Why doesn't race matter?

[JoS]

Why in todays society do we act like race doesn't matetr anymore? What were once perfectly acceptable things are no longer considered okay. Im nto talking about lynching black epopel and burning down their churches. I am tlaking about pretending allr aces are exactly the sam ebiologically and socially. Same goes in many cases for gender, but thats a different story.

Prime example can be foudn in law enforcement. Why do people get their knickers in a knot if they hear that police use race as a way to determine a higher risk group. I dont mean arrrestign someone for being black and holding them in a cell for hours. I mean asking them a few simple questions to make sure everythign is in order then letting them go on their way if you have nor eason to hold them, just like anyone else yout lak to.

Who shoudl a DEA agent in an airprot pay mroe attention to, a British travler or a Columbian flying in from Bogata? We need to stop kidding ourselves. There is stats and loads of expiernce to back up officers using race as ONE of many indicators when profiling people to get mroe attention than others.

Now there is a fine line between profiling and racial discrimination. If it is confined to s specific context, in a specific time and place then tis nto racism. If a police department has a police to question every black person they see driving a nice car, thats racist. If they question young black males driving expensive cars in prodomiately white upper class neighbourhood at 3am thats not racism. If customs asks a few extra questions to the black man with an Italian passport flying from London than they do the Italian man with the Italian passport frlying from the UK, is that worng?

In one of my classes a student asked me why he always gets asked questions arrivngi into Canada from the UK. I told him and some of the people had the disgusted look on their face saying that it was racist. I simply said if we can look at so many other actors (age, gender, general appearance etc) why cant race also be a factor we look at?

Law enforcement is just one example, sports, academics, and health are other areas people seem to pretend race doesn't matetr when science says it does.

So why do you guys think that race is such a taboo thing in our society?

[Brick-top]

It doesnt matter wether your white, black, asian, korean and all the others. What matters are your actions. Appearence has nothing to do with anything. Its what you do.

[Draconias]

At 11/5/06 07:17 PM, JoS wrote: Law enforcement is just one example, sports, academics, and health are other areas people seem to pretend race doesn't matetr when science says it does.

That's a lie. Science says nothing of the sort. THe only actual differences that science has identified are the prevalence of genetic disorders, such as sickle-cell anemia. Race has absolutely nothing to do with prevalence of crime, athletic ability, intelligence, or overall health (with the exception of genetic disorders, as mentioned).

It has been proven that socioeconomic and cultural influences are the key determining factors for race-related behavioral differences, not genetics. So no, it should not be used in any discriminatory manner.

[fahrenheit]

At 11/5/06 07:34 PM, Draconias wrote: It has been proven that socioeconomic and cultural influences are the key determining factors for race-related behavioral differences, not genetics.

Care to back that up?

[IllustriousPotentate]

The PC crowd has always pushed the idea of "racial equality" down our throats; the only differences between races, they claim, is just superficial skin color.

If only it were that easy; like you say, there are many differences between races.

What the PC crowd fails to realize is that equality means "equal opportunity under the law", not "ignoring any cultural or ethnic differences".

[ZeroAsALimit]

At 11/5/06 07:34 PM, Draconias wrote: intelligence

Take that up with Dr. Lynn. :S

[SkyCube]

At 11/5/06 07:23 PM, internet-lord wrote: Appearence has nothing to do with anything. Its what you do.

A man wearing a ski mask approaches the entrance to a bank. Should the security guard at the door stop him? He didn't stop the little old lady that walked in a few minuites ago, why should he treat this man any different? After all, appearence doesn't matter, right?

[Brick-top]

At 11/5/06 07:51 PM, ClottedCreamFudge wrote:

At 11/5/06 07:23 PM, internet-lord wrote: Appearence has nothing to do with anything. Its what you do.

A man wearing a ski mask approaches the entrance to a bank. Should the security guard at the door stop him? He didn't stop the little old lady that walked in a few minuites ago, why should he treat this man any different? After all, appearence doesn't matter, right?

Im talking about race and your chatting about ski masks and old ladies

Now I need to keep writing because alot of this text is quote

[ViolentAJ]

Anyone with eyes to see or a brain to think knows that race DOES matter,a nd always will, no matter how equal we really are or are not.

[cellardoor6]

At 11/5/06 07:23 PM, internet-lord wrote: It doesnt matter wether your white, black, asian, korean and all the others. What matters are your actions. Appearence has nothing to do with anything. Its what you do.

But the thing is, certain races are more likely to have certain actions. In the US, there are 10 times as many whites as there are blacks, yet blacks commit the majority of crime, a disproportionate amount of crime. Therefore if a cop is searching for a criminal or is investigating suspicious activity it isn't unreasonable to focus attention on a black person more so than a white person.

It is certainly not politically correct to do so or to acknowledge this, but it is STATISTICALLY correct, no matter how inconvenient and harsh the truth is. This doesn't mean that cops should always target blacks, it's just that if a crime is committed, statistically speaking it is more likely that an African American was the perpetrator.

This doesn't mean that all African-Americans are criminals, it just means that most criminal activity in the US happens to be involving blacks (and hispanics to a lesser yet equally disprortionate rate than the white majority). Therefore someone can reasonably and justifiably come to the conclusion that blacks have a set of behaviors inherent that other races don't and vice versa.

People will say "its not their race, it's their culture" well go to Africa and see how they act. They have a different culture entirely yet they still behave similar to the African-Americans. They have tribes which resemble American street gangs and they have a tendency to rebel against or despise any legitimate national government, which is typical in the US as well among blacks.

But as I said before, this doesn't represent ALL blacks, it's just a common trait, regardless of how people want to spin it to make it seem as if it's all the white man's fault.

If certain races have unique physiological traits and their bodies are different, why is it unreasonable to suggest that their brains might be different as well, and lead to different behavior?

I'm not racist, I just don't allow politically correct irrational optimism cloud my judgement.

[Neoptolemus]

At 11/5/06 08:07 PM, cellardoor6 wrote: People will say "its not their race, it's their culture" well go to Africa and see how they act. They have a different culture entirely yet they still behave similar to the African-Americans.

They have tribes which resemble American street gangs

Isn't it more th eother way around? It's the street gangs that somewhat resemble the tribes... I do agree that street gangs are somewhat similar to tribes.. however, most things to do with human interaction resemble tribes.. Countries resemble tribes, cities do.. Hell even supporters of certain sports do.

and they have a tendency to rebel against or despise any legitimate national government, which is typical in the US as well among blacks.

What do you class as a legitimate national government? I'd appreciate it if you can give me an example.

But as I said before, this doesn't represent ALL blacks, it's just a common trait, regardless of how people want to spin it to make it seem as if it's all the white man's fault.

If it is a common trait based upon the genes then there must be a similar percentage of black people in Britian in prison as it is in America.. However, in Britian the vast majority of inmates are white and the proportion of black inmates is not equal to that of America. So, logically, i must conclude that is all comes nurture and not nature.

[Madferit]

Race doesn't have to do with you being a criminal. But black people as well as hispanics commit the most crimes.

[Demosthenez]

At 11/5/06 08:07 PM, cellardoor6 wrote: People will say "its not their race, it's their culture" well go to Africa and see how they act. They have a different culture entirely yet they still behave similar to the African-Americans. They have tribes which resemble American street gangs and they have a tendency to rebel against or despise any legitimate national government, which is typical in the US as well among blacks.

Holy shit. Are you serious? For real? You think TRIBAL SYSTEMS in Africa are similar to American street gangs? The fuck? How the flying shit did you come to this conclusion?

Take a fucking anthropology class you dumbass. Tribal systems are not things native to just Africa.

I'm not racist, I just don't allow politically correct irrational optimism cloud my judgement.

No, you let retarted shit based on no reality cloud your judgement.

And before you cry I am doing some PC claptrap I want to put this out there. I think Asians are probably smarter than everyone else on average by a few points and blacks are on average more athletic on average than everyone else. I just look at sports for a reference. Or maybe it was the artifical sexual selection of the slave trade that made the strong blacks procreate more often, leading to on average more athletic and strong black people in America. I dont know. An I also think Jews are on average smarter than other people, through sexual selection. I only commented because your assertion was just so fucking stupid it blew me away.

[cellardoor6]

At 11/5/06 09:06 PM, neoptolemus wrote:

At 11/5/06 08:07 PM, cellardoor6 wrote: People will say "its not their race, it's their culture" well go to Africa and see how they act. They have a different culture entirely yet they still behave similar to the African-Americans.

They have tribes which resemble American street gangs

Isn't it more th eother way around? It's the street gangs that somewhat resemble the tribes... I do agree that street gangs are somewhat similar to tribes..

Yes that's what I meant. I was talking about how if you look at African tribes from the American perspective after having personally witnessed gang behavior here, then the tribes will resemble gangs. But in the overall scope of things it is the gangs that resemble the tribes because the tribes existed first.

and they have a tendency to rebel against or despise any legitimate national government, which is typical in the US as well among blacks.

What do you class as a legitimate national government? I'd appreciate it if you can give me an example.

A government that actually governs a country rather than just acts as the dominant warlord. In Africa, there are very few national governments in which the people accept authority from. If there is a form of legimate and relatively fair government like in the Congo, there will still be power-hungry tribal leaders that will atleast attempt to steal the power through tribal warfare. This isn't widely common in other parts of the world and among other races in the modern world, it did take place previously, but it seems that white and asian countries have passed that phase.. There may be opposition to the government in other regions, but it's hardly as chaotic and sectarian like African nations. Even the current situation in Iraq is miniscule in scope to what happens in Africa.

But as I said before, this doesn't represent ALL blacks, it's just a common trait, regardless of how people want to spin it to make it seem as if it's all the white man's fault.

If it is a common trait based upon the genes then there must be a similar percentage of black people in Britian in prison as it is in America.. However, in Britian the vast majority of inmates are white and the proportion of black inmates is not equal to that of America. So, logically, i must conclude that is all comes nurture and not nature.

Britain has a much smaller percentage of blacks. Also, crime in Britain is alot higher per capita than in the US, especially among whites. White Brits are more likely to commit crime than white Americans so it changes the balance. That is the explanation for the relative low rate of crime among blacks in Britain. Also, the blacks in Britain are few and far between and are rarely in high concentrations in pockets of cities like in the US, that kind of prevents the tribal-behavior.

[ViolentAJ]

Yes. The asians are smart according to cellardoon6.

To them, race is everything; they don't even allow Black people into their countries! (excluding US military personnel, which are wanted out by the denizens of Asia because of the Black servicemen).

I am Black, so I do know this to be true.

[Imperator]

AAA statement on "race"

"Evidence from the analysis of genetics (e.g., DNA) indicates that most physical variation, about 94%, lies within so-called racial groups. Conventional geographic "racial" groupings differ from one another only in about 6% of their genes. This means that there is greater variation within "racial" groups than between them"

In other words, if you're black, you are actually more different to your "brotha" than the white guy across the street.

And vice versa.....

"Today scholars in many fields argue that "race" as it is understood in the United States of America was a social mechanism invented during the 18th century to refer to those populations brought together in colonial America: the English and other European settlers, the conquered Indian peoples, and those peoples of Africa brought in to provide slave labor. "

Ie, race is a social construction, and in the scientific world, does not exist between humans.
That just has to carry over to the rest of us and we'll be set....

"How people have been accepted and treated within the context of a given society or culture has a direct impact on how they perform in that society. The "racial" worldview was invented to assign some groups to perpetual low status, while others were permitted access to privilege, power, and wealth. "

Race as social construct part II. For those of you who are minorities and play the "race card', this might seem ironic......as in, you're playing the very card that slave owners and genocidiaries play......
Something to remember.......

"Given what we know about the capacity of normal humans to achieve and function within any culture, we conclude that present-day inequalities between so-called "racial" groups are not consequences of their biological inheritance but products of historical and contemporary social, economic, educational, and political circumstances. "

In other words, Race does not matter because between humans, there is no such thing as race. Is soe simpoe!

[humpii]

I totally agree with what u are saying, however, there are some circumstances when lines can be crossed! My example for this is I live in Australia and recently there was a heap of tension between Lebanese people and whites. I have some Lebanese friends, fucking awesome people, but they do look like your token 'lebs' hang in groups drive sick cars etc etc. These people themselves are awesome, but there are heaps of other Lebanese people that give them a bad rap! For them to be prejudiced upon is totally unfair! in many cases race is going to be a factor and there is nothing you can do about it same goes if you look nice or if you look like a hobo people are going to treat you different! But I bet u are a white middle class male and u have never felt out of place! Me either, but to say its ok to treat someone a certain way dictated by their race is grossly unfair!

[Imperator]

At 11/5/06 09:13 PM, Xtox wrote: Race doesn't have to do with you being a criminal. But black people as well as hispanics commit the most crimes.

Racist prick......

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_02/html/web/offre ported/02-npropertycrime07.html

"Tables 38-43 in Section IV of this report furnish information on the age, sex, and race of those arrested for property crimes. In 2002, a total of 70.2 percent of property crime arrestees were adults (persons 18 years and older). (See Table 38.) By gender, 69.3 percent of all property crime arrestees were males. (See Table 42.) By race, 67.7 percent of all property crime arrests were of whites, 29.6 percent were of blacks, and 2.7 percent were of other races. (See Table 43.)"

And guess what? Similar findings for all violent crimes as well.

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_02/html/web/offre ported/02-nviolent02.html

"A review of arrest data by race showed that whites made up 59.7 percent of all violent crime arrestees, with blacks comprising 38.0 percent, and other races, 2.3 percent. Fifty percent of the murder arrestees during 2002 were black, and 47.7 percent of arrestees were white. The remainder were individuals of other races. (See Table 43.)"

Maybe you should have researched things before shooting off your racist bullshit.....that was EASILY refuted by the way......

[ViolentAJ]

Good Imperator. However, crime statistics often label Hispanics as whites, since they only distinguish between Blacks, Whites, and Asians.

I'm sure that some of the White percentage consisted of Hispanics. However, those stats are interesting. I guess the 50% of the 50% crime that I thought that Blacks commited is divvied up between Whites and Hispanics...

[cellardoor6]

At 11/5/06 10:23 PM, Imperator wrote:

At 11/5/06 09:13 PM, Xtox wrote: Race doesn't have to do with you being a criminal. But black people as well as hispanics commit the most crimes.

Racist prick......

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_02/html/web/offre ported/02-npropertycrime07.html

"Tables 38-43 in Section IV of this report furnish information on the age, sex, and race of those arrested for property crimes. In 2002, a total of 70.2 percent of property crime arrestees were adults (persons 18 years and older). (See Table 38.) By gender, 69.3 percent of all property crime arrestees were males. (See Table 42.) By race, 67.7 percent of all property crime arrests were of whites, 29.6 percent were of blacks, and 2.7 percent were of other races. (See Table 43.)"

And guess what? Similar findings for all violent crimes as well.

Dipshit. Hispanics are counted as whites therefore the "whites" figure isn't accurate of CAUCASIANS. And even then, blacks still commit the most crime by proportion because they have only 1/10th the population of whites, yet commit about half the crime. Therefore they are 5 times more likely to commit crime. And therefore the racial stereotype is accurate.

Maybe you should have researched things before shooting off your racist bullshit.....that was EASILY refuted by the way......

You didn't even understand the statistics that you provided.

[JoS]

Wow this is totally nto what I expected.

One exmaple of a biological difference ebtween races can be found in muscle structure. Wonder why there are far mroe black sprinters and runenrs than whites? No its nto because they got slave feet. On average black people have a muscle build that lends itself more to running and other such activites, while white poepl have a build that lends itsel fmroe to anerobic work, liek weigth lifting adn stuff. Hence blacks are better at endurance or aerobic sports like basketball and whites are better at strength sports like rugby or wrestling.

[Imperator]

Dipshit. Hispanics are counted as whites therefore the "whites" figure isn't accurate of CAUCASIANS. And even then, blacks still commit the most crime by proportion because they have only 1/10th the population of whites, yet commit about half the crime. Therefore they are 5 times more likely to commit crime. And therefore the racial stereotype is accurate.

Did you ever think that this type of stereotyping and segregation is CAUSING the problem? Didn't think so....

Race has no factor. Education, geography, and income are much better indications of criminal activity than "race" ever was/is/will be.

That's like saying I aced my test because I'm white. NO friggin correlation. "race" is an afterthought.

A better indication of how I would do would have been my families income, geographic background, access to education, etc. Being white isn't even a factor.

And the fact that hispanics are counted as whites in that study only furthers that notion. Race shouldn't be a factor, what's more indicative is socio-economic background.

You didn't even understand the statistics that you provided.

I understood them pefectly. You didn't understand the fact that "Blacks cause the most crimes" is completely 100% inaccurate. Learn to read. Whites clearly cause the most, even if Hispanics were removed.

If the statement were about the rate of crime amongst identities (purposely avoiding the term race here), then I would have nothing to say. But since it wasn't, I had every right to disprove his statement as such, so get off my back for not understanding the English language as well as I.

Wow this is totally nto what I expected.

What else is new? But I thought I answered the qestion fairly.

Race doesn't matter because technically, there is no such thing as "race".

Wonder why there are far mroe black sprinters and runenrs than whites? No its nto because they got slave feet. On average black people have a muscle build that lends itself more to running and other such activites, while white poepl have a build that lends itsel fmroe to anerobic work, liek weigth lifting adn stuff. Hence blacks are better at endurance or aerobic sports like basketball and whites are better at strength sports like rugby or wrestling.

Link?

And anyways, some of these factors are assumed as a genetic difference. You 'haven't ruled out the extraneous variables, such as a runner's socio-economic background, hometown geography, ambitions or goals, etc. Perhaps you see more black sprinters because white spriners have other avenues to pursue, such as higher eucation, white-collar work, etc. Things that may NOT be available to the black sprinter based on individual or enviormental differences, rather than the fact that the black man has more muscle....

You would have to rule out all those variables before assuming that the reason is biological, or else provide a link, book, study, journal article, etc saying as such.

[cellardoor6]

At 11/6/06 02:55 AM, Imperator wrote:

Dipshit. Hispanics are counted as whites therefore the "whites" figure isn't accurate of CAUCASIANS. And even then, blacks still commit the most crime by proportion because they have only 1/10th the population of whites, yet commit about half the crime. Therefore they are 5 times more likely to commit crime. And therefore the racial stereotype is accurate.

Did you ever think that this type of stereotyping and segregation is CAUSING the problem? Didn't think so....

Segregation? Stereotyping? So you're saying that blacks commit more crime than whites only because they are stereotyped as commiting more crime than whites. Thats the most ridiculous thing that I've heard ever since Muslims violently protested against the Popes comment that Muslims tend to be violent!

Race has no factor. Education, geography, and income are much better indications of criminal activity than "race" ever was/is/will be.

Um yeah it does because Education, income levels and so forth are different among certain races.

That's like saying I aced my test because I'm white. NO friggin correlation. "race" is an afterthought.

Um no, because you're just one individual. The concept that race is a factor in judging the behavior of people is based on the common traits of the entire race, not just the behavior of one person who happens to belong to a certain race.

A better indication of how I would do would have been my families income, geographic background, access to education, etc. Being white isn't even a factor.

All those things are traits that differ statistically between races. Whites and Asians have higher family income, tend to live in better areas of countries, and tend to have in place an opportunity to get an education (provided by their white or asian families).

And the fact that hispanics are counted as whites in that study only furthers that notion. Race shouldn't be a factor, what's more indicative is socio-economic background.

Wtf are you talking about? It actually just negates your claim because an entire part of the statistic was shared by Whites and Hispanics both, yet Blacks had an entire part devoted to them.

Even though if you consider that if Caucasians and Hispanics are added together, they make up 12 times as many people as blacks in the US and yet only commit 15-20% more of the country's crime, therefore blacks commit a disproportionately large amount of crime, which is inherent statistically to their race.

You didn't even understand the statistics that you provided.

I understood them pefectly. You didn't understand the fact that "Blacks cause the most crimes" is completely 100% inaccurate. Learn to read. Whites clearly cause the most, even if Hispanics were removed.

Even though you don't know how much of that "white" percentage is composed of Hispanics. Blacks don't commit the majority of the nationwide crime, but they do commit MORE crime per capita and are more likely to commit crime than whites which was my original point.

Interesting fact: Blacks are 7 times more likely to commit murder than whites (including hispanics): Go here to see for yourself.

If the statement were about the rate of crime amongst identities (purposely avoiding the term race here), then I would have nothing to say. But since it wasn't, I had every right to disprove his statement as such, so get off my back for not understanding the English language as well as I.

Now you're just acting like a retard. The original issue was that certain races have inherent traits that are common among their race. In the US whites are 5 times less likely to commit crime, and 7 times less likely to commit murder than blacks. And it's not only in the US, so the CULTURE is not an issue. Africa has been in continuous war for centuries. Nearly 10 times as many people have died due to sectarian strife in the Sudan in the past 3 years than in Iraq. Africans in their own motherland, surrounded by their own culture, tend to be more violent and rebellious statistically than whites in their own land and in their own culture

That is a perfect example of how race DOES matter to a significant degree. It isn't the final factor that determines how a human behaves, but it certainly has an influence.

Most black civilizations are composed of tribes. Most white civilizations group together and create a larger society, asians tend to do this as well but to a slightly lesser degree. These traits have been common throughout history, regardless of the native culture of the blacks, whites and asians who behaved in those certain ways.

[Demosthenez]

Imperator, there are a lot more poor white boys across the country than poor black boys. And there are more white boys who want to play basketball and sprint than black kids simply because there is more white kids. And whatever you want to insert here. Yet blacks still rule at positions like WR and HB on the football field. Do I think it is just because all blacks want to do sports a lot more than white kids? No. There is just to much dominance at those positions by black dudes and it cannot all be explained by culture.

I mean, I can think of one good white cornerback off the top of my head and a couple of OK wide recievers and NO half backs. Full backs seem pretty mixed in race. Yet there are tons of white quarterbacks and fatass linemen. Does that just mean whites just like to quarterback and push people around on the line all the time? I doubt it. There has to be something else about it, some genetic thing. Whether it is inherent in all blacks or just the ones in America is something I do not know.

And another good case is Ethiopians and marathon running. Why the hell are those skinny ass dudes so good at running long distance? It seems like there are a few African nations that sweep marathon running events, why? They all love running long distance so much? Or is there genetic issues? And I just remember seeing on the news a South American won the New York Marathon for the first time ever this year and following him were like 4 skinny Ethopian looking dudes. There has to be genetic issues. They may not be large but they definately show themselves at the highest level of athletic competitions when even a slight advantage over a competitor could be the difference from winning and losing.

[Demosthenez]

At 11/6/06 04:24 AM, cellardoor6 wrote: Most black civilizations are composed of tribes. Most white civilizations group together and create a larger society, asians tend to do this as well but to a slightly lesser degree. These traits have been common throughout history, regardless of the native culture of the blacks, whites and asians who behaved in those certain ways.

Like I said TAKE A FUCKING ANTHROPOLOGY CLASS.

This is basic shit you are getting wrong. If you want basic anthropological names and theories ask. I mean, you are spouting siht better reserved for the 1800's when cultural imperialism and cultural arrogance ruled the day. The ideas you are asserting as truth have been out of date in modern anthropology because they have absolutely no basis in reality.

On a last note: you are a fuckig moron.

[crispy-pancakes]

Racists are bitches end of story!

[lapis]

At 11/6/06 04:24 AM, cellardoor6 wrote: Most black civilizations are composed of tribes.

That's not an inherent genetic trait, that IS culture, tribal culture to be exact. The difference can best be illustrated by the example of adoption. When a white middle class family adopts a black baby boy then he shares his race (this might be a semantical issue, some only regard subgroups such as "Homo Sapiens" and "Homo Habilis" as distinctive human races rather than caucasoid, negroid and mongoloid) with Africans but not his cultural background, and I doubt they all start forming tribes when they've reached a certain age. From what I know from personal experience they tend to integrate with their parents' ethnicity. Besides, I don't think the Italian cultural trait of interfamiliary vendettas is any less related to "tribal culture" than Bloods and Crips killing each other and I also really doubt that the members of the Neapolitan Camorra are genetically closer to the average African American than they are to other Caucasians.

Look, humankind is still evolving and it's plausible that this has affected factors like neuron activity and testosterone levels which in turn might influence attributes such as intelligence and general disposition, and that the amount of influence varies to some degree between races. But tribes are a cultural phenomenon and they're a poor example of racial differences. If you want to make the case then look for genetic, biological reasons rather than sociological aspects, although no one has ever proven anything when it comes to purely racial differences as far as I know. It seems more likely that culture and socio-economic status strongly affect intelligence and the probability of getting in trouble with the law, and that, since these factors are strongly correlated with race, the individual influence of a person's genetic make-up seems bigger than it truly is.

[Brick-top]

At 11/5/06 08:07 PM, cellardoor6 wrote:

But the thing is, certain races are more likely to have certain actions. In the US, there are 10 times as many whites as there are blacks, yet blacks commit the majority of crime, a disproportionate amount of crime. Therefore if a cop is searching for a criminal or is investigating suspicious activity it isn't unreasonable to focus attention on a black person more so than a white person.

Your not only be racist your being sterotypical.

It is certainly not politically correct to do so or to acknowledge this, but it is STATISTICALLY correct, no matter how inconvenient and harsh the truth is. This doesn't mean that cops should always target blacks, it's just that if a crime is committed, statistically speaking it is more likely that an African American was the perpetrator.

But you would feel better if all cops targeted black people wouldnt you?! It doesnt matter for the white guy running from a house thats just been robbed carrying a TV. Lets just arrest the black chap thats walking on the other side of the road.

This doesn't mean that all African-Americans are criminals, it just means that most criminal activity in the US happens to be involving blacks (and hispanics to a lesser yet equally disprortionate rate than the white majority). Therefore someone can reasonably and justifiably come to the conclusion that blacks have a set of behaviors inherent that other races don't and vice versa.

More sterotyping

People will say "its not their race, it's their culture" well go to Africa and see how they act. They have a different culture entirely yet they still behave similar to the African-Americans. They have tribes which resemble American street gangs and they have a tendency to rebel against or despise any legitimate national government, which is typical in the US as well among blacks.

The only reason that Africa has high crime rate is becuase if its poverty. And the tribes of africa rarely get into conflicts.

But as I said before, this doesn't represent ALL blacks, it's just a common trait, regardless of how people want to spin it to make it seem as if it's all the white man's fault.

Well there are 10 times more whites so its a logical assessement.

If certain races have unique physiological traits and their bodies are different, why is it unreasonable to suggest that their brains might be different as well, and lead to different behavior?

I'll tell you what i'll send a letter to your president requesting that all black and hispanics are put in jail just to make you happy.

[Imperator]

Imperator, there are a lot more poor white boys across the country than poor black boys

Fair enough, but can you provide evidence for what you are suggesting (that being a genetic difference)?

You offer counter-claims, but then by process of elimination point to genetics, almost as the last option.

Point is, that's a broad assumption, that both modern psychology and genetics have been unable to prove thus far (to my knowledge).

I'd like a link to a medical site proving that blacks have a certain genetic predisposition to larger muscles used in running, etc if that statement is going to be made.

I mean, if people are going to suggest it here, surely it has been researched and recorded, right?

I don't think I'm asking for much, just one medical journal article giving evidence for what you are suggesting.

Like I said TAKE A FUCKING ANTHROPOLOGY CLASS.

I'm glad you said it, cause I was gonna go off on the kid.

I will add to your statement against Celladoor though, with his statement:

If certain races have unique physiological traits and their bodies are different, why is it unreasonable to suggest that their brains might be different as well, and lead to different behavior?

Celladoor, TAKE A FUCKING PSYCHOLOGY CLASS.

[qygibo]

Here's a chart from the federal government that breaks down how many people are in prisons based off of race (it's on page 11): http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/pjim02.p df

But note this: that figure is only going to show those that are arrested for crimes, not the total number of those that actually committed, the crimes. You will have far more people of color iin the penal system than whites because whites will be more likely to afford the lawyers who can help them avoid jail time than those of color.

Let's also consider the racial bias, for instance, in the War on Drugs:

Now, there are two forms of cocaine, in powder and in crack form. Powder form is more potent and so you need a small amount, but it costs more. Crack form is cheaper but not as potent. Whites are more likely to be financially well off enough to be able to get the powder, and people of color are more likely to buy the cheaper form. Now, because in drug cases they go by the weight of the drug, a person carrying a little bit of powdered cocaine is less likely to get arrested than a person carrying a bit of crack cocaine. And since we've noted the buying tendancies of whites and those of color, it shows that those of color will get arrested more often. (Link here: http://www.csdp.org/edcs/page30.htm

As for the OP, why shouldn't a person of color get their "knickers in a twist" when it comes to being stopped by the police "to ask some questions"? Especially if it happens that white people don't get the same treatment... how often do you have a white person stopped in order to just "ask them some questions"? Profiling is racial discrimination, because you're discriminating against a certain group of people based off of a perceived idea as to what their actions may be based on their looks. As for this example:

"If customs asks a few extra questions to the black man with an Italian passport flying from London than they do the Italian man with the Italian passport frlying from the UK, is that worng?"

Yeah, it is wrong. You assume that there is no possible way at all that a black male could be Italian, instead of considering that hey, maybe they could be Italian (after all, Italy did hold a couple of African colonies in the early 19th century). Plus in that example it's kind of spiteful--you're stopping somebody not because of anything they may have done wrong, but because they don't fit with your preconceived notions of what an Italian person is.