Quote:
Originally Posted by ZephyrusX  I think what you said about race is normal, and you are right, we would benefit by examining our unconscious prejudices. One of the moments in my life that I am ashamed of is when I blatantly turned my back on some young Aboriginal man that was asking for my help because I was afraid of him. He looked incredibly hurt while I was turning away.
I think there are structural reasons for why we developed a certain stereotype around groups of people. In Edmonton, the majority of gang members are Aboriginal, which stems back to poverty, which in turn, stems back to historical colonialism. Regardless, the majority of murders that take place in our city our gang related. I think a lot of people, including my self, just have a knee-jerk reaction of fear when they run into a young Aboriginal man. It is an incredibly insensitive thing to do, but yah... it is there. |
Honestly, I think it stems from the media, and we are all brainwashed to have these knee-jerk reactions.
Have you ever heard the album "Fear of a Black Planet" by Public Enemy? They basically rap about this issue in a way that really conveys it from the black man's point of view.
It must be terrible to walk around every day, as a black man/woman and receive looks from people everywhere indicating mistrust and that they have already pegged you as a criminal and a thief. No wonder there are so many dark skinned people committing crimes...if you expect it from them, eventually they will give you a reason to suspect them.
