[Duneahh]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Everyone has racial biases. Not everyone is a "racist." Being a racist means being AGAINST someone of another race. You can have racial biases without being racist.

It can be a subtle difference in perspective, but there is a difference.

Example:

It's 9PM, dark outside, and there are a couple of homes on your block that have had "for sale" signs posted in the windows for a couple of months now.

All of a sudden you notice a car pull up under the carport of one of those houses. You can't see the driver from your view of the house, but on the passenger side, two black men get out of the car and approach the inside door to the house under the carport. It appears that one of them is older than the other but you really can't tell how old they are, since it's night and the vacant house is dark. The rest of the event is hidden because the car and the depth of the carport block your view.

Envision that situation for a second in your mind. Notice how you feel while you read it.

Now

Fast forward to the following year, another couple houses for sale.

Now a car pulls into the other carport. You can't see the driver. But you can see two white men get out on the passenger side; again, one is older than the other but you can't tell the age for sure.

Do you have an initial gut reaction to the first situation? I'm not asking how you THINK about it. I'm asking how you FEEL about it. Does your mind react almost instinctively, preparing to defend, in the first incident?

What about the second one? Do you just not even give it a moment's thought? Do you feel even a twinge of concern?

Now add another to the mix - for a bonus round:

The passenger side of the car opens and two women wearing dark long gowns and dark face veils (not mask - I mean hijabs) get out of the car. Gut reaction...

I posit that whenever we see "other" our minds will react. We have no control over it, it's instinctive.

What we DO about that instinct, or what we THINK about that instinct, is what determines whether or not we are racist. But the instinct itself is not racist. It is a racial bias.

Thanks for this good exercise OrangeBlossomBaby. It induced me to go even further: I don't care who is in, or gets out of, the car (or even approaches on foot). Unless it is known fact that the house has sold and these might be new owners, then my "neighborhood awareness" feels suspicious about any humans being there at 9PM at night. That is safety instinct (or bias if preferred).