Quote Originally Posted by inumbra View Post
i don't entirely disagree with everything you have said. i guess the main thing that comes to mind is that the system stacks the cards against non-whites (in the u.s.). it's not about the individual and whether individual black people or white people are racist per their experiences, learning, whatever. it's that on the whole there is systemic inequality. blacks for instance are often associated with being less educated, less intelligent, less articulate, less capable, etc. this creates inequality even when it's largely accepted that discrimination based upon race is unacceptable. even well meaning people who don't see a particular bias operating in their decision making processes can act in ways that reinforce the inequality. this really is something that is bigger than the individual. as much as racism is incredibly personal to those who have been affected by it, this topic is actually incredibly impersonal in a lot of ways. our society still teaches us that whites are "superior," but not because this is stated directly so much anymore. it's the subtle thoughts that arise in one's mind, and that are quickly brushed aside... such as "oh he's black, can he do this job?" or "oh, this is a person of color, they're here to be warm and take care of my feelings and matters of physical labor." these sorts of thoughts or biases can operate subconsciously... they are absorbed through the media, through culture, through how one was raised. the grand sum of them results in systemic discrimination. so this is very much a cultural and systemic issue rather than a question of if individual people are racist or not. it's easy to condemn an individual racist, but the mass of more subtle and nuanced racism won't be touched by that.

i guess i'd also add that individuals with racist attitudes just aren't the problem exactly. sure, anyone can be "racist" regardless of their "race," but that doesn't really matter on a larger scale. in the u.s. things are tipped towards white privilege even if you can find 1,000,000 + blacks in the u.s. who hate white people without a doubt. focusing on the backlash of racial inequality just seems a bit pointless.

the other thing i was going to qualify on is that i don't think condemning individual racists is necessarily a good solution anyway. for non-violent people, talking out ones thought distortions and issues with others can do a lot to improve things. keeping it bottled up because there's no one to talk to about it just keeps it around longer.
Well the system of actually helping the minorities (wealth redistribution, tough drug laws, etc) actually hurts minorities people more than it does help. And the system actually ends up getting the minorities to support their fucked up policies which restrict them.