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

(+) Yeah! (+)

PrettyBoyFloyd posted...

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

False; everyone has reasons for believing the things they do. In the case of my friend's grandparents, I don't know for sure. They probably had experiences a long ass time ago which shaped them, and old people aren't good at changing their worldview or accepting new ideas.
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The vast majority of the people on this planet are racist, and most far more so than what we see in the U.S.
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deflecting to other countries has never helped America fix it's internal problems.
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RickyTheBAWSE posted...

deflecting to other countries has never helped America fix it's internal problems.

So this standard only applies to America? Or are you comfortable saying the billions of racist people in Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa are shitty people?
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Are the KKK good people? That'll answer your question.
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The Admiral posted...

RickyTheBAWSE posted...

deflecting to other countries has never helped America fix it's internal problems.

So this standard only applies to America? Or are you comfortable saying the billions of racist people in Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa are shitty people?

I'm saying it's silly to think you have the moral authority to tell your neighbor to not beat his wife when you routinely put your wife through a table like the Dudley Boyz. don't even put your neighbor's name in your mouth until you get your own household straight.

this pattern of yours is why people have to keep calling you out on your "pot calling the kettle black" habits.
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Depends tbh

Alot of times racism comes from ignorance and a lack of exposure to different people so you could be kind. The worst kind of racist is those that flat out not like another race and use a blanket statement towards a whole group and hide behind "statistics" to prove they're racism.

At least in my first example they usually become friends with other people of color if they give them a chance, a racist wouldn't bother.
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armandro posted...

What about Gandhi?

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RickyTheBAWSE posted...

The Admiral posted...

RickyTheBAWSE posted...

deflecting to other countries has never helped America fix it's internal problems.

So this standard only applies to America? Or are you comfortable saying the billions of racist people in Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa are shitty people?

I'm saying it's silly to think you have the moral authority to tell your neighbor to not beat his wife when you routinely put your wife through a table like the Dudley Boyz. don't even put your neighbor's name in your mouth until you get your own household straight.

this pattern of yours is why people have to keep calling you out on your "pot calling the kettle black" habits.

Not a single sentence in this post makes any sense or answers my question.
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most people are racist, but it's not a defining part of the characters of all racist. mostly because not everybody is racist to the same degree.

on one side of the spectrum, you have the "kill em all" types.

on the other side, you have what I called your "benevolent racist." these types will adopt a Black child and keep him from anything they'd consider Black culture. from speech to dress. they'll genuinely love the child and be doing what they think is best. but that'll typically include deterring them from "Blackness."

it's ignorance regardless, but not all racist are the same. hell, my boss is racist. but he's tolerable and never disrespects anybody to their face. on purpose.
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The Admiral posted...

RickyTheBAWSE posted...

The Admiral posted...

RickyTheBAWSE posted...

deflecting to other countries has never helped America fix it's internal problems.

So this standard only applies to America? Or are you comfortable saying the billions of racist people in Asia, South America, the Middle East, and Africa are shitty people?

I'm saying it's silly to think you have the moral authority to tell your neighbor to not beat his wife when you routinely put your wife through a table like the Dudley Boyz. don't even put your neighbor's name in your mouth until you get your own household straight.

this pattern of yours is why people have to keep calling you out on your "pot calling the kettle black" habits.

Not a single sentence in this post makes any sense or answers my question.

I answered. you just got an answer with too much substance for you to handle with an ignorant approach.
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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.

This, I wouldn't say being an ignorant asshole makes you a bad person overall.

Being Racist isn't limited to being a Nazi or a Klan member, it also includes:

Being unsettled by dark skinned people
Thinking that a certain race is full of violent, angry people
Believing that a certain race is lazy and benefits off of welfare
Thinking your body is superior to another race
Writing off people of a different race because they make you uncomfortable

Those are just a few things regular people can have as beliefs and never say a word or do anything to hurt those races. If you avoid a different race for most of your lifetime, you are most certainly racist. However, if you do no harm to other races and live a life that helps others, you aren't a bad person.
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^^
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Yes, of course. Your entire character is not justly defined by one flaw.
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just reposting this on this page so people don't have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the last one to see it :]

averagejoel posted...

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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Is being a good person based on your ability to do harm? Say you take two people, one is a hiring manager and one is a farmer. They have the exact same views of black people "they're lazy". So one day, someone applies to the company of the first guy and doesn't get it because he's black. The farmer on the other hand, never meets a black person, and thus never harms one. Philosophically, these people are equivalent, but one simply had an opportunity where his prejudices can do harm. Does that make him a worse person? It's just chance. If the farmer was in his position, he would do the same thing.

But here's the issue, and why the term "good person" is mostly meaningless. Both of these men value hard work, and they also have a mistaken belief that black people are lazy. This belief, if it were absolutely true, it would make the action absolutely reasonable. But it isn't, so it's not reasonable. Thus, the only thing standing in the way of this person from being a "good person" is a mistaken belief. Obviously, this is not a simple process, but if the difference between good and bad can be a single mistaken belief, then the difference between good and bad is not significant at all.
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The Admiral posted...

The vast majority of the people on this planet are racist, and most far more so than what we see in the U.S.

Calling the world shit is something people have been doing forever. Do you have a point?
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Did we decide on it yet?
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Can you be a racist and still be considered a good person?

In an awkward sense, yes, but it would still make the person socially toxic to be around for many people.

It's an interesting gimmick of conflict for story characters, but it rarely ever plays out well in real life. Having someone like that around will eventually trigger enough reactionary hate that it diminishes whatever good the person does to "compensate".

Were it only minimal or "benevolently stereotypical" levels of racism, people could be convinced to overlook those minor offenses if the person was at least noticeably beneficial to the community somehow (which does happen). It's similar to the trope of "jerk with a heart of gold".

Someone who outwardly acts significantly racist, however, can quickly become very difficult to condone in a society where people are easily offended by that. Even if they practically perform like a superhero to most of the community, it's not heroic to discriminate against innocent people.

Ethically, the person would not be good in the typical sense.
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Can you be stupid and still be considered an intelligent person?
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So would someone who dedicated his life to cure cancer (for free, no big pharma patents) be considered a bad person because he hates midgets?

Bokk;;!!!
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faizan_faizan posted...

Can you be stupid and still be considered an intelligent person?

yes actually. someone can have a certain kind of smarts and lack another type
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Rika_Furude posted...

faizan_faizan posted...

Can you be stupid and still be considered an intelligent person?

yes actually. someone can have a certain kind of smarts and lack another type

LMAO
OWN'D
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no
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How many white dads are uncomfortable with their daughters dating a black guy? That's a lot of objectively bad people.
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Romulox28 posted...

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?

This man isn't racist. He's prejudice. A racist wouldn't help the man and would hate him because of his race.
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RickyTheBAWSE posted...

I'm saying it's silly to think you have the moral authority to tell your neighbor to not beat his wife when you routinely put your wife through a table like the Dudley Boyz. don't even put your neighbor's name in your mouth until you get your own household straight.

You sure you want to go down that road? Lots of people have argued that a specific group should not be rioting about violence against them, when you consider that statistically the members of that group are the ones committing far more violence against other members of their own group. You do know it's a very unpopular thing to point out, right?
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Lorenzo_2003 posted...

RickyTheBAWSE posted...

I'm saying it's silly to think you have the moral authority to tell your neighbor to not beat his wife when you routinely put your wife through a table like the Dudley Boyz. don't even put your neighbor's name in your mouth until you get your own household straight.

You sure you want to go down that road? Lots of people have argued that a specific group should not be rioting about violence against them, when you consider that statistically the members of that group are the ones committing far more violence against other members of their own group. You do know it's a very unpopular thing to point out, right?

if you're willing to trace problems to their root cause, sure. I'll argue that with you. problem is people who respond the way you did tend to deflect, downplay, and ignore basic rules of cause and effect. if you want this, don't draw a line on how far to go back. literally everybody's problems with "race in America" started with the same group. so don't take it there.
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Rika_Furude posted...

faizan_faizan posted...

Can you be stupid and still be considered an intelligent person?

yes actually. someone can have a certain kind of smarts and lack another type

Today I learned 'stupid' means that a person lacks only a 'certain kind of smart', whatever that means. Terrible semantics argument.
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