What is Racism?

[Deleted member 59]

The world has been crazy lately, I have never seen so much hate and anger the way I see it now. Believe it or not despite the fact my country is considered one of the most violent in the world I did grow up surrounded with almost zero percent of violence. A few robberies, mugging and very rarely as a kid I heard of people being killed anywhere in high scales aside from cities in other states.

Time passes and things change, and as a teenager and young adult I started hearing more and more about worse crimes happening around my country and my city but then again never with me. I guess I was somehow blessed for growing up in peaceful areas, where people were just more focused on helping each other no matter the situation; communities were sure more united than they are now.

When we watch the news or read the news I guess it's "normal" to think those kind of crimes are like part of our daily day (which is extremely sad), but one crime specific started to get more and more noticed, visible and common: racism crime. The more I watch or read the news, the more I feel like we're living in this really weird, creepy and scary alternative reality when suddenly being racist has become okay... And believe me racism is not only between white people and black people, it has got more to it. Recently I have watched on the news people being offended, attacked verbally and physically because of their skin color, because of where they come from, because of their faith. I've seen friends of mine suffering all that. And everyday is something new about the consequences of a predominantly racist culture. I see it daily and I see it constantly, especially now in chat room, which is why I decided to make this post about it.

I get racist comments daily on my pm's especially when my cam is open. Some of my friends tell me "but SG you're not black! how come they tell you that?" And sorry to break news like this (lol) I am black It's not about how dark my skin is, is about my body features, the shape of my face, the thickness of my lips, my hair etc. I have African ancestry, my grandpa was black, my grandma was black. And you wanna know something? I am fucking proud of it! It does not make me less of a human, or of anything. And just as I get hate for being who I am, for having a bit more of color, many others get equal or even worse hate because of where they come from and their religion. I'm sorry to tell you that if at any moment of the day while in chat room you have used offensive words to describe a person or an entire population (it does not matter the reason you think you've got to do it) you have been racist. And that is just not right. It doesn't matter if you're gonna to point out that the N word is being said and then immediately after gonna start throwing jokes, mean comments at someone or at en entire group based on their ethnicity, you're still being racist. I'm not saying that everyone is racist, but depending on moment and situation we all can be. So after all my babbling, which I apologize for, I'll show you an excerpt of a text I found explaining what racism is:

"Racism takes many forms and can happen in many places. It includes prejudice, discrimination or hatred directed at someone because of their color, ethnicity or national origin.

People often associate racism with acts of abuse or harassment. However, it doesn’t need to involve violent or intimidating behavior. Take racial name-calling and jokes. Or consider situations when people may be excluded from groups or activities because of where they come from."

This happens every day, every time, it doesn't matter if the person was a jerk, we all can be jerks, so call him a jerk, call him out on the fact that he or she was a douche to you, but do not lower yourself to name calling/joking/offending people based on their country of origin. Every nation produce quite the few assholes, no exceptions, and the minute you turn to that side to make someone feel bad, I'm not sorry to say, you're just worse and going below the douchy level.

Below is the link to the site where I got the excerpt from.

https://itstopswithme.humanrights.gov.au/about-racism

 

[Funwife]

If anyone has this problem it's us! I live in South Africa and the rest of the world only hears a fraction of what's really going on.
We have the highest crime rate in the world as well as the highest murder rate. On average, 62 white farmers get murdered every MONTH along with their families. Major companies are forbidden by law to hire whites.
After the new government came to power 20 years ago, we have now reverse racism on a massive scale.
I doubt this country can be saved to be honest...

 

[Deleted member 59]

Racism can happen in many ways. It's an unfortunate sad thing we still suffer from it in all of its forms.

 

[Administrator]

I never heard anything about South Africa in news.. is this true? what you are saying.

 

[Scorps]

Unfortunately this is another sign of the times. Terrorists of all kind, including national, religious and historical relationships are all causes for some people reacting in these ways.
Personally, I have no problems with anyone because of their race, creed etc. I have friends and contacts globally who I regularly chat with on both technical and as 'friends' issues. A large amount of the problems currently happening in the middle East are due to the supply of weapons from countries such as America, Britain and Russia.
Things will never change unless we all learn to tolerate each other and how to respect each other. It is not that long ago that people were attacking others because they were 'Gay', ;Pakistani', 'Jews', Afro-Caribbean', etc. Some things do change over time, but there will always be ignorant people who cannot understand these issues.

 

[Funwife]

We could all live in peace if those in power were not so greedy and focused on the average citizen.
2 of our ministers are richer than half the population put together!

 

[Deleted member 59]

Corruption is one big evil

 

[Deleted member 59]

And I just gotta point out one thing here, there's no such thing as reverse racism. White people have and still dominate this world in every level. They enslaved and murdered native populations in Africa, India, North America, Central America, South America. Black people were taken from their home, bought like objects, treated worse than animals, tortured, killed. They were told to have no soul. Indigenous people were slaughtered and still are slaughtered. Civil Rights in the US shows clearly the unfairness of treatment and the prejudice they suffered and until this day they still undergo a lot of hate for having their skin color. In South Africa we had The apartheid, black people true and real native South Africans being treated like slaves in their own land by the descendants of European colonizers, who massively ran away to South Africa and many other of their colonies to escape the Great Wars. Most of the soldiers called for war were from the colonies. Tell me when did any of those ethnicities acted to invade a white person's land if not to fight for their right to exist? White people do not suffer or go through what they suffered and still suffer. So no it's not reverse racism, this is what the current generations are getting for all the crap their ancestors did. It's called karma. Nothing more.

 

[Deleted member 59]

 

[Deleted member 59]

If anyone has this problem it's us! I live in South Africa and the rest of the world only hears a fraction of what's really going on.
We have the highest crime rate in the world as well as the highest murder rate. On average, 62 white farmers get murdered every MONTH along with their families. Major companies are forbidden by law to hire whites.
After the new government came to power 20 years ago, we have now reverse racism on a massive scale.
I doubt this country can be saved to be honest...View attachment 1425

Something you should be aware of is that that sign mentioning deaths since the end of Apartheid is actually making an apollogy to its return. Be careful about it. What was done to the African people not only in South Africa but in many other places was not something little or to be taken lightly.