Were any of you

[Shri]

Racist as a kid? I have laughed at jokes made at the expense of my darker skinned family members and I have been thinking about all this **** given the events going on. It was really ****ing weird because everyone in the dad's side of the family (his siblings) was considerably darker than he was and he used to do it too - make jokes that I laughed at etc. But then the weird thing was my dad has two younger brothers and one was born with a really dark skintone and the other is kinda dark. The kinda dark one still made fun of the really dark one, which in hindsight was ****ed up.

At some point in college I actually rubbed my two brain cells together by thinking about this stuff and grew out of it with a lot of shame and cringe, even though I had never really been overtly racist to anyone except for laughing at obviously casually racist jokes.

Thread inspired by the latest patriot act YouTube episode, reading that teja post again etc tbh.

So does anyone else have a past that included racism? Would be nice to hear Indian perspectives that I can relate to but anyone is welcome really.

Mods, feel free to shift the thread to another subforum if you feel like it.

 

[Kirkut]

No. To be a racist, I need to identify what race do I belong to in the first place.

 

[Shri]

Lol kid...that is, eh.

 

[morgieb]

I had an unfortunate tendency to use inappropriate language towards people of non-white races and I was possibly somewhat more judgemental about hanging around people of exclusively non-white races. So kind of? I grew up in an extremely multicultural part of Sydney so it would've been hard to be too racist though.

EDIT: Although I guess that didn't stop watson, lol.

 

[Kirkut]

During my childhood too, I can't think of any incidence of racism either.

 

[Daemon]

I've written a post somewhere on the forum about how subtle racism has changed me growing up. One of the results of that is that I've laughed along with and even made such jokes in an attempt to fit in with alarming regularity. It totally works which only reinforces that behavior. I think I finally stopped when I entered Uni.

To now see some of the same people who make those racist comments all the time posting about #BLM on social media really grates me.

 

[Daemon]

No. To be a racist, I need to identify what race do I belong to in the first place.

Lol kid...that is, eh.

Yeah sorry Kirkut, that makes no sense.

 

[DriveClub]

Until my early 20s I used to have a prejudiced view that fairer skin was more good looking. Ashamed of myself tbh. Also because my parents and my previous generation in general were just plain out racist overall. That was the kind of environment I grew up in.

 

[Kirkut]

Yeah sorry Kirkut, that makes no sense.

Indians are not a race. What Shri is describing is personality complex due to skin colour, origins of which only Shri knows.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

One of the results of that is that I've laughed along with and even made such jokes in an attempt to fit in with alarming regularity.

Yeah I used to do this when I got to high school then I realised it was really dumb and kids tend to piss their pants if you fight back.

 

[DriveClub]

Until my early 20s I used to have a prejudiced view that fairer skin was more good looking. Ashamed of myself tbh. Also because my parents and my previous generation in general were just plain out racist overall. That was the kind of environment I grew up in.

To elaborate my mom still says Africans are dumb and stupid, they can only excel in physically demanding fields. I'm not even exaggerating, her exact words.

 

[Adders]

Never directly but have certainly made jokes and laughed at jokes which I would find repulsive now.

Sure I've told this story before on here but an example of how quickly the world and peoples views on this sort of casual racism are developing for the better. I was at the MCG in 2002 for the Ashes test and a group of 6 young Aussie lads did the conga through the Barmy section singing "I'd rather be a P**ki than a POM" they were greeted with a lot of laughter and it generally went down as funny banter. At Adelaide in 2010 the same thing happened.......the young Aussies were booed and jeered and told to GTFO in no uncertain terms.

It struck me as remarkable how views on this sort of **** had changed dramaticaly in the space of 8 years. I still think we've got a hell of a long way to go with it though, the true racists of this world are few and far between now I think, but it's the casual off the cuff sort of thing that needs to be called out and stopped.

 

[Shri]

I think the internet has helped tbh. Brilliant take, I know.

But I feel like dealing with the problem starts with identifying that the problem exists.

But it is kinda sad looking at your dad who taught you to be secular and respectful towards everyone turn into a guy who hates china for the coronavirus among other things after watching YouTube videos all day.

I wonder, when I get older and experience mental decline (further lol), if I would become a racist out of touch old guy who'd discriminate against something that would be new at that time.

 

[honestbharani]

Says internet has helped, blames youtube for dad's current views. /onlyShri

 

[Magrat Garlick]

grew up in a place and a family that was pretty racist, but calling it out was not on, so that led to some odd coping habits.

 

[harsh.ag]

My dick is still racist

 

[Gnske]

My dick is still racist

Sigged

 

[trundler]

More so than I'd like to admit. The colourism also went with lots of other unacceptable behaviour like sectarianism and casteism. I think I've outgrown overt aspects of it and still find myself cringing at things I thought were acceptable to say ~5 years ago.

 

[Daemon]

Says internet has helped, blames youtube for dad's current views. /onlyShri

It's certainly helped. But it's also helped to polarise. Once you're inclined towards a certain belief these days, it's incredibly easy to dive into a never ending spiral of content that reinforces your beliefs.

If I even had a fleeting thought that maybe perhaps the BLM protests were bullshit and black people are exaggerating their mistreatment, I could do a quick google or watch a video 'confirming' my beliefs and then spend ages devouring content down that rabbit hole.

 

[Line and Length]

Growing up in England there was a certain racism shown towards the gypsies who camped in the nearby fields on occasions. Personally, although my mother disapproved, I found them to be beneficial. I'd gather the horse droppings (yes, their caravans were all horse-drawn) and sell it to the people in the "posher" area for their gardens.

Arriving in Australia in the '50s there was definite racism towards 'New Australians'. They were "Dings", "Wogs" and "Dagoes". These terms were readily thrown around at football matches and I was a "Pom" who joined in the abuse of players with names like Grljusich, Ciccotosto and Gerovich. Ironically I supported West Perth who, because they were located in an area comprising a lot of market gardens tended by Italians, were branded "Garlic Munchers".

When I started teaching I encountered ugly racism. I was appointed to a country town and joined the local football club (Aussie rules). After the first training session the players were called together and the President asked for a show of hands of those who would be happy to have any of the local indigenous players from the reserve join us. I automatically raised my hand along with another new teacher and a newly appointed bank officer. We were the only hands raised in a group of over 40. Interestingly ours was the only team that didn't have Aboriginal players in their ranks. In hindsight they missed out on some potential talent and, if I was stronger, I would have joined up to play with a neighbouring town.