Preface:
Do you remember that kid on the playground when you were younger who would bully other kids relentlessly and when they were confronted by concerned adults, they were the first to break down and cry? Or, do you remember that kid in high school who would talk trash about people behind their backs and when the person whom their verbal insults were directed towards confronted them, they would either deny ever saying anything or feign remorse?
These people are called cowards. Cowards act like complete jackasses in a safe environment where they cannot be punished for their behavior. In the playground example, the kid bullies when there are no adults around to chastize them. In the high school example, the person talks about their target without them knowing but would never say these things to them personally. Sometimes, these people grow up and realize their childish ways and become honest individuals. If they have something negative to say, they take time to figure out what they think is actually true and if it is, they keep it to themselves or let the person know (if it is necessary) so they can help them correct their behavior. Being a coward automatically makes you more vulnerable to being a pathetic loser.
In today's lesson, I'd like to talk about internet racism. Internet racism exists for this simple reason: Some people loathe their existence so much that they've found a forum to release their frustration due to their constant failures. You may ask, "Why racism? Why the internet?" I will answer both of these questions.
1. Most racist people are complete idiots, and this is not meant as an insult, this is a fact.
Do you remember that kid on the playground when you were younger who would bully other kids relentlessly and when they were confronted by concerned adults, they were the first to break down and cry? Or, do you remember that kid in high school who would talk trash about people behind their backs and when the person whom their verbal insults were directed towards confronted them, they would either deny ever saying anything or feign remorse?
These people are called cowards. Cowards act like complete jackasses in a safe environment where they cannot be punished for their behavior. In the playground example, the kid bullies when there are no adults around to chastize them. In the high school example, the person talks about their target without them knowing but would never say these things to them personally. Sometimes, these people grow up and realize their childish ways and become honest individuals. If they have something negative to say, they take time to figure out what they think is actually true and if it is, they keep it to themselves or let the person know (if it is necessary) so they can help them correct their behavior. Being a coward automatically makes you more vulnerable to being a pathetic loser.
In today's lesson, I'd like to talk about internet racism. Internet racism exists for this simple reason: Some people loathe their existence so much that they've found a forum to release their frustration due to their constant failures. You may ask, "Why racism? Why the internet?" I will answer both of these questions.
1. Most racist people are complete idiots, and this is not meant as an insult, this is a fact.
Think about it. What kind of logic does one need to live by to believe that someone of a certain skin color must have certain characteristics? How does one's skin color play into their behavior? Now, we could dive deeper and explore the social effects of skin color based on external reactions to these preconceived notions of race (i.e: racism) and how one reacts to these factors, but then we'd be back to the beginning: it is all based on racism.
Most racists will claim that they were raised in racist households. Their brain-dead mommies and daddies taught them that all Black people are lazy (untrue) and love chicken (true) all their lives. Because of their low IQ's, they are unable to fully process the notion that race does not factor into behavior: environment does. I know; it can be a pretty difficult concept to grasp.
When I was an itty-bitty girl, I used to watch movies about slavery and the civil rights movement (right after N.Y.P.D Blue). This made me develop the silly notion that all white people hated black people. I used to be nervous whenever I met a white person because I thought they wouldn't like me because I was black. The fact that I'm stereotyping myself as the victim doesn't make it any better than me stereotyping myself as the superior. Once I got older and smarter, I realized after my constant good experiences with other white people, they weren't so dog-on bad after all.
The reason why racists never reach this point is because they don't want to reach this point. What's a good reason why someone wouldn't change their mind about their hatred of another individual despite their good behavior. Jealousy is a good answer. How about self-doubt? How about sheer, unadulterated stupidity? These are all major flaws of the racist mentality. This is why they seem so childish.
2. The internet is/can be a completely anonymous forum where cowards can be the big bullies they want to be without facing serious bodily/mental harm
The most infuriating element of internet racism is the anonymity. That's why it's so widespread. It is nearly impossible to browse the internet without seeing some instance of internet racism, even on popular commercial websites like YouTube. Since YouTube doesn't really moderate user comments, one can find a plethora of asinine racial comments plastered all over different videos.
Nothing should be done about it. Absolutely nothing. I remember being a writer for my high school newspaper. I really wanted to write some controversial pieces that would shock my fellow students, only for the sake of shocking them. Personally, I would have been flattered if one of my pieces was deemed too controversial or too provocative because it would mean that what I was saying was intelligent enough to incite discomfort. This is opposed to it simply not being run because of the structure or because my facts were wrong. Also, this is opposed to it being safe enough to run and not thought to be a threat to anyone's thinking.
Racism thrives on attention. If you pay attention to it, you give it credence. I've made this mistake before. In fact, I did this recently in reply to a Craigslist posting my friend sent me. I won't go too much into the details of what happened, but at the end of the day, I regret responding to the post for the mere fact I gave that person a soapbox to stand on to shout his unfounded, idiotic racial rants at me. The biggest lesson to take from this is, do not respond to internet racism. The people who post this stuff are complete losers. They want you to pay attention to them because no one else does in their lives. They wanted to make a change in the world, but they've discovered they're not talented, smart, good, etc. enough to do anything significant for anyone anywhere. Remember that, and the words they type will be meaningless.
