Someone mentioned to me that they found the behaviour of a certain nationality frustrating because… and then went on to give their reasons.

Now some of what they said could probably be legitimately attached to the nationality in questions, but of course, as any sane person knows, caricatures – while they may see and exaggerate certain traits – are NEVER actual portrayals of individuals.

It did get me to thinking though…

When I lived in the West Indies, it was quite normal to refer to people from one island as being a certain way as compared to the people of other islands. Now, the reasons for this were varied: sometimes the island in question was smaller, and therefore less culturally diverse; sometimes the island was more affected by criminal elements; sometimes the island was more influenced by one colonising European nation than another.

Whatever the case, it seemed quite natural to characterised islands in general terms.

Back in Canada, though, I know that had I casually referred to the people of say, Barbados, as being laid back, and the people of, say, Jamaica, as being intense and unfriendly, it would have been met with accusations of racism. (That was a common caricature on the island where I lived, incidentally.)

But I am not sure that that’s racism. It would probably be racism if a person denounced all West Indians as being a certain type, but to be culturally-specific seems more ‘culturalist’ than racist to me.

And while all prejudices are unhelpful – and sometimes downright evil – the latter seems a little less diabolical than actual racism.

Or are they the same? What do you think?

There’s only one thing I hate more than racism, and that’s The Welsh…

Canadians, Eh?

I believe technically you could have been Xenophobic, rather than Racist, people get them mixed up all the time – there’s a lot of grey area though – can you claim that everyone in the world is completely unique and unaffected by the society they live in and it’s moral codes, rules and laws to to deny any sort of ‘National Identity’.

giantalkali – Member
There’s only one thing I hate more than racism, and that’s The Welsh…

The two aren’t mutually exclusive as Welsh isn’t a race. I’m Welsh about 1/8th Arabic, 1/4 Anglo Saxon and the rest ‘Celtic’ but that’s a bit of a catch-all term. To be completely honest my Dad’s family are a right mixed bag of chancers and wrong ‘uns going back generations.

What you are talking about is generalising, at best, and, more specifically, stereotyping. The problem with this is that you will then tend not to judge the person fairly. In short you will pre-judge. If you pre-judge in a commercial environment e.g. when letting rooms in a house (“no dogs, no blacks, no Irish”) you will come unstuck. But if you interview a person of colour and come to the conclusion that he is feckless and won’t pay the rent then that’s all right because you have judged him, not pre-judged him. If he’s Phil Lynott and owns a dog the same rules apply. Simples.

P-Jay – Member
giantalkali – Member
There’s only one thing I hate more than racism, and that’s The Welsh…
The two aren’t mutually exclusive as Welsh isn’t a race. I’m Welsh about 1/8th Arabic, 1/4 Anglo Saxon and the rest ‘Celtic’ but that’s a bit of a catch-all term. To be completely honest my Dad’s family are a right mixed bag of chancers and wrong ‘uns going back generations.

You’ve put me right off ’em now.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vh-wEXvdW8[/video]

The problem is that racism is a poorly defined term.

Negative stereotyping is probably what you are talking about.

xenophobia, noun
dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.
“racism and xenophobia are steadily growing in Europe”

Do doctors still use the acronym “NFN” ?

23 pages.

Some folk harbor so many misplaced prejudices and become so vocal in their deranged beliefs that it’s often simpler to label them all together as socialists.

I find it’s often easier to operate on an equality footing and express a dislike of everyone…

Some folk harbor so many misplaced prejudices and become so vocal in their deranged beliefs that it’s often simpler to label them all together as socialists

said the racist ” comedian” at the BNP rally

Essentialising, it might be essentialising

xenophobia, noun
dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.
“racism and xenophobia are steadily growing in Europe”

I hate that definition, it’s just plain wrong. The true definition derives from the Greek word “xenos” meaning unknown or strange and “phobos” meaning fear. So literally xenophobia means fear of the unknown or strangers if you will.

People who call others xenophobic (usually Brexiteers) are just misusing the term. They’re not afraid of foreigners, they just don’t like them.

sure it’s not a form of unconscious bias?

https://www.socialtalent.com/blog/recruitment/9-types-of-unconscious-bias

I know it’s not, but every time I see the word xenophobic I always think of a healthy phobia of these buggers

There is only one human race – Homo Sapiens – which makes all the racism about distinctly odd.

I obviously agree, 701, but that’s why I asked what I did. Is characterising certain nationalities with different traits ‘odd’?

I mean, people often say nice things about Canadians, and I am grateful; but what if it’s something negative about, say, a nationality where the people concerned have (mostly) different physical features as well? Or negative about any nationality, physically different or not?

The classification of others (everyone apart from you and your tribe) is not an inherently bad thing. It turns nasty when you make those others less than you just for being others. When you make them less than you start treating them differently and that is the nub of most of these arguments.

So in answer to your question it is not wrong to characterise, but once you do it very rarely means that you put them on a par with your normal, so can quickly become negative.

To be honest the best we can all hope for is to check any of our own stereotyping and apologise if we get it wrong.

Molgrips – negative stereotyping based on race etc IS racism. Its one of the most common definitions used