Current Events > Can you be a racist and still be considered a good person?

(+) Yeah! (+)

asking for a friend

@Bok_Choi
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Nope.
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RebelElite791 posted...

Nope.

What if someone does things to food the poor and homeless but he just doesn't like a certain race.
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I dunno... Moses?

armandro posted...

RebelElite791 posted...

Nope.

What if someone does things to food the poor and homeless but he just doesn't like a certain race.

Nope.
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What about Gandhi?
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I guess as long as it's against white people.
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You're hating someone for something their skin color, something they had no choice over. You are pure scum, and probably a judgemental asshole as well.


Nope.
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I think a racist could do a whole load of good in their life
but being a racist isn't simply doing something bad once, it's holding a core belief in a pretty terrible way, so no
no matter how much good they do, I think that a racist who did something amazing doesn't become a good person, just a racist who happened to do something right for once
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Gran Torino
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Isn't this the whole premise of Go Set A Watchman
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Lyndon B Johnson, FDR, Abraham Lincoln. All heroes who were racist.

Thats why Trump said there are good people on both sides.
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Depends. The real definition of racists? No. The new more liberal definition? Possibly.
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What if they run out onto a busy highway and save a lost puppy or kitten ?
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I know plenty of old people who are great people but racist as fuck, they're products of a different time.
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Purely as a thought experiment, if a racist person could put aside their racism when interacting with society, or act in good faith towards the people theyre racist against, I think they could be a good person.
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Racism is bad
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My good friend's grandparents didn't like black people, but otherwise they were wonderful people.
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Being racist to white people is considered good, especially if youre white
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"Most people are good, Scout, when you finally see them." -Atticus Finch
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The term "good person" is an entirely useless one, and doesn't actually mean anything. It's fiction. It's a story. Race, in and of itself is simply one of those stories.

For example, if you are a serial adulter, you cannot be trusted in a relationship, but this means nothing to your interactions outside of that. So, can a racist, be a "good person"? Certainly not to everyone, they're racist. But they can be good in interactions where the race they hate is not a factor. I'm 100% positive I've had interactions with racists and left those interactions thinking "that's a pretty great guy/gal", especially when they helped me for no reason.

Think of the widespread racism against gypsies in places like Italy. Do we come to the conclusion that the vast majority of Italians are inherently bad people?

Simplistic notions of good and bad might make things really easy and make the world easier to look at, but it is out of touch with reality.
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But I'm a good person
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To me you are. But to other people you're relatively snobbish and a know-it-all. It's all about perspective. You certainly don't treat everyone equally, nor do you judge people equally for the same things.
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Being a cautious racist is to merely be wary of the nurture aspect of a nature-nurture that forms the person's overall personality. As long as you don't base your actions and only exercise caution and open mind, what's wrong with it? People aren't gonna be equal. It's part of growing up to realize this.
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AdviceMan with the best reply in the topic.

You can all go home now

we settled it
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No you cannot
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Race is such a trivial trait, human beings are so dumb with their obsession with labels
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yes, provided you dont act on it, you do good deeds, behave, etc.
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AdviceMan posted...

Think of the widespread racism against gypsies in places like Italy. Do we come to the conclusion that the vast majority of Italians are inherently bad people?

Of course not. It is wrong to assume someone is a racist without knowing them individually, but they are a shitbag if it turns out they are.
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Zodd3224 posted...

Race is such a trivial trait, human beings are so dumb with their obsession with labels

Actually, race is significant when you've come from entirely different culture and nuances. You run on different moralities, and you're gonna find much different things funny. For example, Koreans find mispronunciation of English hilarious, but for me, I don't find it all that funny. Japanese find funny the panning the camera up to the sky while a character yells out loud a fact that doesn't make sense, I don't find it particularly funny unless the point was smart enough to warrant such dramatic flair. Some cultures value marriage and family, America has absurdly high divorce rates and a new generation that perceives marriage entirely in a legal sense.

Nurture is significant. Cultural difference and thus racial difference is only logical. If you're able to accommodate dealing with a person of a different race according to their upbringing, you're an amazing person.
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thompsontalker7 posted...

Isn't this the whole premise of Go Set A Watchman

Not canon
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legendarylemur posted...

Zodd3224 posted...

Race is such a trivial trait, human beings are so dumb with their obsession with labels

Actually, race is significant when you've come from entirely different culture and nuances. You run on different moralities, and you're gonna find much different things funny. For example, Koreans find mispronunciation of English hilarious, but for me, I don't find it all that funny. Japanese find funny the panning the camera up to the sky while a character yells out loud a fact that doesn't make sense, I don't find it particularly funny unless the point was smart enough to warrant such dramatic flair. Some cultures value marriage and family, America has absurdly high divorce rates and a new generation that perceives marriage entirely in a legal sense.

Nurture is significant. Cultural difference and thus racial difference is only logical. If you're able to accommodate dealing with a person of a different race according to their upbringing, you're an amazing person.

True self is without form
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Doe posted...

thompsontalker7 posted...

Isn't this the whole premise of Go Set A Watchman

Not canon

Really doe?
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legendarylemur posted...

Zodd3224 posted...

Race is such a trivial trait, human beings are so dumb with their obsession with labels

Actually, race is significant when you've come from entirely different culture and nuances. You run on different moralities, and you're gonna find much different things funny. For example, Koreans find mispronunciation of English hilarious, but for me, I don't find it all that funny. Japanese find funny the panning the camera up to the sky while a character yells out loud a fact that doesn't make sense, I don't find it particularly funny unless the point was smart enough to warrant such dramatic flair. Some cultures value marriage and family, America has absurdly high divorce rates and a new generation that perceives marriage entirely in a legal sense.

Nurture is significant. Cultural difference and thus racial difference is only logical. If you're able to accommodate dealing with a person of a different race according to their upbringing, you're an amazing person.

good post. quality.
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armandro posted...

Doe posted...

thompsontalker7 posted...

Isn't this the whole premise of Go Set A Watchman

Not canon

Really doe?

Really
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legendarylemur posted...

Zodd3224 posted...

Race is such a trivial trait, human beings are so dumb with their obsession with labels

Actually, race is significant when you've come from entirely different culture and nuances. You run on different moralities, and you're gonna find much different things funny. For example, Koreans find mispronunciation of English hilarious, but for me, I don't find it all that funny. Japanese find funny the panning the camera up to the sky while a character yells out loud a fact that doesn't make sense, I don't find it particularly funny unless the point was smart enough to warrant such dramatic flair. Some cultures value marriage and family, America has absurdly high divorce rates and a new generation that perceives marriage entirely in a legal sense.

Nurture is significant. Cultural difference and thus racial difference is only logical. If you're able to accommodate dealing with a person of a different race according to their upbringing, you're an amazing person.

This is probably the best post on race any CEman has posted, TBH.
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Bok_Choi posted...

legendarylemur posted...

Zodd3224 posted...

Race is such a trivial trait, human beings are so dumb with their obsession with labels

Actually, race is significant when you've come from entirely different culture and nuances. You run on different moralities, and you're gonna find much different things funny. For example, Koreans find mispronunciation of English hilarious, but for me, I don't find it all that funny. Japanese find funny the panning the camera up to the sky while a character yells out loud a fact that doesn't make sense, I don't find it particularly funny unless the point was smart enough to warrant such dramatic flair. Some cultures value marriage and family, America has absurdly high divorce rates and a new generation that perceives marriage entirely in a legal sense.

Nurture is significant. Cultural difference and thus racial difference is only logical. If you're able to accommodate dealing with a person of a different race according to their upbringing, you're an amazing person.

This is probably the best post on race any CEman has posted, TBH.

Nah, too many asian examples, I didn't understand it.
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You're thinking of ethnicity, not race.

While its understandable to not agree with certain practices and beliefs of certain ethnicities, hating the entire ethnic group because of disagreeing with certain beliefs is silly. And then many take it even further and just hate entire races.

Its like if dogs didn't associate with each other because some have different colored fur and different facial features. Its laughable when you actually think about it.
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3khc posted...

Gran Torino

That's a racist turn good.
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What if there was like a neurosurgeon who was a really nice, good guy, but he was also just like a giant bigot?

so like for example he might see some young chinese fellow with a brain tumor who needs to get it removed but he can't afford treatment, and the surgeon goes "alright you son of a bitch, i'll remove that tumor for ya and i'll do it free of charge since I know YOUR PEOPLE can't afford this kind of treatment"

and then he removes the tumor and saves the Chinese man's life, the Chinese guy ends up naming his kid after the surgeon etc.

So is this man not a good person because he is racist?
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Zodd3224 posted...

You're thinking of ethnicity, not race.

While its understandable to not agree with certain practices and beliefs of certain ethnicities, hating the entire ethnic group because of disagreeing with certain beliefs is silly. And then many take it even further and just hate entire races.

race =/= ethnicity
ethnicity =/= culture

it's not understandable to hate certain ethnicities, either. thinking ethnicity determines your "beliefs and practices" is just as crazy sounding.

I don't know if that's what you really meant or if you just misunderstand the terms you're using, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and reserve judgement.
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Zodd3224 posted...

You're thinking of ethnicity, not race.

While its understandable to not agree with certain practices and beliefs of certain ethnicities, hating the entire ethnic group because of disagreeing with certain beliefs is silly. And then many take it even further and just hate entire races.

Its like if dogs didn't associate with each other because some have different colored fur and different facial features. Its laughable when you actually think about it.

Except racism is commonly adjacent to xenophobia. When a guy from another country is born in a different country and behaves pretty much like a typical person of that different country, he is considerably less prone to violence by racism. There are more than enough evidence in real life and in history to support this. So discussing racism amongst people who live off of a single culture is... actually more of a discussion of whether if a person is inherently close minded than whether if they're solely racist.

Meanwhile, ethnicity plays a big part of who you are when you belong to a certain race. So it's important to realize the impact of culture when talking about racism
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Bok_Choi posted...

But I'm a good person

Lol
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EndOfDiscOne posted...

My good friend's grandparents didn't like black people, but otherwise they were wonderful people.

Then you have to learn why they don't like black people.

Just because they're black ?

Stuff they hear about black people ?

Have been treated wrong by black people ?

I still believe that people are or become racist for no reason.
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Knowledge_King posted...

Depends. The real definition of racists? No. The new more liberal definition? Possibly.

That would be "anybody who disagrees."
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being a "good person" is not a static thing

everyone has flaws. prejudice toward certain marginalized groups (including race) is a flaw, and one that will, in all likelihood, never be completely gone.

the important thing is listening to people who are informed about issues relating to those marginalized groups, recognizing your own flaws, and working to overcome them

(side note: the way it works is actually very similar to the Dark Side of the Force throughout the Star Wars universe https://medium.com/@omically/im-not-racist-but-yes-i-am-prejudice-and-the-dark-side-of-the-force-646b319c6579 )
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I say yes. Just so long as we're not talking full on KKK lynchings and nazi gas ovens level of racism.

I think most people have prejudices, which are learned things that can be unlearned.
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RickyTheBAWSE posted...

Zodd3224 posted...

You're thinking of ethnicity, not race.

While its understandable to not agree with certain practices and beliefs of certain ethnicities, hating the entire ethnic group because of disagreeing with certain beliefs is silly. And then many take it even further and just hate entire races.

race =/= ethnicity
ethnicity =/= culture

it's not understandable to hate certain ethnicities, either. thinking ethnicity determines your "beliefs and practices" is just as crazy sounding.

I don't know if that's what you really meant or if you just misunderstand the terms you're using, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and reserve judgement.

You just said the same thing I said, lol.

But ethnic groups do share much of the same cultural beliefs.
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pinky0926 posted...

I say yes. Just so long as we're not talking full on KKK lynchings and nazi gas ovens level of racism.

I think most people have prejudices, which are learned things that can be unlearned.

Every person carries prejudice. It's human nature to judge current happenings based on our previous experiences. Anyone claiming otherwise is simply uncomfortable with admitting the fact.
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