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Yesterday I discovered I had turned into a racist. I was looking at the pictures of the CUSU candidates, and one of them looked vaguely Indian (subcontinental? because I can't tell Indians from Pakistanis by sight, and have about the same prejudices for both, although I think I've had more contact with the former), and I immediately thought 'loud, untrustworthy, sells himself well and networks aggressively, got lots of contacts of the same race that he uses shamelessly to get ahead of more polite people'.
The problem is, I was probably right. About 50% of people of that extraction seem to fit that stereotype; the others fit a different one - quietish, work insanely hard, generally much smaller in stature than the first 50% and much less likely to have facial hair.
I've tried quite hard not to be racist in the past, but, dammit, people *do* tend to have racial characteristics. I can't describe the ones I have in my mind for 'black' and 'oriental' quite as closely, and I think I've met more exceptions in those groups, but I know they're there, subsconsciously affecting how I react to people. I tend to characterise oriental people as more manipulative than usual, more likely to layer on the social lies until you can't tell who they really are, and black people as more likely to be violent and in your face, or overly defensive (although Yorkshiremen come to mind for the second one - I even have regional prejudices, and *they're often right too*.)
I'm not really sure what to do about this discovery. I know that having any reactions based on someone's race is meant to be bad, but I'm not sure I can avoid making correlations when they seem to fit so often.
The problem is, I was probably right. About 50% of people of that extraction seem to fit that stereotype; the others fit a different one - quietish, work insanely hard, generally much smaller in stature than the first 50% and much less likely to have facial hair.
I've tried quite hard not to be racist in the past, but, dammit, people *do* tend to have racial characteristics. I can't describe the ones I have in my mind for 'black' and 'oriental' quite as closely, and I think I've met more exceptions in those groups, but I know they're there, subsconsciously affecting how I react to people. I tend to characterise oriental people as more manipulative than usual, more likely to layer on the social lies until you can't tell who they really are, and black people as more likely to be violent and in your face, or overly defensive (although Yorkshiremen come to mind for the second one - I even have regional prejudices, and *they're often right too*.)
I'm not really sure what to do about this discovery. I know that having any reactions based on someone's race is meant to be bad, but I'm not sure I can avoid making correlations when they seem to fit so often.
