The hypothetical question thread

Fujiwara Bunta · Post by **Fujiwara Bunta** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:18 pm

Ask hypothetical questions and discuss 'em here. I'll start:

If you're stopped at a light and a man of african-american descent walks past you on the crosswalk, are you racist if you lock your doors?

Potter · Post by **Potter** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:31 pm

No, you have common sense.

Mosh_Mosh_Revolution · Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:59 pm

I'd say no, but then you have to ask yourself, would you lock your doors if anybody else walked by?

I always drive with my doors locked, I guess. But I did find that when I drove downtown last week, I double and triple checked that my doors were locked.

XeRo · Post by **XeRo** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:02 pm

Psh...why be afraid? Honestly, think back to how many more white people turned out to be psychopathic serial killers before black people? I have more black friends then white, so I would say it makes you a partial racist. I'm not worried about having my doors locked in any part of the Fort, I used to hang out down near Eden Green apartment complex...That is probably the roughest area in the Fort. -shrugs- I suppose it all depends on how you were brought up by your elder family members.

Mosh_Mosh_Revolution · Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:10 pm

See, I was thinking about that aspect, too.

It depends on who you are. Completely.

XeRo is a tough scrap that could probably kick the shit out anybody.

I feel like I can take care of myself, but when it boils down, I'm a girl. And by natures, females are weaker, and we all know it. "Omg, girl power!!!!1!!!1one!!" Yeah, bullshit. "Girl power" is nothing more than a mental belief in yourself.

Meh. Let me get off my soapbox here.

I think it depends on who you are on whether what you do is a racist action or not. I may lock my doors when a black guy that appears threatening is walking toward my car, but then again, I'd lock my door if ANYBODY that appeared to be a potential threat was moving up on my vehicle.

Green Tea · Post by **Green Tea** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 4:19 pm

Mosh_Mosh_Revolution wrote:I'd say no, but then you have to ask yourself, would you lock your doors if anybody else walked by?

I always drive with my doors locked, I guess. But I did find that when I drove downtown last week, I double and triple checked that my doors were locked.

I agree that that's the main point... you have to ask yourself, did you lock the doors because he was black? or would you have locked them if any other person walked by?

If the man looked a bit suspicious it could be a reason to lock it also. But were you suspicious of him more so because he was black?

there are many unanswered questions here and you yourself might not even know if you did it "because he was black" it could be a subconscious manifestation of minor racism that you don't really even know about (which is not at all uncommon). This type of racism isn't those who go around and say all the problems in the world are the fault of a particular race. Minor racism would be characteristic of those who might semi profile races, like if you see a man walking down the street with a turban on you get more suspicious that the person is a terrorist.

Racial profiling is a big part of this problem you are in. Seeing that people profile instinctively.

<GTEA's PYSCHOLOGY LECTURE>
this is based on the way our brains work how they create relations between all concepts... this can be paralleled to a cat, when you think of a cat you might think of whiskers, fur, afraid of water, sharp claws, and many other concepts... these are all based on life experiences, you might remember a time when you saw your neighbor washing their cat and it got angry and scratched the neighbor painfully. This would create the idea that cats are afraid of water and have sharp claws.
</GTEA's PSYCHOLOGY LECTURE>

so overall, what you did might not necessarily be wrong, but it could just be based on your life (or other persons that you've seen) experiences. Yes, they might be considered racist, but on the other hand... if you are more exposed to a type of person (say you had many black friends) that can help change your generalizations

sorry for long post

malictus · Post by **malictus** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 4:21 pm

I'll tell you where the really dangerous part of Indianapolis is.

I was heading back from a party in Indy last Saturday night. I was heading South on East Street towards the bypass. It was here I was passed and nearly hit by two drag racing rednecks, going upwards of 70 MPH. Shortly after this, some more drag racers, a cop pulling someone over, and then I saw a large (VERY LARGE) group of teens hanging out. They were all white, and there was at least one confederate flag flying proudly among them.

Was I scared to be driving through there? Yes, a little...

Original Sin · Post by **Original Sin** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 5:09 pm

I wouldn't lock my doors if it was just a random black guy walking by. I would take into account how he was dressed, how he walked or talked, and what he was paying attention to as he moved. Furthermore, I'd lock my doors if anyone walked by that I percieved as threatening, not just black, or hispanic, or whatever racial stereotype gets inserted here.

If I see a white guy wearing a tall T and pants 5 sizes too big eyeing my rims, yeah, I'll lock the door.

elcuebee · Post by **elcuebee** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 5:24 pm

its funny because in california, there really isn't any such thing as "races" anymore in some parts... due to the extreme mixing of races and etc. i really have zero racism.

Fagulous · Post by **Fagulous** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 6:22 pm

it probably depends on what part of the city I'm in.

Anywhere along 38th street or central or any area I consider ghetto-ish hell yes I would lock my doors.

If I was in say fishers, castleton, or broadripple(even though broadripple isn't as safe as people like to believe.) I probably wouldn't even think anything of him other than "oh wow a black person in fishers/castleton/broadripple."

DjKARL · Post by **DjKARL** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 6:49 pm

It really doesn't matter, because bullets can go through windshields...that and I always had the thought that if someone was going to steal my car or do other grevious things to me, then they already had that notion in their head for some time, and they just found themselves a target of opprotunity...it was only fate and bad preparation that would cause this to happen.

bunnydreams · Post by **bunnydreams** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:35 pm

I don't lock my doors on skin color...if the person looks sketchy or I am in a bad neighborhood then I lock my doors..

God Of Rock · Post by **God Of Rock** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:05 pm

Okay, I got one:

If race REALLY doesn't matter why has this thread come to be about
nothing but black people and automobiles?

Original Sin · Post by **Original Sin** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:06 pm

DjKARL wrote:It really doesn't matter, because bullets can go through windshields...that and I always had the thought that if someone was going to steal my car or do other grevious things to me, then they already had that notion in their head for some time, and they just found themselves a target of opprotunity...it was only fate and bad preparation that would cause this to happen.

Of cousre. If you're prepared, you don't have anything to worry about, no matter what part of town you're in. Of course, most people aren't prepared for a car-jacking, mugging, or anything of the sort. That's why we still have them.

Green Tea · Post by **Green Tea** » Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:02 pm

or ninjas for that matter