I must admit, I'm sometimes sort of annoyed by the constant remembering on WW II., Holocaust, etc. Okay, it sounds rude, but where I live (Central Europe), this is a pretty hot topic, annoyingly, and, more annoyingly, this became a political question, as well.

I'm really sorry for the past events, for the million people who died because of racism, but I guess we really should get over it some time. No, not forget it, but get over it.

However, I'm worried about last week's events in the Middle East. Okay, some jerks in Denmark got really carried away when making those stupid and humiliating caricatures, and it is only natural, that the Islamic world is indignant on this topic, I'm angry every time I see some 'joke' about my religion, too (I'm Catholic btw). But I think that going to the streets, damaging buildings, eg. the Danish embassage, burning flags, and all these stuff are pathetic, too, and just the best way of keeping racism alive.

I guess I have some problems with the basic theories of racism. Let's stay on this Denmark-topic. Do the Islamic people there on the streets really think that every single person in Denmark would die for defending the guys who made those caricatures? Do they really think, that everyone in Denmark agrees on that and is therefore to be hated? Or, the tipical question: did Hitler think that the Jews in general are a threat to the economy? Racism has extremely weak basics. It is nothing more, than pathetic generalization...

Why on earth can't we just accept each other?

You know the Oscars, Brokeback Mountain? The Director was a Chinese (Ang Lee) and it was a really really great movie. Everyone expeceted it to get the best movie. HOwever, I think it's due to that he's Chinese so he didn't get it.
I HATE RACISM!

We are all human therefore the same...Racism must be stopped.


berkana
[MOD EDIT] Hi, please elaborate in your future posts as posts with a single line of text or one-liners are not permitted, thanks.

To the girlwholived--I don't think the reason "Brokeback Mountain" didn't win an Oscar was because the director was Chinese. He also directed "Sense & Sensibility" and that did get an Oscar, and was also nominated for many other Oscars. It also won the BAFTA (British Oscars) for Best Picture. The dude is an awesome director!

Beethoven--I'm with you! I much prefer a racially diverse community. When I lived in on-campus family housing at university, there were people there from all over the world, it was great! And most of them had kids. There were kids from Romania, Korea, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Morocco--and my son was friends with them all, it was cool. I miss that, so does my son.

Racism is hard to eradicate--it's a primal instinct. There is a zoologist named Desmond Morris who wrote two really interesting books called The Naked Ape and The Human Zoo. In them, he lays out how many of our behaviors are really based in our past as primitive people, from eating to mating to how we interact in groups. He basically explained racism as a survival mechanism--left over from preserving food and such for the members of our own tribe. Not just dividing ourselves according to race, though, but by whatever means are available, such as religion, or economic class. He called it "tribe & supertribe." Kinda like, the people in your family, or your social circle are your tribe. And then, the people in your community are a larger tribe. And the people in your whole nation are the 'supertribe.' And we identify with our tribe, and exclude others. It's very easy to do according to race, because it's right there before our eyes. But, say, in places like England 500 years ago, when pretty much everyone was white, they did it according to social class. I'm not saying it's right, but it is what we do...

Hitler was able to use that in Germany because after WWI, Germany was extremely crippled economically--inflation was rampant, the country's debt was extreme--people suffered terribly, many starved. In a nation full of people who were barely surviving, it was easy to use the tribal instinct to turn them against the Jews. Jews, having suffered for centuries with discrimination, often forbidden to own land, had made their living in the financial and business arena and were very skilled. Therefore it was easy to convince desperate Germans that the Jews, who, due to centuries of financial accumen handed down generation to generation, were doing somewhat better as a rule than your avereage German, were at fault--somehow keeping the wealth for themselves while non-Jewish Germans suffered. Not true, but truth wasn't what Hitler was after. If he could find a way to rally the people behind him, they'd be in his pocket. It worked, too.

Even at the family housing, with people from all over the world--we were a tribe. We were all parents or married people, trying to get through college. We had that to unite us. I think people just naturally belong to 'tribes' and we don't include everyone. And racism is an offshoot of that behavior.

That doesn't make it right.

I agree. Racism is horrible. This story about racism was sent to me by someone and itt's very interesting:

racism. the most disgusting think that has happened to this world. my family was having a discusion the other day about this. my mom was shopping with her friend (of a different race) and her friend has a little daughter that really likes my mom. so she would hold her hand. and this one lady just gave my mom and the little girl (who as about 3 years old.) a mean look that basically said "why are you being friends with someone of a different race?"
my mom and her friend were ofended, and dissapointed that this is what america is today.
they also used to go out for lunch together (when they worked at the same job) and would get weird stares from people.
To staighten things out, my mom is mexican, and her friend is african american. people in los angeles, california wouldn't expect this consitering the society.

i am happy to be friends with people of all types of religion, race, ect. one of my best friends are perunian (hi, *pretty in punk*!), Salvidorians (hey, got harry?), and Phillipino (hey jamie, who is not on this site *mad* j/k!). im also friends with african americans 'black people", white people, and basicallly anyone with a good personality.

it took forever for the US to stop slavery. how long is it going to last them to stop this?
not just the us. everywhere.

racism is evi, complete evil! im friends with bunches of people of different races, white, african american, mexican, japanese (okay part japanese, my friends are only part). i dont really care what race they are as long as they are funny and have good personalities. racism should stop, but unfortunately, the world isnt perfect. .

I hate racism!!!
I am Peruvian, I speak spanish and I have extremly dark brown eyes, but I have fair skin. In 7th grade a boy who sat next to me in my social studies class would always call me "the white girl". I hated it so much! Then he would talk in spanish to the other people(who would either help him make fun of me or just ignore the situation) thinking I couldn't understand. I would come home from school crying because he would sometimes call me a white girl at lunch time or after school. I wouldn't tell my teacher because I was afraid that the bullying would get much worse. Finally my parents talked to my teacher and switched my seat. But I found out that the guy who was being racist to me lives about a block away from me. I haven't seen him in a long time, which is good.
There was another time in the 6th grade, I was leaving the office, there were these two kids about my age who were behind me. After walking around awhile, I felt something hard hit my back. I turned around, and those kids just stared at me with disgust. Then I felt that pain again and I realized that they were throwing rocks at me. I didn't want to run, but I didn't stand up to them. I left them feeling hurt and confused. I told my mom and she went to my teacher, who talked to me and said that she would talk to the kids who did this to me.
I'm sorry, I'm breaking into tears right now because it hurts so much when people do that.

My little brother, who is in elementry school right now, is suffering the same as I am and was suffering before. Other kids would steal his food and they have also stolen his basketball. My brother doesn't stand up for himself, just like I used to. This makes me really angry and I want to do something about, but I don't know what.

I just want racism to stop, because all you do is hurt people and that could damage them for life. Why can't we just get along?

*pretty in punk*- oh my gosh, that is so mean what those people did to you and your brother ! some people need to grow up, because racism is unfair. it hurts people of a different race. its not like one race is better than another, we are all equal.

no ones ever been racist towards me, im philipino, but everyone at my former school was nice to me, no one was really racist because it was like everyone was different races so we really had nothing to make fun of. i hope it stays that way at my new school.

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. That saying is so true.

Racism isn't just race though, it's your religion, your culture, how you look, your gender, and so many other things. I don't care if your purple! If your nice, then of course I want to be your friend! I don't get why other people don't get it.

We are not truly free, only until racism is over, then we will all be free.

omg! *pretty in punk*. that is soo mean! like why would anyone pick on people because of their race? i dont care about race. i care about personality. and it is true, that people get treated differently because of their religion, culture, looks, ect.
i hate this! its soo mean! people get killed over stupid things like this! it gets me mad!
no one ever deserves to get treated like this because of their race, religion, ect!

bottom line.

It just has to be stopped!
How? There are quite a few cold hearted people out there.
Racism is just tearing the world apart.

I despise racism in any shape or form. But yet I am racist. If a fight broke out between me and a coloured person at school and they called me names that hurt me about the way I looked etc. The first thing I would say is something racist like atleast I'm not a paki. And then I regret it afterwards. It is because it has been inbred into us. Because I am a white person and I am British. If you think about it. You will all have some racism in you, as much as you despise it, as much as you hate people who are racist. You will have some racism in you. Because if you say that you are 100% non-racist, you will be lying. When my Uncle says, "I'm just going to the paki shop", I will say "You are not going to a paki shop, you are going to a shop that is run by asians/pakistanis. It is like saying that this person is an alcoholic or a druggie/drug addict. They are not. They are people who suffer from alcohol addiction and drug addiction. And my dad says that drug addicts are the scum of the earth. But if I went out tonight and had herion or something, I probably wouldn't be able to stop and I would have a problem with drug addction. It can be any of us. Anyway, back to racism. My dad is racist. He says, no I don't mind muslims, so long as they keep themselves to themselves. And he couldn't understand that that was a racist comment alone. But people think because there are muslims blowing themselves up with people ie. suicide bommers so they are all bad. But there are over a hundred priests in the UK that rape and molest people. But no one thinks that they are all bad. I have always said if one of my friends are upset. "Look, nobody on this planet is better than you, no one, but think again, you are no better than anyone because we are all equal". People get frustrated about asian people coming into supposedly "their country" and feeding the benefits off the government, and yet they have probably seen their family being killed before there eyes and other unbearable things to get here. As much as I try conciously not to do things like discriminate and be racist because I know it is wrong. I do do it when I am not thinking. Like, we were on holiday last week, and I said, "Mum do you know that little fat boy who annoys everyone", and after I thought about it I felt ashamed. I picked out his negative points as everyone does on this planet. Instead of saying that cute boy with the blue eyes and nice smile, I said that fat boy. We just have to do our best and as long as we consiously try not to do it, that is all we can do.

Too true James Pickles. I have never really experienced any first hand rasicm buy people of another colour which I am thankful for but one time at school this horrible girl in my year(who was mix race) came up to me and said

" What kind of music do you like?"

I told her truthfully "mostly Rock like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Indie and a bit of r 'n' b"She gave me a nasty look and then said

"Dont you like Rap or bashment or garage?" I hadnt heard of bashment music and so i sai no and she then said

"Oh my gosh you are so weird. You hang out with these people and you like Red Hot Chilli Peppers! Its like you have been painted! You aren't meant to be black! You act white." At first I was very hurt by this. I am the only black girl in my year who really likes Rock music and doesn't walk around in a big group of people with the same colour skin as me. Its what is on the inside that counts. She then called me a reject and has hated me ever since. A lot of people she hangs with dont like me though. But I feel proud that I haven't become a sheep and just followed what the rest of the children like her do. She thinks that if you are black you must like a certain type of music, dress and talk a certain way and hang with only black people. But I don't believe in that. Everyone is their own person and can choose to be who they want to be. I have grown up with a lot of white friends and felt happy with that.

I was on the bus one time with my friends(who are all white I am the only black person amongst them which I dont mind) and then a lot of other loud black kids from our school piled onto the bus. They were all shouting and screaming they were all "gangsters" and then this old man near to me said "Oh stupid black( then he swore using the letter s)" He wouldnt stop and was saying "how come there are no white kids at that school?" I felt so hurt because its children like them who act out of control who ruin it for others. Immediatly they create a stereoypical image of black children and wild out of control gangsters. But im not like them and I feel that when I walk down the street people think that I am a gangster just because I am black.

Also wha makes me mad is that fact that black people will call each other "niggers" and then if someone else from another race says the same then it is classed as racism. If anything the children in my school are doing a lot to seperate them selves from other races and they are bringing back racism. Martin Luther King did a wonderful job of bringing justice to the blacks and yet people now days are throwing it all back in his face by acting in this way. And they feel they can get away with being racist to other cultures and get away with it.
I don't understand why we cant all put our differences asside and try to forget about race. I know its hard because it has been going on for so long but we must try before things get out of control.

That is disgusting, so just because you are a colour of skin and a culture you have to like this and that. That is dispicable, people do that to me, they go oh cause you have long hair are you a mosher? I am like I AM NOT ANYTHING BUT MYSELF!! Oh I hate people like that, I don't hate alot of things I usually dislike things or people but I HATE people like that, judging and saying you need to do this and that because of what you look like, what about your heart, your soul, you emotions?

I agree but we can never really escape discrimination in any form. Be it Racism,Sexism or anything else. We all do it like you said James Pickles it has been inbred into all of us.
If I saw someone walking around in a tracksuite I would think that they were a gangster. If I saw someone dresses in all black with a lot of loud make-up on I would think that they were a Goth. But even if they were it doesnt mean that they are like a sterotyipical Goth. Everyone is different. And like someone rightly said "No two twins are the same".

i find racism one of the most horrible things in the world...i am white...but i have very tanned skin and too many times i have been followed around a shopping centure by a security guard because they thought i was black and i was going to steal things.

one of the most racist people i know is my father...he told me that if i every dated a black person i may aswell say goodbye then because i would never be apart of the family again! too many time i have gotten in full all out arguments with him (standing 30 cm apart yelling in each others faces) about black people. but when i tell him he is a racisist pig he get defensive and say i have more black friends then you know...blah blah blah...

we recently had riots here in australia the leboniese race vs the white people here...my friend who is one of the most caring people i no is leboniese and he had to move out of the city because he and his family were being targeted...when i told my dad this he said good! i was out raged and said how can you say that! he said look what his race did to ours, we didnt do anything and they targeted inocent white people, so why cant our race target him...i said he had nothing to do with the people who targeted the white people why should he have to suffer for what someone he didnt even know did! but dad still thought it was good.

but the town that i come from ( i just moved away 4 weeks ago) there is a very big problem with black people. most of my friends are black and they are wonderful people but i would be nieve to say that the majority of black people where i come from arent bad news. i am not saying that the whole race is bad, or that it is their fault they are the way they are. its a bad cycle really...the black people steal and get a bad reputation so white people dont want to give them a job because it would be bad for their business...and because they dont have a job they steal and get a bad reputation.

most of the people who a racist that i no say it is because the black people have a bad attitude...but wouldnt you if you were imediatly judged because of your colour, followed around shopping centures, asked to show your bags when the white person in front of you walked right through.

but racism works both ways. i hate it when a black person can call you nothing but a white so and so but they moment you call them a black so and so in retaliation they call you racist...i dont think it is right that black people get paid to go to school when white people dont and how the government gives them houses and cars when they have no money but a white person just has to live on the street...black people say all they want is to be treated as a equal. but giving them benifits that we dont get isnt exacly equal is it!

i am always the one standing up for the black people in a racist argument. but last year while i was walking from work to the main shopping centure i was jumped on by 7 black people who bashed and kicked me...2 guys and 6 girls. and still even after that i didnt jundge the whole black community...just the 7 that did it...if everyone had that attitude then we would be alot better off. today australia in a multicultural country and we are getting more tolorent of other races but racism is still a big problem...i cant comment of other countrys as i have no idea about their racism problems but i assume that it is as much a problem every where else as it is here!

I totally understand where you are coming from when you say all of this. I think its really backwards how some black people feel it is ok to say racist remarks but then they can't take it when it is dished out to them. Even though I am black I still see things which anger me about people of the same race as me. Its not that I feel ashamed to be black it has never bothered me until recently. In England where I live a lot of black youths walk around in packs wearing a certain type of clothing and it all looks rather intimidating seeing as when stabbings and muggings are reported in the news the culprits are generally black who travel in packs wearing hooded jumpers and baggy trousers. Most of my friends are white and I feel comfortable around them but when I see people of the same race of me I feel a bit shy and scared of them because of the way they act, dress talk and feel towards me. I have sort of been exiled because I don't dress talk act or am not interested in the stuff they are into. I think globally we have come quite a long way to gain equallity but then there are some people in my school who are constantly refering to themselves as being discriminated agiainst when they clearly aren't. There is this boy in my class at school who is constantly saying that he and his group of friends are being segregated against, but they arent. Its because of their behaviour that they are picked on, they call people names shout out and talk over the teacher and thats why they are picked on. If what he said was right that there was discrimination in the class then surely I would be picked on too, but I'm not because I act in a reasonable manner. It really angers me that some people can't get over the past and move on, the deliberatly set out to seperate themselves from all good society and cause trouble. I just understand what they gain in creating a bad name for black people.

lozza-cm its a shame that not everyone is as open minded like you but I'm afraid to say that some people think that if a certain group of people act in a certain way then everyone who looks like them is the same. We can't fight prejudice but we can fight discrimination. A lot of black youths in England wear baggy trousers,hooded jumpers and walk in gangs and some of them cause trouble shop lifting and mugging but not every black person is like that. I for one don't go by that discription but when I see someone who is of that discription I immediatly think of them as a trouble maker because of the way they are dressed and talk. Its not a good thing but there are certain people who are like that who are responsible for the bad reputation they are giving others of the same race. I wish that I could get throught to people of every race that at the end of the day we are all indevidual. No one is the same and so just because someone looks like the trouble makers who are out there that they might not truly be one. It worries me that if things carry on this way and the "gangsters" of england carry on to act in this disgusting way then I wont have a chance in proving to people that I am not, nor will ever be like that.

i no what you mean about the way people dress, talk and act is how you perceive them, and i think judging people by the way they present themselves is a far better way of forming an opinion on someone rather then their race. the one thing my mother has taught me that has helped me to be tolerant of other people is not look at what they are doing or how they are acting look at what made them that way. so now instead of loosing my cool and lashing out at somebody, no matter how much they may deserve it, i think about all the events in that persons life that would make them so angry and cold. but as i look at the history between black and white people i can only feel that the relations will get better, we live in a era when in 24 hours you could be anywhere in the world, so it literally is a small world, this can only lead to more cultures interacting. we have more people standing up for human rights and reaching out in aid the the third worlds countries and Generally all the people i no that are outwardly racist are the older generation who still harbour memories of their parent's talking about "those black people". being racist was apart of their up bringing and not matter how much we the younger Generation, complain and tell them they are wrong in their views, they are not going to change. but we have a chance to change it. We ARE the future and anything we don't like about the world, we have the opportunity to change it.

Blacks,I guess after reading these posts suffer and the same goes to Indians(some of them)who live abroad.Some of the Indians are dark and when they come abroad for the first time they won't know the practices or let's say fashion followed here.One girl in my school,she is an Indian and she is really shy to even open her mouth.Some Indians put oil on their head because the oil doesn't allow white hair to come and it helps to grow the hair longer.The girl,she had oil on her hair.Two of my classmates,started sniggering and giggling.I looked towards them and many people started staring at her.One of the girls told really loudly,"Look at that blackie.It looks like she had dipped her head in a bucket of oil".I couldn't do anything but go over and talk to that girl.She was a bit dissappointed but then soon cheered up.Still there are more incidents regarding racism.If I wrote everything here I guess I would writing it down for ages....