True or False - A person saying "I don't have a racist bone in my body" is lying

[el_bryanto]

Or what is your take. Just cause I hear some right wing politicians saying that these days, and it always seems like BS (in fairness, they mostly trot out staff or family to say it).

Bryant

[The Straight Story]

1. My femur is racist, I argue with it all the time

:rofl:

[MineralMan]

2. If you're thinking with your bones, you're a freak of nature.

[The Straight Story]

3. I sometimes let my bone think for me...a lot of guys do

:hide:

[MineralMan]

18. Through long experience, I've discovered that doing that

is generally a bad idea. I'm gonna quit sometime...

[mrcheerful]

22. That would be a boner in the good old days, lol.

[demwing]

4. Yeah, bullshit poll. No offense.

Time, place, circumstances, and character. I don't buy into the meme that we are all racist, to some degree. That seems to me to be something that racists say to excuse their racism.

[el_bryanto]

5. I don't think people who say we are all racist are trying to excuse racism

Rather I think the point is to be more self aware - we might all have racist tendencies (I think we all do) but that doesn't mean we are all racist. We can resist those tendencies - but it is hard to resist tendencies we aren't really aware of.

Bryant

[seabeyond]

7. i think if we chose to live thru ego there is a possibility your statement is correct

might have racist tendencies.

but suggest we are all racists, i dont agree. when not living in ego, not hard to not have racist tendencies. further i suggest

if not living in ego, you dont.

but then people who dont get this concept, wont have a clue what i am talking about

[el_bryanto]

10. No I get it - it is like living with the spirit of Christ in you - if you live in accordance

with that Spirit you feel love for everybody and that love casts out racism.

But of course very few people are able to do that continuously, hence the necessity for self examination.

Bryant

[seabeyond]

21. there are all kinds of ways to look at it.

i dont see it as living in accordance. one can chose to live in ego or inner self...

it isnt a matter of living in accordance.

using spirit of christ, people say living in accordance and that is the iffy part, the back and forth ect... why religion is so hard.

it doesnt have to be iffy, nor in acordance.

but cool what you say.

[LWolf]

6. Totally false.

Bones aren't racist. Brains are.

[Skinner]

8. There is a difference between being wrong and lying.

I think that when people claim not to be racist they are usually wrong. But it is my impression that they believe what they are saying is true, in which case it is not a lie.

[AngryAmish]

9. bingo

[el_bryanto]

12. I don't know - you might be right. But you could make the counter argument

that they choose to lack self awareness. I mean in many cases it wouldn't take too much effort to realize that some of the stuff you say probably means something.

Bryant

[pipi_k]

26. I'm not sure lack of self-awareness is a choice, though

If it were, then we wouldn't have such a problem with people denying they are drunks or alcoholics or that they can't stop drinking without help.

and there wouldn't be girls/women suffering from anorexia...looking into their mirrors and not seeing skin and bones.

Denial is very powerful, and it plays a huge part in lack of self awareness..

[el_bryanto]

27. That's tricky - but both Anerexia and Alcoholism are diseases - is Racism in the same category?

I'm not sure I buy that.

Bryant

[pipi_k]

31. I think it just might be a disease....

If the definition of "disease" is...



* Main Entry: dis·ease
* Pronunciation: \di-ˈzēz\
* Function: noun
* Etymology: Middle English disese, from Anglo-French desease, desaise, from des- dis- + eise ease
* Date: 14th century

1 obsolete : trouble
2 : a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms : sickness, malady
3 : a harmful development (as in a social institution)


then maybe, in a very loose way, it is a disease. If we want to believe that babies are not born being racist, that is.

Racism impairs normal functioning, and there are distinguishing signs and symptoms...

[Deep13]

19. True, but...

...often times there is deliberate self-deception involved. While on a reactive level, a person may be prejudiced because of race, often that person will deny to himself that race is the real reason and make up a race nuetral reason to give himself plausible deniability. I think the human mind is capable of great feats of self-deception and when the ignorance of ones own racism is based on it, it is dishonesty and not merely a mistake of fact.

[lpbk2713]

11. Thanks for the "bullshit" option.

:hi:

[el_bryanto]

14. I aims to please.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

13. Somewhat True...

I say that only because "Lying" is a rather harsh word.

I'd like to think that I'm not racist in the least and that I treat everybody exactly the same. But I grew up as white male in America, and I did it during a period when calling someone a n*gger was considered socially acceptable.

I can't help but be infected with this disease because of my prolonged exposure to the virus.

I try to be a decent human being. But I'm a human being and I'm prone to failure. And so I try to understand when I've gone wrong and done wrong and try to pick myself up and move on. Life's not about being perfect.

[Deep13]

15. False: minds are prejudiced, not bones.

:hide:

[Brickbat]

16. I look at it the way people say "trust me!" or "I am the craziest person I know; I'm so wacky" or my

favorite, "I'M SO DRUNK!!!!1111!!!!" The latter always meaning, "I've had a beer or two, but I'm ready now to engage in behavior I secretly want to do but am too uptight to admit it to myself, and pretending I'm drunk gives me a great excuse to deny what I've done tomorrow morning!"

[ThomWV]

17. When someone of another race says you don't have a racist bone in your body, maybe then I believe.

[el_bryanto]

24. That makes sense - but what if that person is Armstrong Williams? n/t

[pipi_k]

30. Hmmm...I can see your point, but I would still have to be suspicious

Because a person could harbor absolutely no racist feelings toward X race, but still have racist feelings for Y race.

[fascisthunter]

20. welcome to ignore

[el_bryanto]

23. I suppose you won't see this because you are ignoring me, but truthfully I'm surprised

I lasted this long not being ignored. You clearly don't want to hear anybody who disagrees with you being a very small minded person.

Bryant

[pipi_k]

25. I don't know, quite honestly...

I've asked myself if it's possible for someone to be so pure of heart and soul that he doesn't have a racist bone in his body.

Human beings aren't perfect, so my short answer would have to be that there can't be one person on the face of this earth who doesn't harbor a teeny tiny bit of unacknowledged racism.

If that's true, and if a person says he doesn't have a racist bone in his body, then I don't think he is lying. I think he probably doesn't know it.

So many issues in life are not so cut-and-dried. Too many of them have gray areas...

:shrug:

[Forkboy]

28. While it may be true quite often, it isn't universally true, so false.

[PVnRT]

29. Bones are non-sentient structures made mostly of calcium

It's hard for a bone to be "racist."

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

32. False, they are NOT LYING because bones (not being sentient) cannot be racist. n/t