I personally believe that it is absolutely impossible for humans not to be racist as long as the gene pool still has variances. One point is that there are, undeniably, cultural differences - another is that it's simply part of how the human mind works. We need classification in order to process information. For example, when you look at an image, you see an image - You don't mentally break it down into small little bits or pixels. You classify items within it to fit under a category to more easily process what you're seeing. When a car is turning around a corner and you can only see the front half, you know its a full car - Not just what you're able to see of it. So, by this nature, we classify races as well so we can view them as a whole category.

I'd like to start off by saying that I do not consider myself a racist in the traditional sense, but in the scientific one. I mostly agree with EnigmaticMan's arguments, which are along the lines of articles and papers I've been reading for years. I find the left's obsession with denying both the obvious and the scientifically proven to be both tedious and ironic.

So, yup, I pretty much agree with the sentiment that everybody has a racist bone in their body, at least one. I honestly can't recall ever having known anybody who, once you get to know them well enough, will maintain an aura of racismlessness; from the blacks that I know, to the Arabs, to the whites (I do not know any Asians well enough, but from what I've read in the New York Times about Koreans in the southern US, they can be quite brutal!) Even these people who claim to be staunchly liberal who hate racism and think that white people should all die in a hole ultimately show their true colors sooner or later!

Someway or another? Please clarify. I assume that you mean although the majority of people do not prejudge others based on aspects of their existence they cannot control (i.e. class, race, gender, etc.), they do tend to be fearful in unknown circumstances. In my opinion, it is racist to deny a black man the chance at employment for an open position in your store because you fear he will steal even though he is perfectly suited to do the job and does not have a criminal history. I do not consider it racist if you are walking in a bad neighborhood at night and see a group of black men walking in your direction to walk across the street, turn-around and find a group of people to be around you, hail a cab, etc. Others would say the latter statement is racist. I think that if you are not comfortable encountering a situation no matter the reason... you have the obligation to protect your well being by making the best decision with the information you have. The information in that example is based on race and what society has taught us... black men are violent in this neighborhood.

I guess you'd be viewing racism in a similar sense as Zombee would, and in this I disagree with both you and Zombee.

Racism is not hints of prejudice or understanding of scientific facts. Racism (and the word is a bit misleading, but spare the details) is the viewing of one ethnic group or race as superior to another. Or any ethnicity as superior to another.

Now, you can go about it at EnigmaticMan's reasoning, who sees the scientific data as an EXCUSE to be a racist, but I don't think you, as a Libertarian, can go that way. You see the data, accept it, and move on. This makes you not racist. now, I don't know you personally or know much about your views, so you can actually be a racist, but with my assumption alone, being politically incorrect and supportive of science is NOT racist. Racism would be EnigmaticMan's position, where he sees the data as a reason to treat the natives of Africa as lower humans (if Enigmatic feels that I'm wrong in my portrayal of his beliefs, please correct me).

Racism is when you decide to treat others as lower than you simply for their race/ethnicity (this is the problem with the word "racism," for it pertains to ethnicity, but w/e). However, having prejudice is a result of evolution, and we can get past it by being rational human beings. Just because you assume something about someone doesn't make you racist, it means your cognitive abilities are categorizing, as they should (if they didn't, you'd be broken). Over time, reasoning will make categorization better and more efficient, eliminating any prejudice. However, it becomes racist when you decide to act based solely on those prejudices and stereotypes. Racism is to not be reasonable and allow your emotions to get in the way of the recognition of another as a human being.

Now, EM would probably say that it's reasonable to view humans as lower to him based on their genetics, and I would say that it's ignorant for we can not assume that genetic aspects can truly be grasped at this point. We know that dogs and monkeys are inferior on cognitive abilities, but the specific Africans that EM speak of are not concrete and actually excel in other physical aspects (and even motor skills).

But even if Racism can be reasonable, it does not make what I said before different. Racism itself is not something that plagues us all. prejudice and stereotypes, yes, but so long as we don't come to the belief that our ethnicity is superior to another, we are not being racist.

Or maybe I have more hope for humanity than you, Zombee, and EM.

Clearly , and its fuking annoying !

I hate rascist people !

Racism: the belief that races have distinctive cultural characteristics determined by hereditary factors and that this endows some races with an intrinsic superiority over others.

In the definition that racism is defined by a race as being superior above all others, no I do not believe everyone is racist.

Skin pigmentation shows differences in tolerance to the suns rays. "Nationality"/Geographical location/ancestry shows differences in tolerances to different foods, weather, animals, etc.

However none of these determine one "race" as superior above all others.

So no, it's possible not to be racist.

ALTHOUGH, I do not think racism will disappear due to the diverse human thinking and needs. There will always be people who need to feel they are above someone else, even by resorting to skin color.