# Do You Have Any Racists In Your Family?



## Lon (Oct 9, 2016)

I did have through marriage but fortunately they are ALL DEAD now. Before they all died I think that they discovered that it was Socially Unacceptable. It just took them since the mid 50's when I first met them. Prior to that most of them were involved in the most despicable acts against Blacks and bragged about it. Several were Klan members. Because I was from California they viewed me as a YANKEE and referred to me 
(but not to my face) as that n-----lovin queer from California.

I could never understand why my wife at that time despite growing up around this group was never influenced. That was a good thing because when she was with me in California she became good friends with all my Asian & Fillipino friends.


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## SeaBreeze (Oct 9, 2016)

No Lon, there are/were no racists in my family that I was aware of.  I never heard any negative racial comments as a child or adult in my family, people are people and all deserve equal treatment and respect regardless of race or ethnicity.  Whether it's family or friends, if they are racist I will have nothing to do with them...period.  Zero tolerance for people like that.


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## Aunt Bea (Oct 9, 2016)

Racism is a tough one, 

I tend to believe that if people need to identify people that they know by race or ethnicity they may in fact be racist.  I know a couple of folks that seem to be quite nice on the surface but they always talk about their Gay friend, African American co-worker, Latino SIL, etc...  It makes me wonder why they need to stress the labels when they talk about people.


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## Lon (Oct 9, 2016)

Aunt Bea said:


> Racism is a tough one,
> 
> I tend to believe that if people need to identify people that they know by race or ethnicity they may in fact be racist.  I know a couple of folks that seem to be quite nice on the surface but they always talk about their Gay friend, African American co-worker, Latino SIL, etc...  It makes me wonder why they need to stress the labels when they talk about people.



Your post is Politically Correct in the extreme and totally unreasonable.


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## Aunt Bea (Oct 9, 2016)

Lon said:


> Your post is Politically Correct in the extreme and totally unreasonable.



Thank you!


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## Shalimar (Oct 9, 2016)

Lon said:


> Your post is Politically Correct in the extreme and totally unreasonable.



Really? The post resonated with me. It speaks to tokenism, which is a form of racism.


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## Ray (Oct 9, 2016)

Lon said:


> Your post is Politically Correct in the extreme and totally unreasonable.



Lon - I disagree. A non-racist (sexist, homophobe, all all the rest of the litany of the left) tends to see people as people. 

Those who tend to divide our nation along all these artificial lines are the true bigots. Example - if one considers believing "black lives matter to by the ultimate of non-racism and see believing "all lives matter" as racist - that is your modern, up to date, left wing bigot.

I agree with Aunt Bea. If you see people as people, you don't add all those unnecessary qualifiers.


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## Buckeye (Oct 9, 2016)

I'm proud to be a racist. I love them all.  NASCAR, Indy cars, dirt track, modifieds, local high school track, trotters, Kentucky Derby, soap box derby, etc.  If it's a race, I love it.  My dad raced dirt track midgets in the early 1950s when I was just a little fella.  Loved them ever since.  (p.s. - "midgets" is not a reference to little people - they were/are smaller race cars with (usually) 4 cylinder engines.)  btw, this is not my dad's car. Only picture I could find at the moment.


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## Grumpy Ol' Man (Oct 9, 2016)

Are there any racists in our family?  Yes... Me!  My wife and I were just talking about this today.  I was born and raised in a small Midwest farm town.  Playing sports through high school, we never had a person of color on our team or on any team we played against.  We had no people of color in our community.  I was never around people of color until I went to college.  Even the small college I attended had very few people of color and we did not associate with them... or they with us.

In 1967, shortly after we were married, we moved to a town with a fairly significant black population.  Met some exceptional people of color, even having some in our home.  Eventually, we became foster parents and had a number of black children under our care.  A couple of them still correspond with us at holiday time... 30 years after we gave them a temporary home for a short while.

And, yet, I still look at people of color... or Mexican Americans... or Asian Americans... or Native Americans... or.... as "different".  They have different customs, culture, use of the English language, religious practices... they are different.  Does that make them less of a human being?  Does that make them less deserving of the same freedoms and liberties we enjoy?  Of course not!!!  

As my wife and I concluded, the thing that causes us angst with those who are "different" are the "takers".  We get upset with those who use their color or race as an excuse to fraudulently take from the social service programs designed for genuine needy people.  We get upset at those who.....  Then, we think about those of our own race we have seen taking advantage of "the system"... scamming and preying on what should be going to those who have fallen on difficult times.  

So, I am racist... I guess.  I do look at people who are different than me with a questioning of their thoughts or actions or culture.  And, so many of those "different" practices I applaud and envy.  If that makes me "racist", I apologize.


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## Shalimar (Oct 9, 2016)

Hoot N Annie said:


> I'm proud to be a racist. I love them all.  NASCAR, Indy cars, dirt track, modifieds, local high school track, trotters, Kentucky Derby, soap box derby, etc.  If it's a race, I love it.  My dad raced dirt track midgets in the early 1950s when I was just a little fella.  Loved them ever since.  (p.s. - "midgets" is not a reference to little people - they were/are smaller race cars with (usually) 4 cylinder engines.)View attachment 32663  btw, this is not my dad's car. Only picture I could find at the moment.


Thanks so much for the laugh! I needed this! Cool car!


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## fureverywhere (Oct 9, 2016)

Back in the day the relations all came from small town Pennsylvania...this was a family reunion...


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## Shalimar (Oct 9, 2016)

fureverywhere said:


> Back in the day the relations all came from small town Pennsylvania...this was a family reunion...


Eek.


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## Robusta (Oct 9, 2016)

I don't know? What is racism?  Is it recognizing the difference between races and culture?


My grandmother was a racist,she was southern and it was just in her. I know that she was not evil,she had many black friends,(she referred to them as her colored gals) that would have their coffee clatches. Her brother moved had a black woman move in with him in the mid 70's and they were like sisters.

I never saw her do any thing that could remotely be called racist, but there was always the labels and language.

My cousin married a Philippino gal. My aunt cracked us all up one day when she told us that she loved her little brown berries (grandchildren) just like the regular ones.


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## Ray (Oct 9, 2016)

Hoot N Annie - you are a hoot!!!


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## Ray (Oct 9, 2016)

Grumpy - no apology needed. You summarized the life experience and thinking of many, many decent people. No racism but scads of honesty and reality.


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## Warrigal (Oct 9, 2016)

I have a sister in law with an irrational bigotry towards Muslims who she refers to as 'ragheads'.
Previously she was the same towards Vietnamese migrants.

She is definitely a racist and a bigot but it's all mouth in her case.
She doesn't mouth off in front of me very much.


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## fureverywhere (Oct 9, 2016)

My Dad and I attribute it to all the meds he's on. He was free-thinking as of five years back. In his mid-nineties who knows?


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## tnthomas (Oct 9, 2016)

Aunt Bea said:


> Lon said:
> 
> 
> > Your post is Politically Correct in the extreme and totally unreasonable.
> ...



+1 for a very graceful response to a very ungracious comment.


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## peramangkelder (Oct 9, 2016)

I am an Indigenous South Australian of the Peramangk Mob through my paternal Great-Grandmother Louisa who was born near a Government Waterhole not far from where I live.
I am one of the oldest Traditional Owners of the land where Louisa was born and where I was born and would you believe our house is also on Peramangk Land.
However when I was a child I could never understand why Great-Grandma Louisa's photo had to be kept in a drawer in the sideboard in Grampa's (Louisa's son) front room.
In those days you did not mention you were of Aboriginal Descent or if you had any Convicts in your family. South Australians were all Free Settlers you see.
Louisa's husband George came from England and he met Louisa through his family members who were already settled in South Australia. 
Sad to think Grampa could not display his Mother's photo because of racism.


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## fureverywhere (Oct 9, 2016)

But then again it doesn't matter what idiots our relations are. I can say in all honesty I see no one in color...nice folks are nice folks.


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## tnthomas (Oct 9, 2016)

Lon said:


> Do You Have Any Racists In Your Family?





> rac·ist
> ˈrāsəst/
> noun
> noun: racist; plural noun: racists
> ...




No,  my parents were humble, religious and lived their lives with respect for other people.   During my childhood my Dad would remind me of the "Golden Rule": _to treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.   

_My family is from the South(NC & SC mostly), and as the case with a large percentage of Southerners, follow their Christian values and beliefs.     Of course, we all know the history, and the stigma and legacy of slavery and the racial divide that still exists to the present.

That said, there are 'probably' some cousins and relatives-in-law that harbor prejudices.   Here's one example: an unnamed step-relative-in law individual told me that rather than vote for the Republican candidate(who is Black), he instead is going to vote for the Democratic candidate(who is White).   A bit bizarre statement, but telling.  :shrug:


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## Butterfly (Oct 9, 2016)

If there was racism in my family it was never discussed or brought up or alluded to in front of us kids.  The older generation is all long dead.


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## Shalimar (Oct 9, 2016)

No racism in my family. During my early childhood, my mother taught in First Nation schools, I spoke the indigenous language
as well as English. My son's best friend from childhood is Asian Canadian, my son is godfather to his first born son, which did not go down too well with his friend's Chinese family. Truly, they are brothers.


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## Butterfly (Oct 10, 2016)

tnthomas said:


> No,  my parents were humble, religious and lived their lives with respect for other people.   During my childhood my Dad would remind me of the "Golden Rule": _to treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.
> 
> _My family is from the South(NC & SC mostly), and as the case with a large percentage of Southerners, follow their Christian values and beliefs.     Of course, we all know the history, and the stigma and legacy of slavery and the racial divide that still exists to the present.
> 
> That said, there are 'probably' some cousins and relatives-in-law that harbor prejudices.   Here's one example: an unnamed step-relative-in law individual told me that rather than vote for the Republican candidate(who is Black), he instead is going to vote for the Democratic candidate(who is White).   A bit bizarre statement, but telling.  :shrug:



My family was much like yours, from the south, humbly religious and very respectful of others.  I never heard anything racist.  I grew up in New Mexico, and there was no segregation of any kind here, not in schools, busses, drinking fountains or anything else.  I didn't experience any of that stuff until I moved to Washington, DC in the mid-60s.


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## mitchezz (Oct 10, 2016)

One of my cousins is very racist but I rarely see him. His daughter who is a lovely woman and a great Mum except for her blind and irrational prejudice against Muslims. I just refuse to discuss this with her as she needs her extended family and I have no wish to cause ripples in the family. Sadly her children are starting to show signs of her twisted views. Sigh.


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## Ameriscot (Oct 11, 2016)

I have zero tolerance for racism, but do have a family member who has to label everybody.  She'd prefer everybody in her life is just like her.  I try to ignore her remarks, but don't always succeed.


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## Wilberforce (Feb 25, 2017)

Aunt Bea said:


> Racism is a tough one,
> 
> I tend to believe that if people need to identify people that they know by race or ethnicity they may in fact be racist.  I know a couple of folks that seem to be quite nice on the surface but they always talk about their Gay friend, African American co-worker, Latino SIL, etc...  It makes me wonder why they need to stress the labels when they talk about people.




,I totally agree with you Aunt Bea, I think the extra part of the description is just another form of rasicm. Totally unnecessary description. Just as easy to say my friend Pete. or Jake, my co worker, jim my SIL. I think the person is standing behind the description

I am Granny  to two half  Haitian boys and very proud of it


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## Shalimar (Feb 25, 2017)

No racists in my family either.


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## Stormy (Feb 25, 2017)

If there were any racists in my family I never knew it. I was raised to embrace everyone and had friends of all backgrounds welcome in my parent's home. I don't even remember having racist friends or neighbors. I couldn't be friends with a racist anyway they are filled with hate and there's no room in my life for things like that. When I see some things happening on the news it really saddens me


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## jujube (Feb 25, 2017)

I have a cousin who I cannot stand to be near.  He was the sweetest little boy, but something went wrong somewhere along the line and he turned into a virulent racist.  I will cherish my memories of him from better times but I will not associate with him.  He is beyond help.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Feb 25, 2017)

My family are not racists. My mom told me that a great aunt of mine was. I never knew her and know one else in her family followed in her foot steps not even her children and there were many.. In high school we had quite a mix and everyone got along and respected each other. A friend of mine and her husband who I've known for years have a strange tendency to mention the race of a person when having a conversation. Not necessarily in a negative way.An example would be, This wonderful, then mention the race, man or women let us borrow their cell phone or waited on us, etc. I don'[t know if it is a quirk or they are going out of their way to prove they aren't racist but really are. I was just mentioning this to the hubby the other day. The next time we get together, I am going to ask why they always mention that first. I've never heard anyone else do that.


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## Laurie (Feb 26, 2017)

I freely admit to being a racist myself.

In the event of any sporting contest, from soccer to Scrabble. I get out my ABE (Anybody But England) T shirt.

On a more serious note, if I see a headline yjay someone has been battered to death locally I quickly lose interest if it becones apparent that it's Lithuanian on Romanian or something similar, with the feeling "Let them get on with it."


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## Marie5656 (Feb 26, 2017)

*My parents were.  Especially against blacks.  We grew up in a smaller, mostly white (at the time) city with few non-white people.  I still vividly remember walking down Main street with my mom and running into a black male school mate.  We said hello and stopped to chat for a minute.  After he walked away my mom went totally ballistic that I was actually talking with a black boy IN PUBLIC (this was in 1971 or so).  What would people think..they would think we were dating. SMH.  When I graduated from college (1984, started later in my 20's) with a degree in Social work my dad asked me if I could tell my bosses that I did not want to wortk with blacks or gays as clients (by the way, he used the less appropriate words ).  
I turn out exact opposite.  Accepting of all.  Maybe disliking a person for behavior, but not for color or preferences.  My one brother was racist as well, but to lesser extreme.   My parents would be totally beside themselves these days with the Transgender issues in the forefront.
*


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## Timetrvlr (Feb 26, 2017)

RE: Do You Have Any Racists In Your Family?

No, they are all dead now.


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## aeron (Feb 26, 2017)

Define racist. Seriously.


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## Kitties (Feb 26, 2017)

No. My mother certainly had some issues. Being racist was not one of them.


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## HazyDavey (Feb 26, 2017)

No. But my dog has this thing about cats..


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## OneEyedDiva (Feb 27, 2017)

Hoot N Annie said:


> I'm proud to be a racist. I love them all.  NASCAR, Indy cars, dirt track, modifieds, local high school track, trotters, Kentucky Derby, soap box derby, etc.  If it's a race, I love it.  My dad raced dirt track midgets in the early 1950s when I was just a little fella.  Loved them ever since.  (p.s. - "midgets" is not a reference to little people - they were/are smaller race cars with (usually) 4 cylinder engines.)View attachment 32663  btw, this is not my dad's car. Only picture I could find at the moment.


Hoot N Annie...you're a HOOT !  Yes Lon, I have a racist in my family. I couldn't believe it when at our family reunion he was bugging out because we have half Chinese cousins and bi-racial (Black-White) relatives. Ironically, his granddaughters are bi-racial. I sat him down privately and told him he needs to stop all the nonsense. We also have half Japanese cousins...so what! But he's who he is and at our ages, no words will change him. Luckily I only see him every few years. His father, my dear grand uncle didn't appreciate it when his favorite granddaughter married a White man. But I can understand his feelings. He fought in a war to protect this country and wasn't even allowed to buy a cup of coffee at any lunch counter he wanted when he came home. He saw first hand the despicable treatment of African Americans in this country and was subjected to it for too long. Over time, he came to like and respect his grand son-in-law.


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## Linda W. (Feb 27, 2017)

My deceased sister after she became brainwashed by a radical religion. My BIL also. Now, neither of them thought they were. They'd point out that their church had a black family (token blacks). But she was, and he is. Also a nephew...he's a minority person, but that doesn't get in the way or him being prejudiced. Now, my grown DD is of half Arab origin, and she isn't. It does bother me all the racism in the US.


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## Sassycakes (Feb 28, 2017)

I don't know if it's considered Racism, but my Dad's Mother was really prejudice over Irish people, and she was Italian. When I met my Husband (he is Irish) my grandmother would introduce us to her friends by saying "This is my Granddaughter and her boyfriend. He is Irish but nice." Over the years many of my cousins married people of other nationalities and it didn't seem to bother her like Irish people bothered her. The rest of the family was not prejudiced in any way towards anyone.


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## Redlo Nosrep (Feb 28, 2017)

fureverywhere said:


> Back in the day the relations all came from small town Pennsylvania...this was a family reunion...


  If you substitute "rural Mississippi" for "small town Pennsylvania" that same picture would be acceptable in the family album on my Dad's side.  To his credit, he fought against his racist upbringing after moving to California and raising his family there, but he still had trouble when I went through my rebellious period as a teen and brought home a black football player as a date.


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## aeron (Mar 1, 2017)

Define racist.  Today the word has taken far too broader meaning for a yes/ no answer.

For example is it being racist to claim that some races of people are better suited to some things than others?  The corollary would be that some races are less well suited to some things than others so would that be racist to claim?


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## dpwspringer (Mar 1, 2017)

aeron said:


> Define racist.  Today the word has taken far too broader meaning for a yes/ no answer.
> 
> For example is it being racist to claim that some races of people are better suited to some things than others?  The corollary would be that some races are less well suited to some things than others so would that be racist to claim?


The way that term is used these days, I have come to the conclusion that in my country, the USA, everybody is a racist by someone's definition. Often the ones that are the worst at it are the ones that like to call others that name at the proverbial drop of a hat because they think it is their ace in the hole to get what they want. LOL. It is getting to be silly.


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## Shalimar (Mar 1, 2017)

Racist. Someone who regularly disparages those of a race different than themselves. Simplified, condensed version of a volatile and complex topic.


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## Butterfly (Mar 1, 2017)

dpwspringer said:


> The way that term is used these days, I have come to the conclusion that in my country, the USA, everybody is a racist by someone's definition. Often the ones that are the worst at it are the ones that like to call others that name at the proverbial drop of a hat because they think it is their ace in the hole to get what they want. LOL. It is getting to be silly.



Yup!


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## aeron (Mar 1, 2017)

Shalimar said:


> Racist. Someone who regularly disparages those of a race different than themselves. Simplified, condensed version of a volatile and complex topic.



I would change that just a tad to become "Someone who regularly disparages those of a race different than themselves without just or legitimate cause".


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## debbie in seattle (Mar 1, 2017)

Racist?     I found out about 10 years ago my dad was a member of the KKK!    Sad, embarrassing and so, so wrong.


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## Dudewho (Mar 2, 2017)

debbie in seattle said:


> Racist?     I found out about 10 years ago my dad was a member of the KKK!    Sad, embarrassing and so, so wrong.



Was he a Southern Democrat? 

Not to belittle anyone, there was a time when the KKK was prominet in Southern politics.


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## debbie in seattle (Mar 2, 2017)

Dudewho said:


> Was he a Southern Democrat?
> 
> Not to belittle anyone, there was a time when the KKK was prominet in Southern politics.



We lived in a small township in Illinois at the time.    Yes, he grew up in the Deep South.   When he was a member, I was a young child oblivious to it all, glad I was young and innocent.    Absolutely unacceptable.


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## Ray (Mar 3, 2017)

Shalimar said:


> Racist. Someone who regularly disparages those of a race different than themselves. Simplified, condensed version of a volatile and complex topic.



That is a perfect definition, but, sadly, not the PC one in America today. Silly but illustrative example - We have "Miss Black America" pageants. Can you imagine a "Miss White America" one?? 

I remember a recent case when the newspaper ran an analysis of the race of students disciplined. It turned out there was a disparity of "disciplined" vs "percentage of the population" and the school district established rules based on racial balance, not actual actions. How ridiculous!!


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## Ray (Mar 3, 2017)

aeron said:


> I would change that just a tad to become "Someone who regularly disparages those of a race different than themselves without just or legitimate cause".



A very, very good distinction.


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## AprilT (Mar 4, 2017)

I thought this was cute, I posted the longer clip in the good news section.


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## OneEyedDiva (Mar 7, 2017)

AprilT said:


> I thought this was cute, I posted the longer clip in the good news section.


SO cute! I love it. Too bad more people in the world aren't like these children.


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## Butterfly (Mar 7, 2017)

I think most children are probably like this if let alone.  You have to be taught to hate and fear.


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## fuzzybuddy (Mar 9, 2017)

We all are racists. We do separate the world into "us" and "them". We have to be constantly on guard to not let our racist views be put into actions. And yes, we are born racists. If you work at McDonalds, they are "US"; Burgerking is "THEM". It's innate.


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## dearimee (Mar 9, 2017)

The definition of racist isn't clear. If you're violently opposed to someone of another race it's pretty clear, but if there's one thing you dislike about a race in general it's not clear. We try to treat all people kindly, but under that outward appearance will be perceived notions about that race that is ingrained in your brain and it can't be smoothed out in a short time. I think people are unfairly accused of being racist like it's a switch that's flipped off or on. We're people, not machines. I overlook anything that doesn't prove itself in your actions. Just because I think I could kill you doesn't make me a killer.


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