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There's a few different definitions of being prejudice and being a racist and being a stereotyper. When defining prejudice, there's two definitions: those who have preconceived notions about a certain group of people, or those who treat the aforementioned group differently due to their characteristics.
If you consider being prejudice having a preconveived notion about a group of people, then of course everyone is prejudice. When I see a woman driving a 1989 Camaro with sweatpants on, I think she lives in a trailer. What's wrong with that? Is there something wrong with my assumption? Am I going to treat the woman differently because of my thoughts? No. I'm simply making the observation that based on past experiences, people who drive Camaros and wear sweatpants to the grocery store generally live in trailers. There is nothing wrong with this theory. No harm is being done to the woman and I would treat her no differently than anyone else.
Now, if I were to walk up to her and say, "Get a better car and wear some blue jeans Ms. Whitetrash." That would be prejudice.
Another misconception is racism. OBSERVING THAT A PERSON IS BLACK, WHITE, OR ASIAN IS NOT RACISM. If I say that a black guy did this or that, it's simply using a VERY useful description of the person to relate how he looks. If I say that a bunch of black people are at the theater, that's not racist -- it's a simple observation. Many people believe that calling a group of people "black" is racist because "everyone is the same no matter your skin color." Wrong. We're all different. I'm glad we have different skin colors...it makes it easier to identify and describe people.
On to the topic of stereotypes: stereotyping is an advanced, unconscious form of being prepared for the "future." If I stereotype the black people in the theaters in my hometown by saying that they're probably going to be loud, it's simply saying that I've observed black people being loud a majority of the time in theaters. Stereotyping? Yes. Wrong? I don't think so. Like I said, it's simply a method of guessing the outcome of an event based on previous observations. There is no harm done until I TREAT these people differently without experiencing the said actions.
One poster mentioned that in the past 15 years, the entire world has been obsessed with being politically correct. I agree. Being politically correct is pure, censored stupidity. I'm a white guy. There are black people, asian people, Canadians that say crick instead of creek, and hispanics that work for nothing in this world. Nothing changes this. One thing is for certain: pretending like there isn't a difference between race and skin color will only make it worse. Censoring what we say and do because we're afraid of offending someone's skin is even more abysmal...get over the dire fear of someone else thinking you're a racist and say what you feel. The only people in this world right now that have a racism or prejudice issue is those who truly don't like someone because of their skin color or race. Those people need help and are beyond this conversation.
-Lasereth
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"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert
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