Is racism a natural occurence 'round the world?
When I was little I was literally the last white kid at my school in the Valley and all the Mexicans picked on me very harshly calling me white boy, whitey, etc. You know how kids can be. My parents moved finally to a once good neighborhood, Glendale, and after my freshman year in high school, amazingly like 50% of the students which were white, moved away (during the 90's White flight) and Hispanics, Armenians and Asians replaced them. Once again, I was in the minority but this time I was older, the other kids were too and we learned to get along. In H.S. you have ethnic cliques just like you have enclaves in Los Angeles but also you have mixed groups; my friends were like that, black, brown, and yellow. Looking back, I think whoever is a minority is going to get picked on, regardless of color. There is discrimination everywhere in the world, maybe it is our way. okay BlackJack I viewed your question. I was dissappointed with the misinformed best answer mainly because he teaches that in college to students. I too went to college and am familiar with that misinformation. I agree history was biased but now it still is, just from the opposite end of the spectrum.
Other - Cultures & Groups - 10 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Racism isn't naturally occurring. It was created: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20080414162904AA4ERp7
2 :
You are so right. And if it's not racism, it's homophobia, religious prejudice, or tribalism...
3 :
Humans are social animals, and generally people have a "herd" mentality, it's tribalism. When there is enough food and resources to go around everyone gets along well enough, but when people have to fight each other for survival, they stick to their own kind.
4 :
No racism is not a natural occurrence around the world. I have always found the more intelligent and worldly you are the less chance one is of being color prejudice. Some places just have far too much of it. Some places its not evident, its more subtle..and some places money, and class go a long way..they don't care what color you are..then you have a different kind of prejudice.
5 :
I think we are all tainted by it. I think it takes a lot of self examination, will power, and maybe even a bit of luck to REALLY overcome it. I suspect even highly motivated people rarely get beyond keeping it under control at best. (Don't feel bad about that, if we could all keep our more sinister urges under control - even just part time, the world would still be a better place than it is) Unfortunately, a lot of people don't even try, that's the sad part.
6 :
Human beings feel nervous and unsecure if they are confronted with someone who is different (disability, different skin colour, different language etc). Some people use bullying and racism to hide their own fear because they don't know a better way. So far I have seen this phenomenon in every country or continent I travelled or lived in. Because such behaviour is triggered by subconscious fears, racism will probably never fully disappear but every intelligent individual can make a difference by putting in some effort to accept "others".
7 :
There's nothing natural about racism.
8 :
If there is smoke there may be fire. Why is it that world wide some races/religions never seem to prosper. Look at college degrees, patents, pulitzer prizes etc. Some peoples have it some dont.
9 :
Discrimination is natural to humans. It is not always based on race. In a sufficiently large group of the same race, there will be discrimination based on income or religion or language or jocks vs geeks or some other factor, unless there is some external factor that makes the group stay together. Thus non-white immigrants to the US stick together based on their country of origin, eventhough the same people may not get along well because of religion or language or some other factor if they were back in their home country.
10 :
Honestly, is seems pretty normal for people to be hated due to their appearance and their ancestry, and it has been as far back a recorded history goes. People do not like "the other", and they do not like outsiders. This can be modified by genetic theories or philosophic ideals, but it is pretty universal. And a minority group is every bit, if nor more so, likely to be racists than the majority. Also, Armenians are white. Nuff said.
