10% of Dutch are Racist

Some Americans are critical of themselves. But there are still a lot of Americans who say shit like, "Im proud of this country for abolishing slavery and granting equal civil rights" and paint people who are still critical of social injustices as somehow being anti American and such...Like right wing talk show hosts tried to do Michelle Obama. But to me, no slavery and "equal rights" is nothing to be overly proud of. Actually we should be ashamed of how recently in our history we did not grant these rights. Those things should be a given, and anything to be proud of comes on top of that.

By the way, I am dutch and don't consider myself racist. Although psychologically I am aware that most people have subconscious prejudice that they really can't control. Just little stereotypes or social fears that they learned growing up which are deep rooted.

 

The thing with racism is it is so deeply ingrained in so many countries that it is almost in peoples DNA.The Dutch slave traded,the English and America amongst many others.Africans even raided villages to get people to sell to slave traders.It was genocide against their own people.I don't think it will ever stop to be honest which is really sad.Because Mitochondrially{what we get from our mother} we are all the same.We all evolved from an African subset of people.So being racist is actually a contridiction.Which is weird if you think about it.

 

Racism to what extent?

I mean, everyone is racist to some extent. Everyone has harbored some kind of racist thought at one point in their life weather they realize it or not. It could be a misconception or generalization or misunderstanding (for various reasons including culture), etc. Kind of sociology 101 really.

More important is how the person in question comes to terms with such thoughts. do they sprout into a solid (naive) belief system or do they try to learn about other cultures?

 

forcing people to integrate amongst each other has done nothing to stop racism. nor will it ever do so. nobody should ever be forced to be around or associate with those they do not want to be around. people the world over intentionally segregate themselves, and not just on the basis of race. people seperate themselves on the basis of their lifestyles, interests and hobbies too. many studies have shown and elaborated on this. it's why when you were in school the jocks would sit at their own table just as the nerds would sit at their own table. people often times associate with those they have the most in common with or feel the most comfortable around. i don't care one way or the other what goes on in the netherlands. but this goes to show that even those who bill themselves as being the most tolerent have their intolerences. as far as barrack obama goes, i don't trust the man. nor do i trust any of the white candidates either.

 

Ten percent is very, very low. If we're specifically targetting the Dutch for being honest and genuine, I suppose there is some merit, but more racist than the majority of the world?

I mean, it's not like Holland was founded and economically-fueled by race-determined human slavery or anything like that.

I think this thread - with a rather ironic twist - illustrates the hatred and contempt many people feel towards different countries and cultures.

Peacelove,
Aldousage

 

Racism is everywhere, but believe me, ask how many of those second generation immigrant teenagers are racist.. racism is never one sided. It's a bad thing, but don't always blame one side. Racism comes from our primal instincts, a group of wolves will not accept another wolf in their territory, why is this instinct, i don't know.. but we need to learn living with our mind primary and our instincts secondary, till that day racism will keep existing.

 

it all stems from the ways that our brain processes info.

like a dog who barks at a face he doesn't recognize, people tend to trust others in which they identify themselves with more than those they don't. your parents look more like you than other people. typically your parents take care of you when your young and warn you to be careful when it comes to "strangers". so typically you learn at an early age to trust those who are similar / those you know.

pattern generation / trend observence is a cornerstone of the cognitive process. to bring it back to facial recognition for example, when you meet somebody for the first time your brain stores a rough outline of that persons face in memory (a template). now when you see that person a second time, you will recognize them because your brain will sort through the templates its already saved and find a match. so again your brain stores info, retrieves info, and tries to make predictions based on past observances / patterns. hence your brain uses "stereotypes"

 

Well there seem to be a whole lot more racist US citizens than Dutch according to an article in todays Washington Post:
"As Sen. Barack Obama opens his campaign as the first African American on a major party presidential ticket, nearly half of all Americans say race relations in the country are in bad shape and three in 10 acknowledge feelings of racial prejudice, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll."

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/21/AR2008062101825.html

 

That seems completely nuts to me. How could the U.S. have only 200% more racists than the Dutch? I don't trust these polls.

 

"nearly half of all Americans say race relations in the country are in bad shape and three in 10 acknowledge feelings of racial prejudice, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll."



Anybody who thinks that half of all Americians were actually polled for this is a denser than Mahogany or just likes to stir the pot.

 

The statement doesn't actually imply (even in an abstract sense) that half of all Americans were polled, but I can see how someone who doesn't understand polling terminology might think it suggests that ALL Americans were polled.

I'll just briefly explain that a poll is meant to determine the (admittedly in an inexact fashion) general opinion(s) of a group of people regarding a specific issue(s).

Most people understand that when a poll states, for example, "32% of European youths have read articles on statistics" - not every young person on that continent was interviewed on the matter (and DEFINITELY not that 32% of European youths were polled - that wouldn't even come close to making sense). What really would have happened is that polls would've been conducted in several European nations, and an average thusly determined.

For the sake of anyone who might have trouble understanding the above, it's probably best that pollsters and their clients be as clear as if they were speaking to children. In other words, instead of: "10% of Bulgarians said...", perhaps it should be: "10% of the people who live in Bulgaria who were polled, and that means that they were asked a question and then they answered the question - so we don't mean everyone in Bulgaria - that would be impossible because there are millions of people in Bulgaria, said..."

I think it's very important that information should be available to all, regardless of age or intellect.

 

I do understand. I just feel that the way the information is presented / advertised is misleading irresponsible and malicious. Why should the burden be placed on the reader to have some sort of previous knowledge that pollers mislead by offering manipulated data in a misconstrued way? The burden should be for the media and those who take polls to be honest in the way the advertise the information.

So don't assume I'm an idiot for not bending over and taking it from an idiotic system. I'm an idealist at heart and will exercise my option to deny the ugly reality while pushing for ideals. I'll leave the realism for people who were dumb enough to waste four years of there lives getting a clearing house degree in Political Science.

Thank You

 

I agree with you that "the way the information is presented/advertised is misleading, irresponsible and malicious."

That should be "waste four years of their lives getting a clearing house degree in Political Science", but yes I'm sure you're right - education is a waste of time.

I expect you and I may be very similar politically/philosophically, but I don't share your contempt for knowledge and reality* nor your pessimism.

Peacelove,
Aldousage

*I aim to help bring down the system from within, so to speak

 

I can spell pedantic right.

Where did I say that? I'm pro education. I said Political Science is a waste of time.

Of course you don't. Your Canadian and I'm American! LOL :cheers2:

 

F%^K Racism