Is it racist to let experience govern your behavior?

[WendyZXZ]

It is to be expected depending on which group you are in and who is around. I am half Mexican and half Cajun. If I am around Mexican/Hispanic people I know whether family or otherwise I am looked at different than if around whites. I can pass as either a light skinned Mexican or a white person who is tanned. I have no doubt it is more pronounced for black, mixed and such.

 

[Mike J]

I used to work with a young black apprentice. He had dreadlocks and a certain look. He was an aspiring rapper. In all honesty I liked him & we worked well together. He had been hassled by the police a few times when he wasn't doing anything. Once he was riding with his co-workers (all white) through down town Atlanta to go eat lunch at the Varsity when they were pulled over. Now the truck they were riding in obviously belonged to a redneck (I can say that 'cause I are one), lifted 4x4 with a tag on the front with the old Georgia state flag (the one with the Stars and Bars) on it. The black cop that pulled them over got them to let Ant out of the truck. When they were alone behind the truck he asked Ant if he was okay. Ant said he was fine. Then he asked Ant to let him search him. Ant said no. The cop told him he could make him wait while he sent for a dog. Ant told him to get the dog as they weren't going to find anything anyway.

The whole time I worked with Ant I kept asking him about the dreadlocks commenting that they had to be hot. He always said they weren't. After all that I didn't see him for a few years. When I saw him again I would not have recognized him if he hadn't spoke to me. The dreadlocks were gone. I asked him why he cut tham off. He said they were stupid. He is still an aspiring rapper albeit a clean cut one now & is doing fine. He is a good man. I have also encountered black idiots & trash but I have encountered white ones too. I just dislike the professional victim, BLM, Antifa type whether they be white or black. Yes, I still catch myself prejudging people. I do honestly try not too though.

 

[Bull Barrel]

The Georgia flag USED to have the BATTLE FLAG on it.The present flag is almost identical to the Stars and Bars. The First Confederate Flag was called the Stars and Bars.

 

[bogus bill]

War story: A married couple were very close friends and both were very prejudiced. "Bonnie and Frank". Frank retired, they sold their house and bought another in another state. Almost unbelievably, they took the cash from the sale in Bonnie`s purse on a trip through Vegas to pay cash for the new house. They stopped at Circus-Circus for the buffet, neither were gamblers.
In the parking lot A black ran past Bonnie and grabbed her purse off her. Frank was also retired military before we worked together. He was a ornery old war two vet, and ex LEO too. He chased the young thief, the thief was able to climb a high perimeter fence , Frank ran out of gas and couldn't get over it. Another black in better shape seen the action and took up the chase. As he closed on the thief, the thief threw the purse and kicked her into passing gear.
The black hero picked up the purse and carried it back to Bonnie. She gushed all over him, kissed him etc and frankly told him she was prejudiced all her life but no longer! They wined and dined him.
A week later they came back after buying their new house and I was helping them load their last load on a old trailer. The house was now empty, just the phone laying on the bare floor. It rang.
Yup. It was "Albert" the hero. His wife jus run off wiff everything, he jus had a heart attack, he wuz broke and-and

 

[blackhawknj]

If you have consistently bad experiences then you are justified in citing them.
Part of the problem with bigotry and prejudice is it makes you overlook commonalities.
When people focus on commonalities they get a lot more done. A few years ago Jerusalem was the site for a gay rights convention. (Odd choice, IMHO) At a press conference to express their opposition to it were two Orthodox rabbis, two Christian bishops-and two imams. One of the imams said the fact that the six of them could get together like that showed how this issue overrode their differences. Law and Order is seen as a conservative mantra, feminists are seen as liberals-but feminists want sex offenders vigorously prosecuted and severely punished. Or so they claim.
Several of the cases cited above violated a prime rule of business. If someone comes into an establishment selling high ticket/high profit items the only color that matters is the green of their cash,

 

[Pat-inCO]

Some people here are coming close to the real issue, while others are
doing a tippi-toe around it.

Think about some of these points:

~ Is the individual screaming for equality while doing their best to
set them selves apart from others?
~ ~ ~ Do they wear clothes that fairly screams they are not equal?
~ ~ ~ Do they speak in a manner that loudly proclaims their ancestory?
~ ~ ~ Do they have a "tude" (attitude, to us)?
~ ~ ~ Do they look down their nose (literally) at others?
~ Do they have a lack of manners?
~ ~ ~ Do they interrupt any/every conversation?
~ ~ ~ Do they insist that only THEY have rights?
~ ~ ~ Do the insist that their "rights" supersede every one else's?
~ ~ ~ Do they insist that THEY are the sole arbiter of any/every
disagreement?

I find it offensive when I can be in the other room, with the TV going,
and know if a person talking on TV is black, simply by the way they
speak and their seeming lack of knowledge of our language. Is it only
blacks? (delete your favorite expletive from here) NO! It is from the
"minorities" that think their "rights" supersede others, while THEY
do not need to accept others and the rights of others.

It can also be termed assimilation. Are they willing to assimilate into
the overall community, or do they insist WE, the 85%, become part
of "their" community?

Hows about I won't judge you based on your race, and you don't expect
me to feel guilty because of mine?

Stepping down from my soap box. :roll: