-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
What racist things have you done in your life?
- Thread starter Rest
- Start date
- Status
Deadly Cyclone
Pride of Iowa State
How is this possible. I live in Iowa and still hung out with black dudes in college at least. Do you live in Siberia?
Already Torn
Banned
Every time I walk down the street I'm inherently more suspicious of black people. I'm working on it.
Hero_of_the_Day
Member
Definetly use to say nigger a lot as an "edgy" (read: stupid as fuck) teen. Saying it makes me cringe thinkng back on it is an obvious understatement.
I slipped up and said it once in front of a black friend. He didn't say anything. But, I knew I fucked up. And I realized I needed to put some thought into why I was uncomfortable saying it then, and the obvious answer was that it was a horrible word that I should drop from my vocabulary regardless of who was around.
I slipped up and said it once in front of a black friend. He didn't say anything. But, I knew I fucked up. And I realized I needed to put some thought into why I was uncomfortable saying it then, and the obvious answer was that it was a horrible word that I should drop from my vocabulary regardless of who was around.
Conkersbadfurday
Member
When I first got into online gaming, I was like a sophomore in highschool and didn't know the real meanings behind a few words that I regret saying now that I'm an adult.
Thankfully, I didn't have a mic.
Thankfully, I didn't have a mic.
Lord Panda
The Sea is Always Right
Same. But I'm unrepentant.
After the 1000th racist comment being made to me in Law school I was having dinner with my then gf.
She saw I was upset an asked what was wrong. I told her what happened and she told me, I saw going to be facing that kind of shit my entire life so I can't let it get to me.
I told her "wtf do you know about this and what it feels like to be telling me to not to let it get to you. You're a pretty little blonde girl with blue eyes, wtf do you know about any of this."
Never apologised for what I said but looking back at it now it was pretty uncalled for...
She saw I was upset an asked what was wrong. I told her what happened and she told me, I saw going to be facing that kind of shit my entire life so I can't let it get to me.
I told her "wtf do you know about this and what it feels like to be telling me to not to let it get to you. You're a pretty little blonde girl with blue eyes, wtf do you know about any of this."
Never apologised for what I said but looking back at it now it was pretty uncalled for...
I was an edge lord fuck through college. I have socially progressive parents and I am socially progressive but I grew up in a redneck environment. My friends and I said a lot of shitty stuff mocking the general vibe of people we went to school with.
Beyond that, just the normal micro-aggressions that white people do without noticing.
I genuinely tried too hard to be friendly/nice to minorities becuase I wanted to be friends with them so bad too. I don't know what you call that cringed phenomenon. I still kinda do it when something bad happens in the news.
Beyond that, just the normal micro-aggressions that white people do without noticing.
I genuinely tried too hard to be friendly/nice to minorities becuase I wanted to be friends with them so bad too. I don't know what you call that cringed phenomenon. I still kinda do it when something bad happens in the news.
I have a friend who went to West Virginia University. We're both from NJ, and have been around black people our entire lives. He had a roommate though, who was born and raised in WV. He told my friend that before he entered college, he had never met a single black person in his life...had only seen them on TV. WV is something like 99% white. I went there once, because my sister in-law moved down there some years ago. Racism down there is STRONG...Confederate flags outside many, many homes. I saw one black guy in the WalMart down there...had PA tags, and just looked like he wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. I felt bad for him.
Is that racist?
Admiral Woofington
Member
When we were visiting Dubai we had a group of Chinese tourists behind us as we went up the BK. A bunch of ladies. There was plenty of room but they had to literally stick like glue to my family and I. I don't know if in their cities they need to squish in together in lines/elevators but my dad and sisters eventually snapped and told them to back the fuck off. Even when people were entering the elevator to go to the top of the burj Khalifa and the guy was clearly telling them to wait with body language and hand signs (they didn't speak English) they still tried to sneak into the elevator and squish everyone in. We laugh about it now but man were we stressed with having them with us the whole time.
thestopsign
Member
Oh god, this story is super embarrassing. I still sometimes cringe at myself for it.
I was in AP US History my sophomore year in high school. I think this was towards the end of the year and we were talking about the civil rights movement. My teacher was talking about how the vocabulary we use when referring to blacks has changed over the years and asked something along the lines of what was becoming more acceptable to call blacks in modern times. My young naive self listened to too much hip hop; I raised my hand and said the n word straight up. He looked at me shocked, and then I started trying to explain myself. The whole class just started laughing at me. It was a nightmare, but it happened.
I was in AP US History my sophomore year in high school. I think this was towards the end of the year and we were talking about the civil rights movement. My teacher was talking about how the vocabulary we use when referring to blacks has changed over the years and asked something along the lines of what was becoming more acceptable to call blacks in modern times. My young naive self listened to too much hip hop; I raised my hand and said the n word straight up. He looked at me shocked, and then I started trying to explain myself. The whole class just started laughing at me. It was a nightmare, but it happened.
this is me. i can't remember anything i've done to anyone directly that was racist. if anyone perceived anything i've done or said as racist, i was not aware of it and it was not intentional. i have always had black friends. i'm a white dude (welsh and french mostly i think, maybe some italian on my mother's side, we're not sure) and i've always had friends of all kinds. i look at things like this: if you have a belly button, you have probably more in common with me than differences. everything is pretty much relative, each culture has certain needs, whether emotional or material, and they just have different ways of obtaining these things.
Chinese here. I am supposed to be angry seeing these comments but I am not really. Even I myself dread to join group tours in China because all kinds of people are in it. I prefer travelling with a few friends only with our own itinerary and we seldom get bad looks outside of country.
Back to topic... not really. Maybe a bit startled on metro seeing black people cos I almost never met one since I was young? I would love to work with black guys and gals in my company though. We have colleagues of different countries and complexion here, just not anyone from sub Sahara origins (well, technically we all are...)
Lord Thrappleper The 49th
Member
Its a work in progress, but I suspect i'm stuck in my ways now. But whenever i interact with an american, i tend to completely disregard any opinions they have. I hold great contempt for them, and honestly internally wish they'd go back to their own country and stay there to revel in their police and cultural problems and hope their bullshit doesn't spread that far overseas.
Can I ask what country you live in?
Baraka in the White House
2-Terms of Kombat
When I was a kid I was all about, "I like all music except rap and country."
Fuck was wrong with me? Rap rules.
Country can still fuck off.
Fuck was wrong with me? Rap rules.
Country can still fuck off.
Lord Thrappleper The 49th
Member
A place thats just as bad, but doesnt claim to be the greatest country on earth, which is the root stem of it all for me.
(England)
I was gonna say, if you're from UK, you unfortunately have very similar societal issues as we do.
Most of our politics are built on "WE ARE THE GREATEST", so yeah that has to be pretty grating to the rest of the world.
GeordieMark
Member
This isn't the slightest bit racist.
Kind of. I never thought I was at all racist, but this made me think. (For reference I am a white male).
I needed to get my car fixed, and I had quotes from 2 garages.
Garage A: ~£900
Garage B: ~£1500
(There was also a garage C, similar to B but less convenient.)
Garage A was a tiny workshop at the back of a public swimming pool or something, just a few Asian guys there working on some car, one of whom came over to look at my car and give me a quote. This was a few miles out of town, and since the work was too much to do in a day I'd have to make 2 trips out there (drop off and collect).
Garage B had a car park outside leading to a modern reception-style area where a (white) receptionist took my details, before a (white) mechanic had a quick look at my car. This place was roughly 5 minutes walk from my house, so super convenient.
Now since I'm telling this story, I obviously went with garage B. At the time I told myself this was primarily due to the convenience (and to be fair I am super lazy and not careful with my money, so this was unquestionably a factor), and also because garage B looked more ""professional"".
Before this happened I would have laughed at the very idea I could be racist, but it made me think about what exactly was more ""professional"" about garage B, and why that was even important (it was effectively just a new bumper + respray, a straightforward job). If the ethnicities had been reversed, would I still have gone with garage B? Well yes, but I wonder how much I was influenced by the races of the people involved, especially since mechanic A was more friendly/helpful than mechanic B.
(To be fair Garage B did a fantastic job, they even cleaned the tyres. I didn't even know you could do that, it was beautiful.)
I needed to get my car fixed, and I had quotes from 2 garages.
Garage A: ~£900
Garage B: ~£1500
(There was also a garage C, similar to B but less convenient.)
Garage A was a tiny workshop at the back of a public swimming pool or something, just a few Asian guys there working on some car, one of whom came over to look at my car and give me a quote. This was a few miles out of town, and since the work was too much to do in a day I'd have to make 2 trips out there (drop off and collect).
Garage B had a car park outside leading to a modern reception-style area where a (white) receptionist took my details, before a (white) mechanic had a quick look at my car. This place was roughly 5 minutes walk from my house, so super convenient.
Now since I'm telling this story, I obviously went with garage B. At the time I told myself this was primarily due to the convenience (and to be fair I am super lazy and not careful with my money, so this was unquestionably a factor), and also because garage B looked more ""professional"".
Before this happened I would have laughed at the very idea I could be racist, but it made me think about what exactly was more ""professional"" about garage B, and why that was even important (it was effectively just a new bumper + respray, a straightforward job). If the ethnicities had been reversed, would I still have gone with garage B? Well yes, but I wonder how much I was influenced by the races of the people involved, especially since mechanic A was more friendly/helpful than mechanic B.
(To be fair Garage B did a fantastic job, they even cleaned the tyres. I didn't even know you could do that, it was beautiful.)
Vincent Alexander
Member
I heard/saw the word nigger on Die Hard when I was young and had no clue what it meant. All I knew is that it had to do with black people. Next time I saw Oprah on TV I pointed and said "she's a...!" Yeah.....my cousin in the room knew the word and told my mom. She called me into living room where she was and uh...she set me straight real good.
broncobuster
Banned
When young I confused Billy Dee Williams and Carl Weathers. Used to think Apollo, Lando, Harvey Dent, and Dillion were the same actor and the coolest guy around. Their mustaches aren't even the same style.
Baron von Loathsome
Member
A month or two ago, I was at the gas station buying propane, and I put the propane in my trunk before I went to pay. A middle-aged black man walked in the direction of my car, so I used my remote to make sure it was locked before I went inside. The man walked right past the car.
I was cursing myself the whole way home, I was so embarrassed.
I was cursing myself the whole way home, I was so embarrassed.
woopWOOP
Member
During some school presentation about some subject I really can't even recall anymore I tried making a joke on how you wouldn't have time for something unless you were out of a job or something. It wasn't until after the presentation, after the teacher told me it was a pretty shitty thing to say, that I realised I blurted out something about immigrants having more than enough time for it instead. You know, "because they're poor and out of a job, haha".
As the teacher told me I locked eyes with one of my fellow students who was from an immigrant family and he was giving me a death stare all the way. Ohyeah, I fucked up bad
As the teacher told me I locked eyes with one of my fellow students who was from an immigrant family and he was giving me a death stare all the way. Ohyeah, I fucked up bad
killatopak
Gold Member
I have a cousin who is a half black and half asian.
I was talking with my friends and they were asking me why I'm so fluent in speaking English and I told them that a have a few cousin who lives in the states and in Canada who visit regularly in my house. My cousins are generally younger or in my age group so my mother and my aunt made them hang out with me.
So when I was describing who they are and if they saw them hanging out with me, I described one of my cousin, the half black half asian, as negro which is totally fine in our language cause it means dark skinned and the country where I'm at (Philippines) the skin color ranges from super dark to super white. But when I thought about it after I said it, I thought it might be racist that I described him as such.
I dunno, is it?
Edit: I forgot that also as a kid I was belittling the Chinese language. Typical "chang ching chong" etc. What's ironic is I'm actually half chinese half filipino. I don't speak chinese though only my father does.
I was talking with my friends and they were asking me why I'm so fluent in speaking English and I told them that a have a few cousin who lives in the states and in Canada who visit regularly in my house. My cousins are generally younger or in my age group so my mother and my aunt made them hang out with me.
So when I was describing who they are and if they saw them hanging out with me, I described one of my cousin, the half black half asian, as negro which is totally fine in our language cause it means dark skinned and the country where I'm at (Philippines) the skin color ranges from super dark to super white. But when I thought about it after I said it, I thought it might be racist that I described him as such.
I dunno, is it?
Edit: I forgot that also as a kid I was belittling the Chinese language. Typical "chang ching chong" etc. What's ironic is I'm actually half chinese half filipino. I don't speak chinese though only my father does.
I used to think as a kid, that the prayers at the mosque didn't count whenever an accented non-Arab person led prayers. All because I once heard an elder fume after one of the nightly prayers, that not being able to pronounce the Arabic words properly invalidated the prayer due to the meaning of the words changing. I was one snotty little brat at the mosques, walking around to other kids and point blank asking "why do you say ز instead of د?"
Speaking of prayers, I'm still salty as hell over one of my friends ratting me out to the Imam (who was a family friend), because I had dropped an f-bomb during prostration. I was a kid and had no idea what the word meant, and casually dropped it with a giggle during the prostration part of prayer. Sure enough the back stabbing asshole told the Imam who told my dad, and I got a talking to. I haven't forgotten this Abdullah.
Speaking of prayers, I'm still salty as hell over one of my friends ratting me out to the Imam (who was a family friend), because I had dropped an f-bomb during prostration. I was a kid and had no idea what the word meant, and casually dropped it with a giggle during the prostration part of prayer. Sure enough the back stabbing asshole told the Imam who told my dad, and I got a talking to. I haven't forgotten this Abdullah.
It's outdated/racist on this part of the globe (US/CAN) at least.
Daria Morgendorffer
Member
When I was little (like 3 years old) I walked towards a homeless man because I thought he was Zwarte Piet 
In high school, our class read Huckleberry Finn and somehow got approval for my small group of 3 to make a movie based on the book. We would usually lampoon the books and have us 3 play every role in the story. Only problem with Huckleberry Finn: 3 white dudes playing every role in the book. Oh, also we thought it would be great to just say the N word for "accuracy," since our whole unit was on censorship and satire, and how language is used in literature. We were dumb 16 year olds, but we got an A on the project. I have no idea how our school approved the project, but it probably has something to do with only 2 black students in a 1000-person student body, and only white people on staff. This was in 2009, mind you, not even that far back. Nobody on staff even attempted to talk to us about the offensiveness of even attempting such a thing, and it took me years after going to college to really understand race issues.
Vincent Alexander
Member
I have to know if you used black makeup at all.
No we didn't go that far. Only indiciation of change in race was through different accents and grammar (also fucked up)
Triggerhappytel
Member
I was nearly in an accident the other day because of a white driver. Does that mean all white drivers are bad? You need more than one example to be able to make a ridiculous generalisation like this.
Chinese tourists is the first thing that comes to mind but other than that not much, maybe when it comes to jokes i may let myself go much more that i would like, my friends on the other hand...so much worse than that
They are amazing people honestly but it is getting worse with the never stopping arrival of immigrants here in Italy and a really small part of me is starting to feel like them, wich honestly scares me
They are amazing people honestly but it is getting worse with the never stopping arrival of immigrants here in Italy and a really small part of me is starting to feel like them, wich honestly scares me
A short while ago I started yelling racial slurs at a young north african kid because I misunderstood him shouting at his friend as him shouting at me. I hadn't eaten in the last three days and didn't have any money and was being ridiculed by just about everyone in my city, but that was still very uncool.
The next day he ran after me and asked what that had been about which humbled me right the fuck up. I apologised and told him I didn't know why I shouted the things I shouted and felt bad for the rest of the week imagining what it must be like for someone like him. He seemed like a good kid so I still feel bad about being a dick.
The next day he ran after me and asked what that had been about which humbled me right the fuck up. I apologised and told him I didn't know why I shouted the things I shouted and felt bad for the rest of the week imagining what it must be like for someone like him. He seemed like a good kid so I still feel bad about being a dick.
I'm glad you two were able to talk and come to an understanding. Not enough people make the effort to do that.
you fucking savage.
In jr high,7th or 8th grade, I used the phrase nigger-rigged to describe something to my classmates, most of whom were black. I have no idea what was going on in my brain, but I didn't even register how bad of a thing it was to say(or think) until I saw everyone's expressions of disbelief. I sort of got a pass on it.
I'm also guilty of the Aziz Ansari thing where I just automatically assume some people are immigrants when their family has actually been around for generations. It's not that I would treat them different, I just expect an accent and some degree of cultural differences, and I'm absolutely wrong.
I'm also guilty of the Aziz Ansari thing where I just automatically assume some people are immigrants when their family has actually been around for generations. It's not that I would treat them different, I just expect an accent and some degree of cultural differences, and I'm absolutely wrong.
A lot of the typical stupid sheltered white kid shit. "Why is there aBlack Entertainment Television and not White Entertainment Television?" "I like every genre of music except rap.' "Affirmative action is bullshit" and so on.
Thank fuck for the Internet and my classes getting less and less white as I grew older. I look back and just shake my head at how much of an idiot/asshole I was without even realizing it.
Thank fuck for the Internet and my classes getting less and less white as I grew older. I look back and just shake my head at how much of an idiot/asshole I was without even realizing it.
- Status