Why is there racism? - Theology Online

The Berean · 01:35 PM

Recently, I stumbled across a website called Caste Football. The purpose of the website is to promote white athletes and expose the inherit "caste system" in place in the NFL and other sports. They believe that white football players are not allowed to be RB's, WR's, DB's or any "skill position" because of racial stereotypes that white athletes are not fast enough. Now, I do believe they have a valid point on this issue. Many speedy white football players do get moved to other positions due to silly stereotypes. This has been well documented. However the founder of website has some connections to "white nationalist" groups. There's probably a deeper agenda here. As you can imagine this website and it's forums attracts all sorts of "white is right" folks. They constantly denigrate pretty much all non-white athletes. In a lot of the posters eyes pretty much every non-white athlete is on drugs and the white athletes are not. Funny, there was one thread about Ryan Bruan, the great hitting outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers. He was highly touted as a great white baseball player until he failed a drug test. Suddenly Braun went from being a "great white athlete" to being that "cheating Jew" (Braun's nickname is the "Hebrew Hammer").

They discuss non-sports topics as well. There is one thread about (white) man-hating all over the world. They look down on white people dating and marrying non-white people. They were all disappointed when their white basketball hero, Dirk Nowitzki, married a Kenyan woman recently. They just couldn't understand why Norwitzki would do that. One Greek poster admitted that when he was younger he slept with lots of non-white girls. And now he is ashamed of that and that he is happy he is now married to a Greek girl so he can have "pure white" kids.

So all this got me thinking. Why do people think this way? Why do these folks put so much emphasis on such a superficial aspect as one skin color? This is just not about white people. There are racist people in every culture, every nation, every ethnicity. Is racism innate to humanity? Is it learned? From a Christian point of view when did racism become a problem?

Traditio · August 13th, 2012, 01:02 PM

It all comes down to nepotism, doesn't it?

The Berean · August 13th, 2012, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traditio

It all comes down to nepotism, doesn't it?

I'm not sure what you mean, Trad.

Traditio · August 13th, 2012, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Berean

I'm not sure what you mean, Trad.

Do you know what the word "nepotism" means?

PureX · August 13th, 2012, 01:26 PM

Racism is a process of projecting our own fears and shortcomings onto others, so as to dismiss and/or condemn those feelings without actually having to face or take responsibility for them in ourselves.

We fear things that we don't understand. So when we see people that are different from us, we are naturally fearful of them, because we don't understand them. But instead of facing this fear within ourselves, we blame it on them. We want to imagine that it's their fault that they make us fearful. So we project negative character traits onto them, so as to justify our own otherwise unfounded fear of them.

At least, that's what I think is going on.

The Berean · August 13th, 2012, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traditio

Do you know what the word "nepotism" means?

I know what the word means. How does it apply to my OP?

The Berean · August 13th, 2012, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PureX

Racism is a process of projecting our own fears and shortcomings onto others, so as to dismiss and/or condemn those feelings without actually having to face or take responsibility for them in ourselves.

We fear things that we don't understand. So when we see people that are different from us, we are naturally fearful of them, because we don't understand them. But instead of facing this fear within ourselves, we blame it on them. We want to imagine that it's their fault that they make us fearful. So we project negative character traits onto them, so as to justify our own otherwise unfounded fear of them.

At least, that's what I think is going on.

What do you think is the source of this fear?

Tambora · August 13th, 2012, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traditio

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Berean

I'm not sure what you mean, Trad.

It all comes down to nepotism, doesn't it?

Nepotism has the basic meaning that you elevate or show favor to "your own" (whether that be family, race, team, class, etc.) whether they actually merit it or not.

The Berean · August 13th, 2012, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tambora

Nepotism has the basic meaning that you elevate or show favor to "your own" (whether that be family, race, team, class, etc.) whether they actually merit it or not.

Ok, but how does this apply to my OP? Using the white football players as an example the vast majority of pro football coaches and scouts are white. Yet they pretty much only select black football players to play the skill positions. So this isn't a case of nepotism or choosing "their own".

PureX · August 13th, 2012, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Berean

What do you think is the source of this fear?

We humans survive and thrive by our intellect. The more we 'know' about our environment, and the things within it, the better able we are to exploit if for our own well-being. And so we naturally fear that which we don't understand, because not understanding something means we don't know how to exploit it, or how protect ourselves from it exploiting us.

Traditio · August 13th, 2012, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Berean

Ok, but how does this apply to my OP? Using the white football players as an example the vast majority of pro football coaches and scouts are white. Yet they pretty much only select black football players to play the skill positions. So this isn't a case of nepotism or choosing "their own".

Racism, I think (I must credit, not myself, but a former classmate of mine for this thought), ultimately springs from nepotism. We recognize those of our race as being "of the same sort," and those of a different race as being "of another sort," and not only that, but visually so.

"That black person isn't the same as me. He visually and clearly is not so. Look at him. Look at me. We're different. I can see it."

In preferring a white person, I seem to prefer myself. See? We're so similar!

PureX · August 13th, 2012, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Traditio

Racism, I think (I must credit, not myself, but a former classmate of mine for this thought), ultimately springs from nepotism. We recognize those of our race as being "of the same sort," and those of a different race as being "of another sort," and not only that, but visually so.

"That black person isn't the same as me. He visually and clearly is not so. Look at him. Look at me. We're different. I can see it."

In preferring a white person, I seem to prefer myself. See? We're so similar!

But you aren't explaining why we are attracted to the "same sort", and repelled by the "different sort". You're just defining what racism is. The question was WHY are we racist?

Memento Mori · August 13th, 2012, 04:57 PM

It seems to me to be in the upbringing.

After all, no baby's first words are "the Jews got all the money." It's part of the heritage.

This seems to stem from the history of the US and ultimately the history of imperialism by Western societies. By invading those area's (now countries) which were less "developed" than our society.

Just my opinion though.