Can you be racist and yet completely without hate?

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 30 Oct 2006 18:59 PST

Are you seeking an "personal opinion" again as an answer? The reason I
am asking is because there is no definitive answer that is universally
true in all people. There are almost as many definitions and degrees
of racism as there are humans. Add to this the varied definitions and
degrees of "hate", each person's perception of it, and each beliefs'
(religious, social, tribal, cultural etc.) approach to it and you have
an infinte number of possible conclusions.

tutuzdad-ga

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Clarification of Question by jeraboo-ga on 30 Oct 2006 19:52 PST

Personal opinion welcome as answer.

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Clarification of Question by jeraboo-ga on 30 Oct 2006 19:56 PST

BTW, In this case I'm defining racism as the belief that members of
another race are intellectually inferior.

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Clarification of Question by jeraboo-ga on 30 Oct 2006 19:57 PST

By hate, I mean disliking, or wishing ill or harm on.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 30 Oct 2006 20:09 PST

I'm guessing there have been, Oh, about five people in history who
have been completely without hate.  I'm also guessing that none of the
five racists.

I'm just not sure either of those guesses sheds any light on your
question, however.

2cents-ga

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Clarification of Question by jeraboo-ga on 30 Oct 2006 20:19 PST

...hatred specifically againt the race in question.

Dear jeraboo-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. Since
you are willing to accept opinion as an answer I will gladly offer
mine. Oddly enough I don?t think the answer to your question revolves
so much around the definition of ?racist? as it revolves around the
definition of ?hate?, but I?ll get back to that in my summary.

I believe that it is entirely possible for a person to be what has
come to be known in modern times as ?racist? without personally
equating their philosophy with any degree of hate. Racism, as it is
defined in modern times, has come to be defined as hatred in itself
but if you look at the unbiased (no pun intended) academic definition
of the word it simply means to hold one race to be superior to
another. The question now is what is ?superior? by definition? Well,
people of many ethnicities view their own race as superior simply
because they have no intimate cultural experience with a race other
than their own or because, if given the option, they would choose to
be or embrace no race other than what they biologically are. This may,
in the literal sense, be motivated by ignorance (not stupidity per se,
just unknowingly) rather than hate. In other words, since they know
much about their own race and little to nothing of other races their
natural assumption is that their biological race is superior, or at
the very least a more personally desirable thing to be. Hate in this
instance is clearly not a factor.

Certainly there must be people who recognize the differences between
the races but have no contempt whatsoever for races other than their
own even though their personal philosophy is that their own race is
?best?. This belief was especially prevalent among tribal races such
as Native North Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Amazon tribes prior
to their negative experiences with certain other races that tried to
forcibly and violently impose dominion over them. In spite of what we
see in those ridiculous stereotypical western, pirate and Tarzan
movies today these groups (prior to their experiences with foreign
aggression) were known to have embraced other races with open arms for
hundreds of years without any hint of hatred or even disdain for that
matter, though they thought of themselves (in a self-preservation
sense) as most important, most significant and as such unquestionably
superior. The same was true for many typically isolated races that saw
outsiders for the first time. The Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern
tribes and many others also welcomed other races among their number
even though they held themselves to be spiritually, politically,
intellectually and maybe even physically superior. In some groups
there were prohibitions to intermarrying or perhaps even
intermingling, but hatred was not the basis of this practice; rather
the preservation of one?s purity and tradition was. Having said that,
if your question is: ?Is it POSSIBLE to be racist and not hate?? the
answer is clearly YES by definition because people have done it for
centuries.

Now, if your question is ?Can a person TODAY be racist by TODAY?S
STANDARDS and not experience any degree of hate toward the race they
believe themselves superior to?? the answer lies with each individual.
While I believe that some more notable people are thought to have been
hate-free in modern times, I don?t necessarily believe that one must
always be a ?Mother Teresa? caliber person to fit this bill. Frankly I
think most intelligent people today not only recognize the futility of
hatred based on race alone, but also recognize that there are many
other more important issues that demand the mental, emotional and
spiritual energy it takes to fuel pointless hatred. Ok, granted some
people make a special effort to avoid ?expressing?, or ?propagating?
racial hatred; does this mean that they repress a ?subconscious?
hatred or they constantly battle with issue internally?  This may be
the case with some, but I still believe in my heart that there are
indeed people who, by their intentional or unintentional bias,
allegiance or loyalty to their like kind ?can be? technically defined
as racist, but have absolutely no basis upon which to form even one
iota of malevolence or loathing to those different from themselves.
They may recognize the difference and may even find the differences
personally undesirable, but the feeling does not manifest itself as
abhorrence, rancor or repugnance.

One of the purest examples of this type of feeling can be seen in
young children who clearly know the difference between themselves and
their racially dissimilar playmates. They frequently play, mingle and
even intimately bond though they may occasionally express a natural
curiosity about a racially different playmate?s physical features,
language or customs. The child may even say, ?His hair and eyes look
FUNNY? or ?She can?t speak our language VERY WELL?. These are
innocently negative comments indicative of their preference NOT to be
that way; a natural bias if you will against the unfamiliar (the
different child) and in favor of the familiar (themselves). Only until
the child is conditioned to equate difference with value does he or
she begin to form opinions relative to worth and superiority. From
this, often by example or through negative experiences of their own,
do they formulate a degree of ?dislike? for ?that person? or ?people
like that?, which if left to grow in an unhealthy manner can (and
sometimes does) evolve into hatred.

Yes, in my opinion people can indeed technically be racist (by
academic definition) and not hate (by academic definition). People
CANNOT, however by today?s ?politically correct? definition, be racist
and not hate because racism has become SYNONYMOUS with hate. It is my
contention though that the date on the calendar doesn?t change the
academic definition of racism but only society?s response to it.

I prefer to find the best in people rather than the worst and I will
continue to give all people the benefit of the doubt. Much of the
world has become a ?racist? society in PC terms not because we
actually hate one another for just cause, but because we are weak and
impressionable. Instead of forming our own intelligent opinions, in
our weakness we tend to adopt the views that we are exposed to, or we
are conditioned to instinctively return the level of animosity and
fear that was show toward us by others. Is this really ?hate?? I don?t
think so but we are encouraged to BELIEVE that?s what it is. If more
people watched how the children behave and started turning the other
cheek they may find themselves getting kissed on it ? and they may
start liking it.

I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my answer please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

Personal opinion, as solicited by the customer

Great answer!

You'll have to define what you mean by racist. Once you have that
clearly under the bridge, you'll be able to answer it yourself.

In addition to defining "racist," you might also want to tell us
precisely what you mean by "hate." The word is thrown around so freely
these days that it has almost lost its meaning.

Perhaps, you mean by preferring to mingle/interact only with people
who look exactly like you without showing an aversion to those who
don't.
 
In order to avoid ridicle and aspersions, such behavior would require
very deliberate and conscious efforts to manipulate public
views/centiments regarding your actions.  And before long, your
aversions for the other group(s) would readily become manifest.

To answer your questions:  Is it possible?  Maybe!  But it's a 'tall-order'.

Of course you can be racist without hate. Racism is making a
distinction between the races, period. You can make a distinction on
how two people look without harboring hatred. Same with prejudice and
stereotyping.

Alright, by jeraboo's clarification it should be possible for one to
be both racist *and* without hatred or malice on the basis of race.
If, hypothetically, one has a way of gaging the intellectual ranking
of racial groups, then one can see them as occupying various regions
of an intellectual spectrum with dispassionate objectivity.

Then why is racism such a pejorative?

Why? I honestly think you should be capable of seeing the answer to
this yourself. What I said earlier was a hypothesis having between
little & no correspondence to the reasons, in practice, as to why
there is racial hatred in society. Most people who hate racial groups
couldn't care less if there's an objective way to gage their
respective intellectual rankings. Peoples' hatred of others is
typically a manifestation of some unsatisfied hunger deep within them.

I think we are most comfortable with people who are identical to us. I
read a book on rapport and it said that, when we are speaking to
someone, we should try to mimic their mannerisms below the level of
being discovered.
I think man started in east africa. The people who stayed there
developed in a certain way, and the people who searched for other
lands developed in another way.
Jeraboo, I'm interested in how you come up with all these questions.

From the Concise OED

|Racism: tendency to racial feeling, antagonism between different races of men.|

Actually I'm surprized by the 'antagonism' bit.
I've always taken it as a word that has acquired a perjorotive colloquial meaning.

While there might be 'antagonism' between two football teams or two
boxers, I doubt that there would be hatred.

Personally I think that it is unlikely that anyone would not be aware
of racial differences - it is like denying that people are aware of
different eye colours.

I think I understand what you are getting at, I am well aware of the
difference between Cantonese and Szechuan cooking - and enjoy both.

My view is that it has become confused with friction (or fear) between
different /cultures/.

I agree with the last comments above.  It is interesting to read the
definitions of racism found by searching with   define:racism

The word has taken on perjorotive meanings, but basically it seems to
be the feeling that one race (usually one's own) is superior to
another.  This does not mean that one necessarily hates (or fears)
that other race.  One can feel pity for those persons, feel that they
need to be protected and treated as one treats children or animals. 
One can try to treat them as equals, as one tries to treat people of
one's own race as equals.
Ah, but we make destinctions among them, don't we:  based on our
estimate of their intellect, social standing and background,
education, religion? (Yes, there are people who feel that persons of
another belief are inferior.)

The emotion "hate" is a response to a perceived threat by or fear of
other persons.  I grew up in the Deep South before integration.  I
suppose that there were white people who hated the blacks then, but
probably only those who felt threatened by them because their own
economic level and social standing were such that they were competing
with the blacks.  Hate became more general when integration made
whites that hadn't faced this recognized that they would be, when
blacks had better opportunities for advancement.

That is just one man's opinion, and I must apologies to anyone who
feels that my language shows a bias that is not intended.

What an excellently expressed opinion as an answer!
Great, Tutuzdad!