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Racist friends

#23
I see where you're coming from, but I'd still disagree. I think if people don't make it clear that what the person is saying is unacceptable, they will continue to say it. If every time they open their mouth, they're told what a racist a**hole they are, they might just get the message eventually.
 
#24
dj150888 said:
I firmly follow the, "theres nothing in the world you can't make a joke about" mindset, but when things cross the line from making whats obviously a joke into genuine racism, I refuse to just sit there and be silent.

If you don't say something, you're being an enabler. A childhood friend of mine, as he got into his late teens, started reading up on certain national socialist politics and as soon as he started expressing any racism, I immediately stopped associating with him and made it clear that he wasn't welcome in my company. I would do the same in the situation today.
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+1
 
#25
bassteban said:
Yeah, I was just silent. The situation: Me & 3 others, on the way to a church(!)gig. Yeah- anyway, me(old white dude from a formerly small fairly hick town, w/OLD parents whose peers are often VERY racist but folks are actually very open-minded themselves), two younger(20s)white guys- one is married to a Jamaican girl( :confused:)- he's making the most obnoxious comments, then there's his pup/buddy, who tends to go along w/whatever My Jamaican wife guy says/thinks. Lastly is drummer guy- my age, Phillipino mom/WW-II-era GI dad. These guys like very off-color/tasteless humor- ala Dave Chapelle/Chris Rock- but it got WAY past my comfort zone.
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This reminds me of the sensitivity training in Rescue Me

YouTube - Sensitivity Trainging
 
#28
dj150888 said:
I see where you're coming from, but I'd still disagree. I think if people don't make it clear that what the person is saying is unacceptable, they will continue to say it. If every time they open their mouth, they're told what a racist a**hole they are, they might just get the message eventually.
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I really believe these guys are as convinced of their *position* as you are, & I do NOT want to outlaw *wrong thinking*, as much as I disagree.
I keep my distance as much as possible, When stuck in that place again, I'll try to steer the convo toward something more pleasant, like poon. :)
Love me some Specials in the morning, BTW. :D
 
#29
bassteban said:
I really believe these guys are as convinced of their *position* as you are, & I do NOT want to outlaw *wrong thinking*, as much as I disagree.
I keep my distance as much as possible, When stuck in that place again, I'll try to steer the convo toward something more pleasant, like poon. :)
Love me some Specials in the morning, BTW. :D
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This is certainly one way to approach the matter. I personally would call them out, after all they are your friends aren't they?
 
#30
Phil Smith said:
This is certainly one way to approach the matter. I personally would call them out, after all they are your friends aren't they?
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Yes- of a sort. I believe in changing the world wherever you are, you are having some kind of effect, but I don't have the time &/or energy to bang my head against a wall. If nothing else I think they will see(and likely have seen)that I do not contribute to the *conversation*
 
#32
Cabazon said:
I personally feel it's wrong to hold someone's view against him and judge him based on that.
It's as bad as the racism itself.
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It someone holds a stupid view what would be bad is to say nothing about it especially if that person is your friend. Granted it all depends on what kind of friend it is.

As to your point, there's no equivalence between someone with racist views and another person that correctly condemns that person for those views.
 
#33
Phil Smith said:
It someone holds a stupid view what would be bad is to say nothing about it especially if that person is your friend. Granted it all depends on what kind of friend it is.

As to your point, there's no equivalence between someone with racist views and another person that correctly condemns that person for those views.
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Since when is condemning someone for a view correct, ever?

What is wrong with a racist person who hurts no one with his racism?
 
#36
I had a friend in junior high who was very anti-semitic. I'm sure he got it from his parents. Every time he'd go off about Jews, I couldn't understand it, because I couldn't even identify who was a Jew and who wasn't. So now, 50 years later, he was in town to visit his son who is in the Marines at Miramar, so we got together. It wasn't long before he started making anti-semitic remarks. I told him that my two next-door neighbors are Jewish, and my daughter's best friends are Jewish. So are two of my former business partners. It cooled his jets, but I doubt it changed his views.

The only Jewish person that ever caused me any grief is the woman who lives behind us. She called 911 because I trimmed the part of her trees that hang over my fence. She didn't do it because she was Jewish, though ... she did it because she's psycho.
 

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