Damn. This is hard, but I am going to be totally honest. I grapple with my prejudice against white people. Of course, it's not like I hate white people. But sometimes I just see a white person do something and I can't help but to think, "That would not have even been possible were it not for the fact that white people have been in control and screwing up the planet and its inhabitants as far back as we know about."

You know?

Do you ever find yourself having negative feelings about someone based their race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion? Yes

Why? Because I am human

Do you try to have a more open mind when you recognize your own prejudices or do you believe it’s not a problem? I try to keep when I recognize my own prejudices, though it's to different extents. If you know there's something wrong with what you're thinking and you don't really want to change it, no amount of self-awareness is going to change this.

I consider myself to be very open minded, little bothers me. That whole man having a baby did not phase me.

I do harbor negative feelings to Christians though, mainly beacuse of the religious rights war against, well anyone not in the religious right.

I am intolerant of intolerance.

Solitare, I want to read what you have to say.

I cosign what chic noir said.

M, I see that you've equated all of Christianity with the Religious Right Wing. You probably think our current President is a Christian as well…

Christianity is not something that you can claim and have it mean anything. Christianity is about the choices you make and the will you have about doing them.

I mean, you can't honestly state that all "Christians" support the Conservative movements.

I know that I don't. I'm a staunch Independent, but I've seen much more common ground with Democrats than Republicans recently. Now, I still disagree with the Democrats on certain points, hence I'm an Independent, but you get the idea.

The only race issue Ive ever had was being warry of darker skinned Black guys and girls when I was very young. I became very aware of the fact that lighter skin girls were held higher. Boys would hound me while the girls kicked my butt every chance they got. I figured out that me being very shy and unable to fight made me and easy target.
Thankfully, Im older, tougher and know that was just the stupid kids of my youth.

But to this day I have a big issue with a group I lovingly call "Bible Thumppers". These are the people who terrorize people who are gay or of another 'wierd' religion (ie. Wican, etc.) But having giant coffeetable sized Bibles thrown at you will do that to you.
(Sorry its so long)

I go to a predominantly white college, and I admittedly harbor feelings of anger, and dislike towards my fellow students and even friends there that are white. This because they act like since I am black that I am less intelligent, so if I make a good grade, or if it shows that I am ambitious, they act surpised. or they talk about race problems with me as if I am a entire representation for our race, or as if I am the go-to girl if they want to know what Applebottom jeans are. I know that I chose the school, but at the same time, I didn't expect that from anyone.

i mostly harbor prejudices amongst white folks and that's always just an initial reaction, lasting no more than a few minutes (or until they confirm my convictions).

one time while in college, a white girl and i were debating the use of the word "unbeknownst" whereas she had it written as "unbeknown." she told me, in a hushed tone, that the reason i was mistaken was that people like me (latino) always thought we were smarter than what we really were and time would prove that.

i didn't flinch and barely paused (i was raised in northside chicago catholic schools. this shit was sometimes par for the course). i just whispered back "i know that's what people like you think, but i'm still going to get a higher grade in this class than you are.

every A I got on every paper and exam was rubbed in that bitch's face! ah, to be proven right…

and i forgot to put the damn end quotes on the last part of my quote!

damn you, beth! you were right! daaaaaaaaaaamn youuuuuuuu!

I too am very open minded and tolerant. I think that's why where ever I go, I always attract people no matter what their background. Folks just feel comfortable and open up around me. I have had negative experiences with folks of all races, nationalities, genders, sexuality, background, culture, etc, but I have also had good experiences. So with that I would never let a bad experience make me feel negative and develop prejudices about a particular group of people. I hate ignorance with a passion and dislike those that are closed minded but I can't say that a particular group dominates those characteristics. Ignorant people exist everywhere!

You ask the hard questions, Lauren.

I'm not sure if it "human". It is the norm but it does not make it natural.

I'm like *M* and TIP.

I dislike people who, having suffered racism/sexism/homophobia/etc turn around and hate others for their differences. Homophobic women, anti-Asian blacks, racist gays, etc…
No patience whatsoever for these people.

I tend to have more of a curiosity about people who are different than me. I like learning about how socio-economics and culture can color peoples perceptions of the world, so I tend to seek out those who are different from me (possibly because I was raised by an Isreali woman and a black man, and I always noted the cultural contrasts growing up). It could also be the reason I became an anthro major.

The only group that I tend to not embrace are religious people. It doesn't really matter what the religion is, as long as it's monotheistic I think it's ridicules and unconsciously conclude that the person who follows it is either a "follower" or a reductionist.

I can get over that initial reaction, but I think it's always there in the back of my mind.

Oh, this is gonna hurt me to say. Sometimes I struggle with my issues with Jewish people. I don't feel hatred or anger, but I do harbor some negativity toward them. The negativity stems from three main things.

Our pro-Israel policies (you all know them, I won't go into them) are detrimental to so many people, most of whom are brown-skinned, in the world.

I have never met people with more of sense of entitlement than Jewish people. I mean, we've all been told to "get over" slavery. Have you ever heard a Jewish person being told to get over the holocaust? If you even began to utter something like that - you'd be blackballed, called an anti-Semite, etc. Why the inequity? I work in the entertainment business and the stereotype that jews run the film/tv biz isn't a stereotype. It's the truth. I've had a lot of interaction with jewish people in my life and I still come up against the same attitudes from them (especially toward black people).

Finally, I've dated several jewish guys (see, I'm not all bad!) and even had a serious relationship with one, but as soon as it gets too deep….you know where I'm going with this, right? I've heard many times, "he said he has to marry a jewish girl" from my girlfriends who date jewish guys. So you can fuck us, but not marry us?

I struggle with my feelings. I try to tell myself that my personal experiences in work and love are making me irrational, but that leaves the foreign policy bit. My feelings will not change there. One of my close friends is Jewish. She and I have spoken about these things - I'm VERY upfront about all my feelings not just positive ones. She knows I love her to death and would take a bullet for her if I had to. I suppose she knows that underneath these dark feelings - I really do love everyone….because I do!

I am very, very ashamed to have these feelings, but I try to become a better human being everyday and this is something I am working on.

S.Y.S.T.E.M.
I Know all Christians are not like the religious right. I have issues with the concept of religion, I think we would be better off without it or just have Eastern religions. You can add that to the list. But I like Jewish people though. Jewish boys are hot, I hope to marry one

Once in a while I will wish that things were different and that white folks didn't mess up the world, but then I realize that that's not gonna happen. I don't know if that counts as a prejudice since historically, white folks actually did mess up the world and the one's currently in power continue to do so. That doesn't mean I expect every white person I see to have it out for me though.

I've gotten over all of my prejudices so I see people for what they are no matter what color they are and it took me a while to get there, but I managed. Instead of saying: these people do this and these people do that by nature, I look at the conditions that cause individuals that fall under the same category to do certain things.

M - we should all practice voodoo. It's fun…except for the salmonella part.

Middle-aged anglophone African men. Is that weird? I have encountered a number of African men who loved to hear themselves talk and would always run at the mouth with fancy, florid language without really saying anything. Now I find that I sort of gird myself to hear a line of bullshit when I have to have a professional conversation with an African man. I know this is stupid (and I also have found that plenty of Africans are perfectly straightforward), so I am making a serious effort to purge this dumb preconception from my thinking. Maybe saying it here will be the first step to overcoming it?

I struggle with some gay men. I don't really care about homosexuality as a biological determination/lifestyle, but I'm intolerant of any *articulation* of male sexuality that includes misogyny. Think of a (mostly innocent) rant from Michael K from Dlisted on how "nasty" the vagina is. It's galling when anyone uses language to stab at women, but when a gay man uses his sexual preference as a specialized knowledge with which to demonize the female body, I'm especially offended. I'd just really appreciate it if the whole damn world could mind their own sexybidness and STFU about my lady parts.

Old white men: everytime i see one around a colored kid, the word "pedophile" appears in my mind.

Ex : I'm doing tourism in Mombasa (Kenya). Back from town heading to the hotel, mid afternoon, i see this old white tourist (70-80 yo) with a little chubby (african) girl sitted on his lap. Saw her already, she's selling little "everything" to tourists with her (really poor) familly. An expression of absolut disgust spreads on my face plus feeling of nausea and i turn to the all white party i was with, asking "Do you see this!!!!" They look back at me, embarrased but didn't saw anything wrong. I guess i have a prejudice here…

Do i work on that specific "prejudice"? No.

It seems Blackmistressdiva has basically said everything I was going to say about my feelings toward Jewish people, right down to the close friend. I didn't begin to feel this way until I took a religion class a few semesters ago. When we were learning about Judaism a woman from the ADL came to talk to us. She basically told us that any person who disagrees with Israel or Judaism is an anti-Semite and any Jews who disagree are just an obscure self-hating minority. We learned about the Israel-Palestine conflict with a strong pro-Israel slant. There was one Muslim girl in our class who was usually the sole defendant of Palestinians/Muslims/Middle Eastern people. I see the parallels with that and the conflicts between Whites and non-Whites in America. This country was stolen. The people who stole it created a system of oppression that still continues today. Yet some(many) White people have the audacity to say that “it was won fair and square” or that “we should just leave the past behind us” and pretend that the history of this country isn’t the cause for so many problems for PoC. In the same way, many pro-Israel people like to pretend that Palestinians(and all Muslims really) are just angry at Israel because they hate anything that isn’t Muslim, completely ignoring the fact that these people lived there.

Also, historically White people have fucked over so many people and brought on so much destruction that I wonder what the world would be like without them.

I don't have a bias against Christians per se, but sometimes I wish that Black people would not practice that religion, because the majority of us were introduced to it through slavery. It pains me that our oppressors were so successful that they actually got us to worship their god. I don't know if that's a prejudice though.

So aside my slight bias against Whites and Jews (which I really am working on) and my aversion to Christianity, I have a very strong bias against people who are victims of oppression yet have no problem being bigots against other people.

@Rachel: Ditto on the pedophile thing. Except whenever see an old white man around ANY kid I think pedophile.

Dammit, I feel like a horrible person, but I really am working on myself.

In light of the this conversation, I want to wish a happy birthday to Nelson Mandela!