When do stereotypes become racist?
 

This got me thinking, when does a stereotype pass just that and go into the deeper relm of racism? I've experienced a bit of racial tension, almost always in joke, but at times I feel it has crossed over, however slightly, into racism. Silly name callings (I'm German, German in German is Deutsch) which at times, I have honestly felt surpass a silly "No, you're a deutschbag, you can't have some." into something deeper.
Thoughts?
EDIT: I understand there are already a few threads dealing with r acism, but I thought this deserved a new thread because it's discussing more when it passes stereotypes, not just plain racism.

I tend to think if the stereotype is due to a racial factor, then its racist. If you stereotype due to gender, its sexist. If you stereotype due to religion, you're a bigot. None of it is good.

Its a matter of context. My example was that the officer stereotyped those guys as potential criminals probably because they were black, hence the situation has a problem with racism. The downstream effect of this, the shooting, was not inherently racist (but stupid), but did come about due to potential racism in an earlier action.

And personally, I think this whole thought would have been perfectly fine in the other thread, as its still completely related to the whole scenario to begin with.

I understand that if it's due to a radist/sexist/biogotry it's racist, but the thing is how can someone from the outside tell? Is it even possible? Of course all forms of racism are bad, that's generally agreed on.

I understand what you mean on that post, and I agree with what you said. They may have follwed the people due to stereotypes (or perhaps other motives) and then ended up in a bad situation, but that's about the shooting.

The reason I started a new thread was because I don't want this thread to revolve around that shooting as the sole example, this is more than about police or what not. I'm trying to get personal experiences or personal thoughts on just this part of that topic. I didn't want to derail the other topic into a giant race spiral leading it well away from it's intended mark.

I think that stereotypes border on whatever "ism" they're stereotyping by definition. Polish jokes are racist against Poles, Catholic jokes are religiously slated against Catholics, etc. Racism isn't a binary concept. It comes in degrees, and certain amounts can be written off depending on the audience. Does that make everyone horrible people for ripping on Poles or Catholics? No, unless it goes to the extreme. I'm personally fond of blond jokes, and was blond until about high school, when I darkened up a bit. But for all the jokes I know, I don't tell any that are outright offensive, and watch my company when I decide what jokes are acceptable.

As for the "black guys have guns" thing, studies show that people of all races have a fear of violence from minorities. Statistics show that minorities have a sizable share of the violent crime statistic, both as perpetrators and victims, and those statistics turn into generalizations that sweep across the entire populace. As such, it ends up that black people are just as afraid of being victimized by other black people as white people are, just as an example. It's not universally true, like any generalization, but it's true enough to perpetuate. That's less a matter of racism than it is of numbers, but it does lead to unfortunate misunderstandings.

Stereotypes... are not something I've really thought about. I personally have never been offended by any of the jokes about my race - in fact, the ones specifically about my race crack me up the most, partly because of how incredibly false they are.

On that topic, how valid do you guys think being offended by jokes that play with stereotypes is? I don't think it's valid at all - If you can't laugh at yourself or your own race, etc., then you're far too serious.

When they're brought up in jokes, I think stereotypes are perfectly fine. "You're a deutschbag" seems pretty funny to me, though it has the flaw of having to be spelled and not just heard. It also might be the wrong way to pronounce it... but I don't speak German so I dunno.

As for stereotypes in other circumstances being racist...

I thought being racist was basically believing your race is superior to another. Thinking about stereotypes, it seems to me they're just silly (and quite possibly just misinformed) assumptions about people based on race. I doubt stereotyping is quite in the league of racism.

For instance, if someone asks an asian person in a disbelieving tone about them not being able to use chopsticks, then that's not quite racism... just a stupid assumption. You can correct them, and if they refuse to let go of that assumption, then they're being... I don't know, stubborn?

Stereotypes also cover many areas; for instance, that all people who are tall can play basketball. It's not racist, sexist, or bigotry. It's just... stereotyping. Stupid, but not exactly something to get heated about or cause as many problems as racism sexism or bigotry can.

Really, even with sexism and bigotry it's the same. They're different ballgames. "If women get pissed seemingly for no reason, they're PMSing." Stereotype. "Women are dumber then men." Sexist. "Jewish people can't eat hotdogs." (Um.. not sure about this, but maybe it's technically true? From experience, though, most Jewish people don't really stick rigidly to what's kosher.) Stereotype. "Jewish people cut their penises" Stereotype again (sorry, had to put that one in). "Jewish people are damned to go to hell because they do not worship the one true God." Bigotry... maybe? Actually, I haven't had much experience with Bigotry, party because I partake in no religion and partly because I live in a very nice part of the world.

P.S. I really want to stick in a stereotype about Africans and genitals... But it may actually be a genetic fact! I don't know! Somebody enlighten me!

nevermind everything I said. wrong thread, wrong point. i r dum

Torque, next time--you can delete your posts by hitting edit, then clicking the delete button, then you, admittedly have to highlight because the colors are stupid and I should fix that but I'm too lazy to figure out how, click the 'delete message' button, and then click on 'delete this message.'

This has been a public service announcement.

Thank you and have a good day.

My bad. I actually thought that it would probably be better to just leave the post, and just correct myself into oblivion.

Qizk2:

Yeah... situations like that are when you're allowed to get pissed off, although it might just confirm in their minds that you're a Nazi... :sweatdrop

Even though it's a while back, Neo-Nazis still exist and the prejudices of people who don't distinguish between Germans and Nazis get passed down, like the blurred distinction between true Communism and Communist China/Russia.

Honestly, I'm not sure how you deal with stubborn people like that. If enlightening them to the fact that some Germans actually, at the risk of their own lives, harbored Jewish people in their own homes during that time doesn't work, and being nice or being stubborn and just staying there long enough for them to realize you're not doing anything wrong doesn't work, then... I dunno, file a complaint? That'll probably just make it worse, though...

Moving away was a good move (..pun?). Stubborn people are so hard to deal with...