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Do you think making first contact would have any impact on racism (between humans)?

B

Brakke

Banned
First contact is gunna be some bacteria-ass thing and we'll spend decades debating "is his even life?" tho.

I dunno how everyone dying of Ultra Space Flu has any impact on racism.
 
I

infi

Member
First thing I though of when I saw the thread title was Space Traders. A story about aliens coming to Earth and offering the USA advanced tech in exchange for all the nations black population.

It was made in to a TV movie back in the 90's.

https://youtu.be/D8yFiam9260?t=94
 
H

Herr Schwarz

Banned
I'd imagine an alien species discovering us wouldn't even bother speaking.

Strip mine the planet using their advanced shielded robots. Then move on.

Probably be a couple of alien grunts doing it.
 
S

stenbumling

Unconfirmed Member
Only if it was seen as a threat big and constant enough to transcend the threat we feel from other human cultures. And even then it's a big maybe, and it would take a lot of time to remodel the narrative of Them vs Us.
 
P

PdotMichael

Banned
Herr Schwarz said:
I'd imagine an alien species discovering us wouldn't even bother speaking.

Strip mine the planet using their advanced shielded robots. Then move on.

Probably be a couple of alien grunts doing it.
Click to expand...

If they are only interested in ressources they wouldn't care about Earth, there are more than enough planets and asteroids out there to exploit
 
A

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
IchigoSharingan said:
What effect would a new enemy have on a mind that has negative associations with another entity?

It would not wash away other negative associations.

9/11 didn't see non-Muslims being treated better. In fact it made things worse.
Click to expand...

Neither muslims nor other oppressed people in the USA rise anywhere near the level of "Enemy". They're oppressed minorities.
 
T

Timedog

good credit (by proxy)
How About No said:
Let_That_Be_Your_Last_Battlefield.jpg


probably not
Click to expand...
Is that old evilore?
 
F

fireflame

Member
Maybe aliens could use a sort of power that could make everyone acuqire a great wisdom. It would all depend on the level of technology/civilization of the said aliens i guess.
 
S

Shredderi

Member
ShironRedshift said:
Even then, once the threat is gone, we'd go right back to being terrible to each other. I mean, we "unified" against the Nazis in WW2. But then black Americans and black veterans went right back to being treated like garbage as soon as the war was over. Don't see why something like this would be any different.

If anything, they'd continue to rationalize it by just assuming the groups they already hate are in cahoots with the aliens and feeding them information, and then never admitting that they were wrong (y'know, again bringing up WW2, internment camp style, just like how we locked up Japanese-Americans for assuming they were feeding info to Japan simply because of their heritage. Also see: stuff like the Hollywood Ten under McCarthyism/Red Scare, again assuming people are traitors though that time based on political ideology rather than nationality).

Unfortunately, the worst of us seem quite good at developing ways to continue to hate each other, no matter the situation, so I just can't see how even a scenario like that would be enough, to be honest. =/
Click to expand...

Oh I agree totally. I only expect this "peace" to last as long as the threat is ever present. I am 100% that human race will never be so enlightened that groups of people won't hate other groups of people over things the said people have no control over. It may not be skin color in the futuristic future but it will be something else. At this point I think it's some genetic trait that will survive till the end of time.
 
S

StrategyFan

Member
sort of

people want someone to blame

adding aliens to the mix just makes it less likely that they'll blame other humans, but it's just basic probability, not some great awakening
 
Z

zoukka

Member
Only a fundamental change in our brain wiring would change people in any way. Aliens or not we will still have racism, sexism and superstition. Nothing will change that.
 
Voidwolf

Voidwolf

Member
Racists would probably just compare the races they already dislike to aliens in a negative manner. And the aliens would probably be racist themselves.
 
E

emag

Member
How did the "alien invasion" of Cortez and his ilk impact the tribalism between the indigenous South American peoples?

How did the colonization by Europe impact the tribalism between the indigenous African and Asian peoples?

Any extraterrestrials that aren't purely benevolent are going to use the same tactic of divide and conquer that previous invaders have and Earthlings will fall for it all over again.
 
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