Why do SOME whites think that they are superior to all races...

[coco77]

I am not trying to start any confusion here, I just would like to know your thoughts and I did not say all I said SOME.

[saltpoint]

1. Two words: Chuck Norris.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. Vin Desil beats Chuck Norris but Jack Bauer beats anyone. nt.

[undeterred]

2. Larry Bird?

and Mark Spitz... 7 gold medals :shrug:

[DavidDvorkin]

3. Why do SOME blacks think that they are superior to other races?

Why do SOME Jews feel etc.? Why do SOME of any racial/religious/ethnic group feel that way?

Why should the rest of us care?

[MedleyMisty]

8. So I guess you've never been beaten

because someone thought they were better than you? Or denied a job or pulled over or kept from voting or given a longer sentence than a white person who did the same crime or anything like that? If you ran for president would people be asking if the country was ready for a president of your skin color or reproductive system?

[BOSSHOG]

15. I'm a white guy

and yeah I got beat up quite a bit (did a moderate job of holding my own) because I was white in North Philly in the 60's. My post is border line irrelevant but you don't have to be black to be beat up because of the color of your skin.

[DavidDvorkin]

18. What does that have to do with the original post?

Anyway, I can't run for president because I'm an immigrant.

If I could run legally, I'd never be elected, because I'm an atheist.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

4. Cause They're Stupid. Thankfully, Most Whites Don't. Easy Enough?

[SoCalDem]

5. The Bible told them so?

:)

[Karenina]

44. Because THAT'S what they were TAUGHT.

South Pacific came out in 1949, and its major theme was racial prejudice. In 1949. It included the following number:

"You've Got to Be Carefully Taught"

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

[pnwmom]

6. Some people have a need to feel superior.

Some people are taught.

And this isn't exclusive to white people.

[rosesaylavee]

7. "start any confusion"

:shrug:

Every race has a**holes. What's confusing about that?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Because they tell themselves they are.

And, then reinforce it with all the usual stereotypes and generalities.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. Fear

behind all the white racism one can sense fear. They are fearful that they will be treated the way they have (or wish they could) treated others.

[malaise]

20. Ding ding

We have a winner. The fear of payback from the days of that bogus theory called the white man's Burden.

[Karenina]

30. That and recessive genes.

:evilgrin:

[annabanana]

11. fear and ignorance

Their hold on their self-image is tenuous and it relies on being "more than, better than" without actually having to achieve anything except existence (which they owe to their parents.)

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[gravity]

13. Because they are on top

[Warren Stupidity]

14. European conquest of the planet: 1500 - 1950.

Arguably we are at the end of a 500 year run at the top of the pig pile.

[malaise]

21. That simple WS n/t

[Bitwit1234]

16. I think it comes from insecurity

When a person does not succeed in something they need a scapegoat. Whites take it out on blacks, Asians and Muslims etc. Blacks take it out on others also. I really think that is how racism gets started - a person feels inferior and blames it on someone else.

Those people who may not be the rulers of the world, but who feel secure in their manhood, womanhood, sexism etc usually don't discriminate and treat all people equal. They reason they don't like a person is because of character defects or personality conflict, they don't pick color of skin or religious persuasion as the culprit.

[kirby]

19. Why do SOME blacks think they are superior to all races...

Why do SOME Koreans think they are superior to all races....
etc. etc.

I think there is a human nature/tension of groups want to feel superior to some 'other' group. The superiority comes from
'them' being different from 'us' in some way...

My guess is that is all stems from parenting...

[qwertyMike]

22. Greed

[EST]

23. I don't care to contribute and confusion or upset, either, but

I would guess you are very young.
This is not unique to white people; it is true of all races, throughout history, although not necessarily true of individual members.

It just happens that white people are in the driver's seat, in this country and for the last few hundred years.

When I was growing up, it was suggested to me in half a hundred ways, subtle and not so subtle, that I was speaking the only really logical language, following the only real religion, et cetera, on and on.
It did not take long to discover that my upbringing was full of holes and lacking in any real, practical evidence for any of the notions that I harbored.
It takes education, and that won't necessarily going to be easy. Some people will never accept education, but, fortunately, they will ultimately go the way of the dinosaurs.

There are long, practical discussions available about this phenomenon.

[mondo joe]

24. Why do some people think race is anything but a social construct?

:shrug:

[tammywammy]

26. ditto

:applause:

[uppityperson]

33. Excellent and thank you.

to answer, why does anyone think they are superior to anyone else? Lots of reasons from assholery to ignorance to fear to envy to others.

[dysfunctional press]

25. EVERY race has members that think that theirs is the best.

it's called human nature.

[TahitiNut]

29. Indeed. Even a short time in Asia makes this clear.

Let's not forget that India suffered for many centuries (and still does, according to many) under a caste system which is essentially race-based in the same sense. Japan still tracks family (racial) origins and the Malay peninsula is overrun with racism.

[juno jones]

27. Frankly, I have no idea

I was raised by a pair of progressives, I am a crazy leftist/anarchist, my next younger sister is progressive dem, albeit a more yuppie one, and my youngest sister is a ravening nazi skinhead. I really don't understand it. My parents tried to break free of their upbringing which had elements of societally-sanctioned predjudice. My parents worked with handicapped people of all races. We were taught that that sort of blind hatred was wrong.

I can only figure my youngest sister is somehow 'rebelling' and once people stop acknowleging her tantrums, or she crosses the line and gets sent to prison, then she will shut up.

[Cleita]

28. I don't know, but I have noticed with those descended from

Europeans, it goes often even beyond race and the line can be drawn at religion, or which village on which side of the mountain you were born. Look what the English have done to the Irish, who are both white. Remember Bosnia and Kosovo in recent history. Back in Hitler's day, not only were Germans of the Jewish religion hated by Christians but also Slavs, all white people hating other white people. Of course if you are darker and speak a strange language and your features aren't quite caucasoid then the hate seems to kick-in even more viciously.

When I was in school back in the late forties, there was an influx of what were called displaced people, who immigrated here after WWII from eastern Europe. Well, in my school, being it was in Southern California, we were half and half white and Mexican (never saw a black in my school back then). The white children shunned the Mexican children of course, but among the white children there were battle lines draw, between the children of the new immigrants, Czechs, Poles, Hungarians and various ethnicities of Yugoslavians who were also at odds with each other.

I questioned a friend of mine, an ethnic Slovanian, as to why they behaved so peculiarly since they all looked alike to me and their language sounded the same. Her answer was, that it was that way in the old country, where people from different villages often didn't like each other.

I wish I had a better answer. :shrug:

[MadHound]

31. Your example applies to Asians and others throughout the world

Traditionally Japanese thought that they were superior to Koreans and Chinese. Chinese thought that they were superior to SE Asians. Koreans thought that they were superior to Japanese. And around and around it goes. That isn't a phenomenon that is limited to Europeans, it seems part of the human condition:shrug:

[barb162]

32. I can't prove it but I suspect this is the same in India, China and

every other country. Look at India and the caste system, etc

[Igel]

34. You wrongly limit it to race.

People of any group can find reasons to believe they're superior.


I've been told by Chinese that Chinese are superior to other Asians and that Asians are superior to Europeans, and by Muslims that Muslims are superior. One Jewish guy said it only made sense that 40% of my dorm was Jewish, 60% white, and not one black or Latino. I've been looked down at because I'm male (and not female--with the superior female traits made explicit), and because of my major (I studied Russian, a "communist" language), my religion (one guy, just hearing I worked for a church, yelled at me on a busy campus sidewalk and called me a Nazi). I've had far left guys tell me I'm stupid because I'm not a socialist, and far right guys tell me I'm stupid because I'm not like them--the socialist was far, far more offensive than the RWer. A French "friend" tried to tell me how superior the French were, and Russians have told me that *they* won WWII and didn't need the West's help at all because, well, Russians are better than Americans. I've been heckled because I was an undergrad science major (with Russian, double major), and that all science and engineering majors are simply stupid and uncultured, unlike the Humanities grad student who soon thereafter told me that microwaves were dangerous because when nuked food was digested it released microwaves into my stomach. I've been told that I'll get better as I get older, and that I'm only getting worse and that young people are better. Hell, I even had one family look down on everybody else--they believed that what their family did and believed was *obviously* superior to all other families (actually, let me amend that: I've met at least a half dozen families like that).


So, okay. Race, religion, ideology, linguistic affiliation, ethnicity, age, kin group.

People need to have some sort of self respect and dignity. Some acquire it through actions or achievements, some through feeling loved by their deity or through their family; some feel they can only have dignity by being part of a group that is superior to all others. Sometimes the "superiority" leads to humility, sometimes it leads to obnoxiousness.

[jody]

35. Recommend reading "Human Accomplishment" by Charles Murray and the scathing critiques.

Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 B.C. to 1950 by Charles Murray

[coco77]

36. I asked this question because,...

this seems to be the thoughts of some republicons. I remember there was some sort of speech bush made last year or the year before and he was talking about how we welcome people who's skin is not like ours (AMERICANS) as though the country is just made up of white people.

Plus the fact that he and his neocons seem to think that they can control every country in the world and they seem to believe that the people in these countries are ignorant or don't have good common sense. He thought that about the Iraqis and Afghanistanis and he got the surprise of his life. He tries to talk to them as though they are children and they know that he doesn't know what he is talking about...

[Yavin4]

37. Because The Real Power Elite Want The Masses Divided by Race

The only true counter that the masses have against the power elite is their numbers. The bottom 99% income percentile out-number the top 1%, and in order to keep that 99% at bay, the power elite use racial biogtry to divide and conquer.

[muntrv]

38. Every country has a group that thinks it is superior to others. I'm from India

and they have a caste system. Brahmins claim to be superior to all others, Hindus claim to be superior to Muslims, etc.

[tnlurker]

39. I think it really gets down to this.

For some people the only way to build themselves up is to tear others down.

For instance, before the civil war poor white people we the bottom of the barrel except for the slaves. They were secure in knowing that some one was less privileged than they were. After the Civil War the Slaves became essentially their equals. So they formed the Klan and wrote laws and discriminated against them in order to keep them at a lower social and economic status than they were. It preserved their place. This also occurred in the north after the war as many blacks migrated to the northern cities to look for work.

This can also explain why the Japanese feel superior to other Asians, The Chinese feel superior to other Asians and why there is a caste system in Indian. people tend to build themselves up by knocking others down. See also Germany in the 1930's.

[Captain Hilts]

40. Talk to an Asian or someone from India...Not unique to whites. nt

[madrchsod]

41. "white man`s burden"

actually a lot people think they are superior to someone else. it may be race,ethnic,country,religion,or just about anything...wrong side of the tracks?

[frustrated_lefty]

42. Because we wear our pants so they cover our asses?

Sorry, but the original post was plain and simple race-baiting.

[FloridaJudy]

43. Because they have nothing better to feel good about

Historically, racial prejudice has been promoted to cause dissension and prevent people from uniting in their common interests. If you were the ruthless head of a corporation, which would you prefer: your workers blaming some ethnic group or other of taking all the good jobs/collecting welfare for their miserable wages, diminishing benefits and rising taxes, or your employees recognizing that the system is skewed to favor those already at the top of the food chain?