Chicken or the egg (what causes racism?)

a. Black people are treated differently, so they behave badly.
Or
b. Black people behave badly, because they are treated differently.

which is it?
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explain this behavior to me

I?m walking in the grocery store and come to the end of the aisle.
As I?m turning my cart a large black man walks right into me and keeps walking. On his face is a creepy grin.
There is an older black man near by, and the guy walks into to him too.
The older black man says excuse me but the guy keep walking.

Earlier in the year

I come to a stop sign and stop. There is a young black man that crosses the street. He walks across very slowly. All the time giving me this creepy grin. It felt to me as he was daring me to get angry. On my face was a confused expression.


Do these two men want to intimidate me? And why?

.

You're absolutely right. Black people, not just a few, but ALL black people. behave badly.

What causes racism? Ignorance or stupidity, depending upon your level of education. The choices, that you've offered as possible reasons, are evidence of a bias, and demonstrate the aforementioned ignorance or stupidity.

It sure does appear that, by simply avoiding black folks with creepy grins, you would be in a better place....

Yes, my fault. I didn?t specify.
Of course I know ?all? are not as I described.
Why is that even necessary to add?

Misunderstanding of culture is the core of racism.

What you interpret as a 'creepy grin' may have been how they've been raised to appear open and friendly towards a nice woman.

Unfortunately, blacks can slot under an unfortunate demographic (Especially within Australia) but what you must remember is that regardless of what group they're a part of, they're an individual who've lived a very different life to yours and have made choices, have parents, sisters, brothers, friends, etc. If you can remember that and encourage others to, Racism will definitely not be as prominent.

You are VERY isulting to black people everywhere.....my father was a black man, and i've NEVER know him to behave badly even when whites treated him badly because he married a white woman...my Mom.....I don't know who raised you or what kind of people you hang around with but i'am shocked at your statement...

Lots of people have creepy grins...I just avoid people who look that way!!!

Maybe you could try not being so judgemental!!!

As I've said on another thread my experience with racism is fortunately limited only to what I've watched on tv or read in a book/newspaper.
My view on what causes it are based on my observations which are obviously limited and therefore could be wrong, basically I think that in some cases it's learnt behaviour passed down from one generation to the next and in others it's from unpleasant experiences that people may have had in the past or present.
Racism needs to stop from whoever dishes it out, because it's not just a white against Black problem it's right the way across the board.
"blondieblue227", I think in the instances you've mentioned they could just as easily have occurred with anyone, any sex, and any colour. My advice would be not to tar everyone with the same brush, I've noticed in life that good people come in all shapes, sizes, colours, sexes and professions likwise it's the same with the bad. In other words take a person/individual as you find them.

he was being sarcy i think.

I don't think racisn is limited to any one type of people as my dad is asian and my mum is white and I have suffered from both sides all my life!

My mums family because they think she married below herself etc etc and my dads family because of the same thing more or less. In todays day and age it is just really stupid - we should all be far more tollerant as more and more mixed race/cultural unions are occuring and you can live practically anywhere - everything is a bit more mixed up and I see it as a good thing rather than a bad thing!

Look at all the great foods etc we get to eat because of other cultures!

There are several reasons why people are racist. One of the oldest but greatly deminished from what it used to be is the feeling of superiority. For hundreds of years whites were taught to believe that they were mentally, morally and even physically superior to all other races. They generally believed that the darker a people were, the more inferior with African blacks being the most inferior of all. As I said, this idea has been greatly diminished over the last 50 years or so but it was prevelent for so long that there are still vestigages of it hanging around.
Another reason, and I believe this is the biggest reason for racism on all sides today, is that people think that the other race is racist against them so they have to be racist as some kind of a retaliation.
Blacks see white supremicist groups and think that all whites agree with them. Whites see the nation of Islam or other black seperatist groups and think that all blacks are on their side. This kind of tit for tat unfortunatly keeps racial distrust and hatred alive and well.

hehehe
i agree!

Why is it still like that? After all these years. I would think it would be such an ugly and heavy burden to pass down to the next generation. So why even pass it down at all?

The second part is true. At times I feel black people are judging me right off the bat. It?s not fair. I know if I did that to them, they wouldn?t like it.

Exactly and I guess the only way to conquer it is to try and not let the next generation fall into this judgmental cycle that seems to keep going round and round!

The world is becoming a multicultural place so soon there will be no place for racism!