Research Question

[Oldat29]

I researching the word RACISM and would like your feed back.

All i ask is for you to post the first thing that pops into your hear when you hear the word RACISM?.

Thanx to anyone who posts.

[budafist]

Racism makes me really mad. It is pointless and hateful yet there are so many people that say racist things and have racist thoughts. Many of these people will insist they are not racist.

What really gets me are when people say things directed at all people from a certain ethnicity or country. They say "I'm not racist, but...." Hey buddy, what you just said there was racist. Just because you met a couple of people from a certain race that behaved a certain way, doesn't mean they all do.

Many times I have been told insulting things about "asians". When I protest that I am asian, I'm told "Yeah, but you are not ASIAN". As if it's ok for make that remark because they consider me to be white or something. You know that you just insulted me and all my family? Aren't I proof that what you just said is untrue?

[Oldat29]

In the last few days i have been looking at words that people use as racist terms, its really sad to see how people view other poeple that dont live in there circle.

I seen the word WIGGER. In Ireland we use it as a joke term for the teenagers that listen to rap music and try to act like the black rappers.

I justb seen where it actully came form. It was/is a term used to describe Irish in the usa, It actully means Irish/black.

I am amazed at how people can make terms to degrade somone they see as outsiders.

[senjula]

Racisim makes me think hatred and issolation.....pain, disgust and fear....People who are racist are arrogant and stuck in a primative way of thinking, trapped inside these self preserving cases afraid of the world around them....to live with hatred towards other human beings and in thier own arrogance of superiority must be a lonley life. For the most part also a show a false face something they display as strength but it is a weakness....and they display it so well it causes fear in others....Racisim is a sick reality that the world will never be rid of and that in itself is the worst part of it......

[graphicsmama]

Racism....I think of plain stupidity. Someone thinking they are better than someone else because of their race. But we are all created equal in God's eyes. We're all human, we're all flesh and blood, we all have struggles, we all live and die.

[achipmunk]

RACISM: the root cause of the second war and a lot of other ones..

[Drazan]

Brainstorm here. (http://www.visualthesaurus.com/)

[morea]

dang, Drazan beat me with the link! That's a great place to start.

You can also look the word up for its *exact* definition on www.dictionary.com or another online dictionary. (www.thesaurus.com is helpful, too.) I have a pretty good vocabulary, but when I am brainstorming I still find it helpful to read over the different dictionary definitions (woohoo - alliteration!) to get a solid grasp on the real meaning of the word.

[budafist]

In the last few days i have been looking at words that people use as racist terms, its really sad to see how people view other poeple that dont live in there circle.

I seen the word WIGGER. In Ireland we use it as a joke term for the teenagers that listen to rap music and try to act like the black rappers.

I justb seen where it actully came form. It was/is a term used to describe Irish in the usa, It actully means Irish/black.

I am amazed at how people can make terms to degrade somone they see as outsiders.

In New Zealand a wigger is a white boy that listens to music like American hip hop and wears the clothes that hip hop artists and American gangsters wear.

I don't actually find it racist or offensive.

It would be racist or offensive to me if someone said all wiggers are slackers. But saying all wiggers listen to hip hop, well that's just an observation.

[teniworks]

In New Zealand a wigger is a white boy that listens to music like American hip hop and wears the clothes that hip hop artists and American gangsters wear.

I don't actually find it racist or offensive.

It would be racist or offensive to me if someone said all wiggers are slackers. But saying all wiggers listen to hip hop, well that's just an observation.

I'm trying to think of how to explain this because I understand that there may be some issues about perception and all that but, in the states that word is just as offensive as replacing the "w" with "n". Here is the reason why: People tend to equate hip hop with black people and assume the culture is like that as a whole. (this is why I'm not a fan of the media machine) So without getting into the "they say the 'n-word' in their music" (that's a whole other bag of apples for another day) when you call a white person that name-then what are you calling (or saying about) a person of color who is a part of that culture or people in general. In my eyes, saying one is just as bad as saying the other. Unfortunately, both words have become cool to say which only adds to spreading the idea that this is tolerable. Racism in general comes not knowing (or understanding) about a certain group of people which breeds mistrust, resentment, gross assumptions and later hatred...among other things.

[morea]

^ completely agreed.

I've always been told that the term "wigger" was a contraction of the words "white" and... well, you know the other one. The term is used in a derogatory sense; it's clearly meant as an insult. I totally agree that one is as bad as the other.

[budafist]

It is different here in New Zealand because the term "nigger" isn't really used. To me, it is an American term that we see in the movies and we know what it means but it's not used to offend any New Zealanders.

I guess that is why it is semi-acceptable here.

Example: If there was a word that was really offensive to Maori people here in NZ, using a variation of that word over in the US might not be so offensive.