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Debate Info

54
13
Yeah... Not so much...
Debate Score:67
Arguments:21
Total Votes:78
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 Yeah... (15)
 
 Not so much... (6)

Debate Creator

Bradf0rd(1431) pic



Is racism still a serious issue?

Yeah...

Side Score: 54
VS.

Not so much...

Side Score: 13

It is really fun being a white liberal sometimes. Because of my color other white people think it is perfectly okay to say racist things about other groups of people in my presence. Members of my own family, friends, people in my college classes, people I overheard in restaurants when I lived in a 99.9% white community would say some horribly racist things.

I don't need any statistics (though they point towards my assumptions being correct); I get to see racism first hand, on the ground floor.

One of my grandparents pointed to a rapper on television and asked why she didn't have a bone in her nose. My step-father caught me watching "In Living Color" and called the dancers a bunch of monkeys. One of my other grandparents asked "where are all of these black people coming from" when we were eating at a local buffet. I once played "Sweet Home Alabama" at a Denny's jukebox and heard a group of boys yell at me to turn off this "niger music". (I know that doesn't make any sense, seeing as all of the members of the band are white, I believe).

God knows when the Metrolink (Saint Louis's light rail system) was being proposed in Saint Charles (a nearby suburb) people were up in arms about "those people" coming over and stealing all of our televisions and breaking into our cars.

Saint Louis, my city, is rife with racism. Needless to say; I myself harbor racist tendencies and thoughts which come directly from my background. I try my best to get rid of them, but the us vs. them mentality, the "differences" that both whites and blacks recognize between us are well-known. We "know" we aren't like one another; culturally at least.

That cultural difference is very real, of course; caused by physical segregation of the past. It's hard to communicate with people of the other races; we really don't understand one another.

Side: Yeah...
4 points

I lived in St. Charles for a few years, but now live in Baltimore, MD and you are 100% right... there are a lot of racist white people out there... but there are also racist Asians, Indians, and blacks! I think that we forget it can go both ways.

Side: yes
6 points

Something unfortunate about today's society is that despite the times people still only think that white people are the only racist people out there.

Yeah, I've been called a "fucking chink" by a white guy when i was taking my behind the wheel course for my learner's permit a while back, but it's not like i haven't heard an African American guy scream "learn how to drive you stupid beaner!" to a mexican guy either.

It's pretty depressing how people of color take advantage of how white people were racist in the past to cover up their own racist thoughts.

Side: Yeah...
4 points

Considering the amount of hate crimes that still go on because of a person's race, I could say yes.

But because people take it rather lightly when someone cracks a racist joke, I could say no.

Side: Yeah...
4 points

I'd say yes - institutionalised discrimination, resentment against immigrants and hate crimes are all still major problems. Are racist jokes are indicative of strongly held racist beliefs? I'm not sure, but I don't think they're either a new problem or evidence that racism's unimportant nowadays.

Side: Yeah...
3 points

Racism is definitely still a serious issue and always will be. The fact that racism is no longer necessarily a "black or white" issue has led people to believe it no longer exists or is no longer a serious issue. On the contrary, not only is it a serious issue, but the fact that people are ignorant enough to believe it is not, is an issue of its own. People simply do not pay attention to what goes on around them and think that if racism between blacks and whites is not as prevalent then racism is on its way to being nonexistent. The racism between blacks and whites is just being transferred elsewhere. Nowadays, Americans have racist views towards other people of darker complexions, i.e. Hispanics, and Middle Easterners. Replacing racist views toward one population with racist views toward another is not really progress and to think so is stupid. In addition, the light-hearted "acceptance" of things like racist jokes or being able to conceal the racism in other ways does not mean anything. People who are not racist may laugh at racist jokes as they see why the joke was made (what stereotype it plays off) or because they are too nervous or weak-minded to actually stand up and defend against it. In addition to this "new" racism based on color or background, there is economical racism where people are not so much "nigger" or "honky/cracker" but "white trash" or "ghetto." They are judged based on their status in society and mistreated in the same way. Has your education system failed you as much as theirs have failed them in the sense that we are all blind to this? There are too many ways to show that racism is still a serious issue and the fact that the trends of racism evolve without notice is another serious issue. Americans will be racist against anyone we are at war against, anyone "taking our jobs," or anyone we do not quite understand. Lack of education and the fact that we do not seriously think about anything important will keep it that way and I am sure by the time we do start thinking, we will find something else to judge people on or we will be the victims of the judgment.

Side: Idiots
2 points

I agree with you, but as I mentioned earlier, racism can also go against whites! It goes both ways, sadly. And frankly, I don't know how to stop it!

Side: yes
3 points

I'm extremely torn on this issue. My father is brown and my mother is white, and I have experienced some less than savory comments regarding the kinks in my hair and the shape of my eyes. Though one can certainly say that race sometimes plays an enormous part in prejudicial action, part of me wants to say that socio-economics and cultural differences between groups are what spark unwary feelings.

So often you see people judge other members of their race harshly because of the way they turn a phrase or dress or the manner in which they raise children. However, I just moved to Texas a little while ago from Maryland and all of my previous assumptions were destroyed.

A friend of mine, a black woman who is very well read, articulate and kind told me that she still has deal with the "N" word shouted at her from cars on a weekly basis. People that I've spoken to about Barack Obama here who say that they are democrats refuse to entertain the idea of a black person in office. My Dad was helping someone with her garden the other day and the woman's friend from across the street stopped by in her brand new Denali to say hi, completely ignoring my father ("I thought he was the help").

After all of that evidence proving the otherwise, can one still say racism is a demon from the past?

Side: Racism
2 points

I have to say wholeheartedly that I agree with this statement. Racism is still a societal disease that this country , the United States is afflicted with. Although racism is an issue around the world, I am going to focus this comment on the United States. Racism in the United States is grounded in the institution of Slavery and the dissemination and genocide of the Native Americans. Through systems of Eugenics, Europeans have implanted their own views of inferiority based on race in anyone that anything other than European. The US is a country of immigrants where not only Blacks were discriminated and hated, yet also Jews, the Irish, etc. It was not until other groups had the ability to assimilate into the great culture that we say prejudice and hatred further develop.

Until we teach each other to respect our differences and learn more about others cultures and customs that racism, prejudice, and hatred continue. Racism is alive an well, whether it's when you're walking down the street in an all white neighborhood and people stare or if your professors point you out because you look different then the rest of your classmates, it's still alive. You can do your part to fight racism by learning about other cultures and being more tolerant. Surround yourself by people of a different race or thought process than yourself because you're guaranteed to learn something.

Side: Yeah...
2 points

It may always be a issue since we all think and look different. It may not be as bad as it once was but it will never be 100% gone sadly.

Side: yes
1 point

yea is a serious issue . Is like the president,not all people like him because of his skin color..

Side: Yeah...
2 points

If Barack Obama wins the presidency, it will go a long way towards repairing the racial divide that has been present in American society for the past 200 years. Its still a serious issue but, thankfully, it is one that's disappearing.

Side: Hey Hey Hey Goodbye
2 points

I have a friend from Afghanistan who was talking to me about the assumptions people make regarding her heritage. She has been in American for ten years, but wears the hijab because she believes it's beautiful and it's a tradition within her family.

Are the negative comments we hear regarding people who practice traditions different from ours examples of racism or cultural indifference?

Why Hijab?
Side: Racism
1 point

Race is just another difference. Difference is not something that you prevent someone to reach their full potential, although you should recognise that difference and educate oneself about their heritage and culture. But under the definition that is still racist. All depends of definition

Side: Not so much...
1 point

Racism is a load of C$%#!. Everyonne thinks racism is a big issue, because all the black people think that when someone calls them a name they think that that is rascism. There is no racism in the world, only good and evil. If people stopped and thought about what people where saying, then there might be some sense to all this stufff about racism.

Side: You are all bloody morons
kirstie1126(480) Disputed
2 points

You only think that there is no racism becuase you must have been lucky enough to not have been treated unfairly due to your skin color.

I am a white female who lives in Balitmore, MD, which has a high percentage of blacks. I see racism every day against them and it is sad because there is a lot more to their community and culture than guns, drugs, and being on welfare... yet so many people don't see that!

Side: yes
4 points

And as a female who IS of color (filipino roots) i can still say there is racism coming from every direction. It's not whites against blacks; it's not white versus color; it's everyone making racist remarks about each other person, and relying on stupid stereotypes to support what they have to say.

This is actually a good example of how racist thought is still around. It's a video about what people think of when they first look at a person, and how its mostly because of stupid stereotypes.

Silent Beats by Jon M. Chu
Side: Yeah...
Cdelvalle(196) Disputed
2 points

In that situation you could say that racism is nothing more than an adaptation that people go through to further their lives. You know, evolution.

If people know the things that go on 'on the other side of the tracks' they avoid the other side. Is that racist or is that being smart?

Listen, i really do believe that racism is real. But i dont think there will ever be a solution for it. If you look deep inside yourself, everybody is a little racist. It's nothing more than an evolutionary trait that people have.

It's a part of us.

If you had been scared for your life and the person doing the scaring was, oh lets say, a bunch of crazy russians... you will probably never look at russians the same again (no matter what you try to say). Especially if it happens more than once.

My brother grew up in the streets of Bronx in the late 70'. You know what, he's not very fond of black people. But can you blame him? He got chased every single day coming home from school. And it wasn't whites or hispanics doing the chasing.

Is it right? No. Does it atleast make sense why it would happen? Of course, as a self-defense mechanism.

Becuase of my brothers experience, he avoided 'black neighborhoods' and had far less problems. It's fucked up, i know, but it's true.

The problems come in when people are uneducated about things. When they don't realize that problems arise from certain neighborhoods, not certain races (for instance).

So really, racism isn't much of an issue. The real issue is in everyone being treated failry (regardless if you're gay, have AIDS, or are black).

Side: Not so much...
-1 points

Only if people want to cry about it and make it an issue.

Side: Not so much...