Deep down, what are white racists so terrified of?

[Philosoraptor]

Hell, if someone wants to hate a whole race for some stupid reason, I don't guess it matters much to me personally, I've just always wondered WHY these white people are so absolutely terrified of anyone who isn't the same skin tone, or who isn't of the same sexual persuasion as them?

Is it something deep inside all of us? Or just a percentage of us?

I've always felt that those who say they hate black people or gay people are really deeply AFRAID of them on some primitive, instinctual level, an ancient fear of 'others'.

Is this type of unfounded hatred and terror akin to a mental defect? What is sending the hateful republican white people over the edge, really?

Exactly WHAT is their fucking problem?

[spanone]

1. a question for the ages.

[LiberalLoner]

2. Loss of white privilege, also rop

It struck me yesterday how old most of these angry protestors are.

I have to wonder if some of the anger isn't about generational change and these people realizing they no longer hold the reins of power, that they are now part of the oldest generation and their time left is limited. That they are on their way out.

I think part of this anger is the anger against the shadow of their impending death. I think they are fighting in part against the knowledge that they are no longer the generation in power. Because their generation has been in power for quite a long time now I think.

[marmar]

3. Here's an interesting read on the topic:

http://www.alternet.org/media/146040/what_white_people_fear_

[TuxedoKat]

41. Good article

Thanks for sharing that.

[Bluzmann57]

4. Many years ago, my parents taught me something

about racism and racists. They are ignorant. Not neccessarily stupid, just ignorant. And through the years, we have all learned that they (racists) are close minded as well.

[underpants]

5. The recent talking point "shove it down our throats" tells you everything you need to know

[TheCentepedeShoes]

20. Ding Ding Winner

It's no coincidence that all the talking bobble heads use this phrase, from the measured "reasonable sounding" tones of Bill Bennett, to the breathy trembling lips of The Beck and the Beckerheads, to the hysterical screeching (fer cryin' out loud) of Insannity

[Orrex]

26. A fine point, but as a talking point it's been around a lot longer

I was questioning it online as far back as 2004, and I'm sure that others had noted it before that.

"Ram it down our throats" and "shove it in our faces." Yes, they sure do love their phallic imagery!


On Fox News Sunday John Cornyn just used the phrase "jam it down their throats."

[Fumesucker]

6. Being treated the same way they have treated others while they were in power..

It's what *they* would do if they were to reach power after being the maltreated ones so they can't imagine that another person would be willing to forgive and forget.

They reveal much about themselves with their attitudes.

And for what it's worth I'm white and a grandpa.

[MuseRider]

33. That is a good point

Fumesucker. I never thought of it in that way and I think this may be a good deal of what fuels the insanity of it all. Add that to a little homegrown, familial teaching and it is very explosive. It is exactly what any unenlightened, Ronald Reagan loving "I'm OK just the way I am" would do.

For what it is worth I also am white but still waiting to be a grandma :grr:.

[Raschel]

34. That is exactly it. Projection from their sorry hateful butts.

[The Magistrate]

53. You Have Hit It Well, Sir

The degree of fear people display towards another is frequently an exact reflection of the degree to which they have harmed that other, and the retribution they know they would want were the circumstances reversed.

[GoCubsGo]

57. Exactly right!

Whites are becoming the minority in this country. That scares them more than anything, for the very reason you just spelled out.

[RKP5637]

7. I think it's a regressive ancestral trait to be afraid of anything a little different, probably

deep inside them from cavemen times and some just refuse to grow up and move forward.

[Orsino]

Losing the only trappings of power their white masters allow them.

That was the deal for centuries: let us lord it over you, and in turn we will let you lord it over the poorer brown people. And women. And gays.

[uponit7771]

8. From my black male experience and conversations MOST racist are convinced that someone

...is going to take something from them.

[OneGrassRoot]

15. I agree...

their fear of losing something they feel entitled to (ironic, since they despise the word "entitlement") is at the core of their hatred of most "isms."

Makes me ill. :puke:

[mwb970]

31. THESE racists think Obama is going to take EVERYTHING from them.

"He'll take all our guns!" "He's taken all our freedoms!" "We want our country back!"

That's what gets me about today's conservatives - they take everything to such wild, absurd extremes of paranoia. I assume this is because their fear is so much stronger than it has been in the past now that one tiny part of it has come true ("He took our presidency!").

Clearly, conservatism is a mental disorder and should be classifed and treated as such.

[Raschel]

35. So paranoid they're afraid of fist bumps and Malia's peace sign shirt.

[DeschutesRiver]

45. Probably because our country has a history of some of those white racists

taking everything from the black people they enslaved to run their damned businesses. Since they were okay with doing that to another race, they probably assume that the other race is okay with doing it back to them in retaliation.

I am a white old girl from the north who has heard this kind of racist talk here and there since I was a kid (pre-civil rights), and I'd agree that it always gets back to some worry that those "blacks" are going to come after them in some way. So am guessing this deal is due to after effects from our shared history with each other.

Over the course of my years, I have run into haters of all stripes - it is really surprising how many people of X group/color/religion really have it out for members of Y group/color/religion. I guess it is a permanent part of the human experience. Some geographic locales or whole generatons of people can make it go away or dampen it down, but I think all people have the capacity to develop a hate for a group that they will perceive is "other" than themselves in some way.

It would be cool if genetic research could find a "fix" for this aspect of humanity, though by tweaking that you'd probably run afowl of some genetic survival code. Whatever it is, my personal theory is that it doesn't automatically have the freedom to exist in the sphere I occupy, and so I push back when it raises its ugly head.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. They are afraid of change

They want this country to be full of people just like them with the same values. And they aren't only racist, they want to be in control. They are trying to take over our schools. They want our kids to remain stupid and just collectors of information. They believe Jesus will save them no matter what they do. And since the rapture is imminent, it doesn't matter what they do now. So they have no shame.

[rurallib]

10. do you suppose any of them fear payback?

[RKP5637]

23. Most of them look and act too dense and too lame to fear payback, they just run

on preprogrammed autopilot.

[HereSince1628]

11. "THEM" for the fearful it's always "THEM"

In Hungary, Austria and Bulgaria it's the Gypsies who are them
In Germany, well we know what it was in Germany in WWII
In Switzerland it's Muslims, and their mosques that "destroy the culture"
In France it's women who wear the veil.

The US being diverse has a whole LOT of THEMs. And we often don't even notice because those who notice them are usually "US" (in a rhetorical sense), because "WE" is a shape shifter as much as is "THEM."

[monmouth]

12. Racism is taught in the home from Grandma/Pa right on down. They've

always been told that whites were superior, better than everyone else, etc. The final coming of African Americans to their rightful spot in society just doesn't compute with them. Old beliefs being challenged, black man in the White House...It's all just too much...LOL.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

13. Fear of the Unknown. n/t

[Frustratedlady]

14. They don't want their dollars going to Blacks or Hispanics...

Plain and simply put.

Remember the stories Reagan told of Blacks driving up to the welfare office in a new Cadillac for their food stamps? A mental picture is worth a thousand words. They've never forgotten. They despise welfare in any way, shape or form.

Their beliefs are so foreign to Dems, it is hard to understand. The HCR bill is welfare to those who have insurance. "I worked hard to get mine, so you go out and work hard to get yours." That's how they feel, that's all they know.

That's also why they hated ACORN so much. It was mostly made up of Blacks bringing in more Blacks to vote. God help us all if that happens!

You will never change their minds. It's too ingrained

[TransitJohn]

16. They're afraid of facing the fact that they're not any better off economically than poor

African-Americans. Their racism is an artifact of never facing the fact that the landed aristocratic slaveowners of the Old South used them just as badly, but they were considered 'free' men, and African-Americans were chattel.

[gateley]

17. Good question. Bookmarking to come back and read responses. nt

[Toots]

18. Their superiority will be disproved

and in a spectacular fashion..

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

19. Three things: (1) that they'll eventually become the minority; (2) that they'll lose their sense

of entitlement and superiority; and (3) that all the time they spend convincing everyone else and themselves that they are superior, perhaps they really feel inferior.

Barack Obama embodies everything that they fear. A brilliant black man who is a handsome president and has a beautiful family. He and his life represent the very antithesis of everything they've fought for.

[RKP5637]

22. Good point! "Barack Obama embodies everything that they fear, "that a

black man could become president and is also brilliant, handsome and with a beautiful family." And he took that from them in "their" country. And he is running "their" country. What a bunch of assholes they are... it makes me embarrassed anymore to be white and old.

[Wiley50]

48. Or as Frank Zappa said,

"No, I ain't Black,

But there's been a whole bunch of times
I've wished I could say that I ain't White"

[madmom]

29. I think your #1 point is correct way more than some think. A female friend wants to move

to NOLA for career reasons, her boy friend doesn't want her to go because he doesn't want to live somewhere, where HE would be a minority. I told her to dump him and go.

[randr]

21. Every racist I have met has had very deep self image problems

Either from abusive parental relationships or the stigma of thinking of themselves as "poor white trash".
While many peoples have risen above the aspersions that society can place on whole groups, I think these poorer white people we see at many of these events are the newest of the oppressed, and I do not say so as to make any apologies for their actions. I only mean to point out that hatred directed at others comes from an internal struggle for self esteem and that "hillbillies" feel left behind and are lashing out at people who have risen above this struggle.

[RKP5637]

25. +1000, n/t

[Jennicut]

27. Someone must be lower on the totem poll then me because I feel bad about myself

I have a pysch degree with a sociology minor. We talked about this in college more then 10 years ago in some of my classes. Racists are clearly suffering from issues that make themselves feel inadequate in some way. In today's society, with jobs being lost in the "global economy" they feel left behind and need someone else to blame instead of the obvious suspects.

[RKP5637]

49. And I was taught pretty much the same at my university about 50 years ago, some

things never change, or if/when they do, it is ever so slow. These people are similar to those in the 50's/60's and before, dressed in their robes, fighting civil rights. And there are old ones, young ones and those in between, they are still with us and rear their ugly heads when given an opportunity.

[Jennicut]

63. LOL. I graduated college in 1999. Some things never change.

[slackmaster]

24. The Metric System

:nuke:

[nutsnberries]

32. heheee...

:rofl:

[Fire1]

28. It's not fear, at all. It's superiority. n/t

[BeFree]

30. Their problem?

It makes them think.

They like being told what to think. We Socialists make them think outside the box and it makes them very uncomfortable.

Too, if there is anything the whole of America dislikes, it is being uncomfortable.

They are very comfortable with authority and now America has an authority (Obama) that makes them rethink everything they grew up believing.

Obama is trying to make them comfortable with his bipartisanship, but these people are still squirmingly uncomfortable.

[Rage for Order]

36. The same thing that black racists are terrified of

The other

[a la izquierda]

37. i have no earthly idea, but i like all your answers

fwiw, i'm a 32 white girl (though not a century ago, i wouldn't have been considered as such). i grew up in a house with underlying racial issues, and my mom is a gay republican. i sort of want to cry when i write those two words together, because my mom doesn't see the sheer insanity of it in today's world. go figure.

[Fire1]

39. Sorta like putting 'black republican' in the same sentence. n/t

[Naturalist111]

38. This one is simple

Payback!

[MellowDem]

40. It's not "ancient fear", it's all learned.

A lot of the fear comes from a percieved threat to their culture. They don't like the idea of race mixing and mass immigration because it will destroy their "American" culture. Technically, that's true, but technically, even without mass immigration or race mixing culture changes over time. This idea relies on a "golden age" of the past that if only all whites lived together, they could achieve again. It also relies on viewing race and culture as one and the same.

A lot of the fear comes from steryotyping. You don't see white racists usually complaining that much about Asians, mostly because Asians are seen to be productive and not "criminal". Lots of racists will point to statstics that blacks are disproportionally involved in criminal behavior as proof that their biology makes them that way. And so their view of blacks or hispanics etc. comes from steryotyping of negative traits to those groups.

Then there is the fear from the "grand conspiracy's". The Jews controlling everything, gays trying to convert the populace, etc. etc.

Unfortunately all three of these play on paranoid tendancies that are pushed by certain media (FOX) and the general ignorance of the populace.

[old mark]

42. They are afraid they will wake up one day and realize how fucking irrelevant

they actually are without their hate to distinguish them from everyone else - it is all they have.

mark

[Solomon]

43. Okay here we go again. Every so often I have to explain

this.

What they fear is genetic annihilation. Whites are a minority on the planet. There is white and there is non-white. White birth rates do not keep up with non-white birth rates.

The only way to get a white is for white to mate with white. When a white mates with a non-white, you get a non-white.

If the world truly integrates, the white population risks genetic annihilation.

That's why some whites like to stockpile guns, bombs and bullets. It's a pschological counter to non-white sperm.

Some white people believe that the only way to stop genetic annihilation is for whites to dominate the world and it's
peoples.

[EFerrari]

46. It occurred to me the other day that this is what their abortion obssession

is really about, too. It's code for "we want to stay in the majority". Because for the most part, it's the same group of hateful people that is against abortion rights.

[Solomon]

44. Okay here we go again. Every so often I have to explain

this.

What they fear is genetic annihilation. Whites are a minority on the planet. There is white and there is non-white. White birth rates do not keep up with non-white birth rates.

The only way to get a white is for white to mate with white. When a white mates with a non-white, you get a non-white.

If the world truly integrates, the white population risks genetic annihilation.

That's why some whites like to stockpile guns, bombs and bullets. It's a pschological counter to non-white sperm.

Some white people believe that the only way to stop genetic annihilation is for whites to dominate the world and it's
peoples.

[havocmom]

47. Afraid of finding out they are not special/superior/more beloved by some god guy

and not the boss of ANYBODY

[Odin2005]

50. Google right-wing screeds about "race suicide".

RW Racists equate Western Civilization and "Godliness" with Whites.

[Tailormyst]

51. Same thing every racist everywhere is afraid of

Change, loss of power, the unknown. Racism is found in just about every culture since the beginning of time within the ruling race. It is a human trait that some people just have not evolved past.

[Motown_Johnny]

52. they are afraid of their own inadequacies

[DemoTex]

54. Wm. Faulkner nailed it: Hope v. Hate

"When you have plenty of good strong hating you don't need hope because the hating will be enough to nourish you."

William Faulkner in Absalom, Absalom!

Hate is mother's milk to the bigot and racist. It is their Balm of Gilead and Road to Damascus. Hate is the racist's raison d'etre.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

55. White racist aren't any different than african american, asian, or native american racists.

Racism is always rooted in ignorance. People often fear what they don't know or understand, that problem applies to much more than race.

[Hansel]

56. Payback. nt

[Union Yes]

58. They're afraid to find out that they are NOT superior to anyone else in any way.

Losing authority or the prospect of losing it drive fear among them.

There are perhaps many reasons but those 2 are very responsible.

[Ohio Joe]

59. I don't know

It makes no sense. Someone is different... so what? Everyone is different from me in some way, what do I care? I think mental defect makes more sense then anything else I've ever heard.

[readmoreoften]

60. That's the million dollar question, isn't it? Maybe they're not afraid. Maybe they're just vicious

sociopaths. Maybe they're sadists.

[CoffinEd]

61. Equality

And with it comes a loss of status and privilege not only here, but in the world. There was a time when to be a white American implied that you were not only superior to all non-white people everywhere, but also to other white (non-American) people in the world. Of course, I'm trying to speak from inside the sick mind of a white American racist. Or, to use a college basketball analogy, being a white American (to a white racist) was like being the Number 1 of the Number 1 seeds in the world (for example, I would wager that some of the same people who verbally attacked Barney Frank and John Lewis are among those who unleash the same verbal assault against predominately "white" countries that don't share their point of view). But recently thanks to eight years of Bush, many people -- including a large number of other "white" people, no longer view this country and its majority population with the high esteem it once did. This surely would freak me out if I were a white racist who needed to feel superior to help me sleep at night.

Also, a lot of us witnessed what happened to the Kansas men's basketball team yesterday at the hands of a "less powerful" and obviously "inferior" opponent, and I think a lot of white racists in this country who previously considered themselves the Number 1 seed of all the Number 1 seeds in the world, was hit with the chilling realization that with the ascendancy of a "black" man to the presidency and the inevitability of social change in this country, that maybe the same unexpected outcome can happen to them.

In the words of Archie Bunker, "Now ain't that a kick to the head!"

[sixmile]

62. They KNOW BETTER

They're afraid things are being done wrong, and that they know what's best.
They also believe they can predict the future, which is beyond nuts.