How do you deal with racism/bigotry/bullying when it's so prevalent?

In the current political climate, it is no secret that Muslims (and anyone that "looks" Muslim) are subjected to harsh verbal and physical abuse. Though I do not formally consider myself Muslim, its hard not to react when so many people are being demonized for no reason. Most of my female Muslim friends are the ones that catch the most derogatory remarks (I thought the West wanted to "free" these oppressed women?) and the issue is really starting to become an unwelcome part of my life. I personally feel that ignoring or walking away from derogatory language of this nature would not amount to much, as hate crimes against Muslims have been on the riseb and the problem at large remains unsolved. So OT, any ideas on how to combat this form of hate? Any past experiences/wisdom is welcome!

I became a moderator to decrease negativity on the internet.

I know what you mean tc. Spend less and less time here because OT has become submerged in negativity.

I can only imagine being entrenched I that in the real world

We just came back from the mall and no one seems to be targeting the few Muslim-looking shoppers around. And that's here in Arizona. There's supposed to be a lot of baaaaad people here.

Jesus taught us, "love thy neighbor as thyself". That, if followed, would end the problems associated with bigotry and racism.

Half these guys on here are those very things.

I'm confrontational, so I just start tearing them down. I'm also not a little guy, and can be just as intimidating physically. I've never actually got into a fight over it, but I have puffed up and got in peoples faces. I can make you feel this .. small. It's no problem.

Couple weeks ago I was on the disc golf course with a friend, and this guy who introduced himself as Eric asked if we wanted to join him and his friend and throw doubles. Sure. But on hole 16 he said "You should come down to x and join us, it's quite a bit more ethnically exclusive if you know what I mean." and I ran his ass off the course...he probably thought I was about to rip his spine out. I have several races in my extended family including African-Americans and Asians along with the rest of us pearly white folk. I don't tolerate that shit.

As far as religion goes, keep it to yourself or get ready to start pulling out reference materials, because I'm quite well versed in religious history and text (ask anyone here) and will tear you a new one with your ignorance. I dislike all religions equally when forced into the public space, but I don't give a shit who you worship on your own time...not my problem. Just don't bring me into it unless you want a full-on press, because I'll give it to you.

I've about got all the church people around here scared of me. Time before the last time a religious person knocked on my door it was two women asking me "If you died today would you go to heaven or hell tonight?" I started with the fallacy of their statement (according to their own text, no one is in heaven or hell until after resurrection and final judgement) then gave them a history lesson on Yahweh and his Canaanite Pantheon roots. They were wiping tears of disbelief and humility away by the time they left.

The LAST time some religious person knocked on my door it was their pastor, who said "What did you say to those girls?" XD

Yes I'm a dick. I love it.

You cant be cherry picking the bible.

they also should have just started and ended the bible, or any "holy" text for that matter, with that.

would have saved the world a lot of fucking problems.

I live in California so I never experience it all that often. We're all brain dead from the Fukushima radiation.

i know, it's super bad. i said i wanted shawarma for lunch and they road hauled me.

Yes, because holding everyone accountable for others actions because they are from the same group is logical.... (that was sarcasm)

when people are being blatantly racist people have the good sense to call them out and tell them to **** off, but when people post underhanded covert racist material and others gobble it up, like that one **** did a few months back and people give him the benefit of the doubt, people gotta know when not to fall for that shit and call it out early

mods dropped the ball on that, refused to ban him until he cranked it up a notch or ew... rest of you too, you should all be ashamed

Sounds a bit like Jesus wants us to go 'rub one out' for our neighbors. Sure, it'd probably make the neighbor happy, but the Mrs. wouldn't be too keen on it, nor the neighbor's wife.

@magicalclick: lol

bruh...

I'd like to think that most people aren't racist. For the most part, just ignore them. If they really cause problems then do something about it.

Edit: By the way, I just noticed the topic title but this thread is about Muslims. OP are Muslims a certain race do you feel? 'Cause Muslim Faith is a religion and not a race, and the majority of Muslims from the middle east are Caucasian. I am curious.

One Gamespot topic at a time...

I just look at you like you're crazy and move along like this:

With these debates, we always end up with two camps: The excessively critical one and the pathologically uncritical one.

No, we should'nt judge all muslims on the actions of a few, but those few represent a bigger group than most people are willing to admit. I believe around 20-30% of ALL muslims (on average, the fundametalism is concentrated certain places in the middle east) think there should be death penalty for apostasy, for example. Even if the nutty radicals are a vast minority, they're superceded by a huge group of fellow belivers, who at least partially approve of radical islam.

If you're not at the very least secular, I doubt we'll get along and I question your moral compass.

I don't vote republican.

@TheHighWind: Nah man I worded the title as such so people could bring in examples of times they've been demeaned and how they handled it tbh.

Racism, bullying and bigotry I can't stand as for muslims I don't have a problem with except for Islam that I have plenty of issues with.

Good for you in a very non patronising tone. Too many prople stand idly by and gawp at that type of behaviour (picking up on the golf course example) and later on say "we should have said something" or such like.

In most cases, it is somewhat faster than that.

mhm

BTW noticed you playing Destiny still. Servers very active on destiny and lots of players online still? Was thinking to pick it up for the new DLC's :)

In other words, you're fighting one type of ignorance by perpetuating your own brand of ignorance.

@indzman: I have not played Destiny in months.

My signature is now updated.

A certain amount of discrimination is always going to happen, sadly. When your populace embraces individuality and is as non-homogeneous as the US's (and other nations), conflict is just part of the package; I consider it an acceptable trade, but a lot of people (specifically super duper liberals) don't want to pay that price and would prefer to bury their heads in the sand.

As for me personally, I was a fat kid. I was bullied a lot; fortunately, fighting in school did not result in expulsions and arrests "back in my day", so one day I had enough, taunted the bully into swinging first, and beat his ass. After that people left me alone.

My general tactic is to ignore hateful people most of the time; giving in will just drag you down to their level, essentially justifying their stance. If they are smart, but ignorant, you can sometimes manage to have a civil debate, but I've found those quickly devolve into harsh arguments.

Just don't discuss certain things with people you like, but have different views: politics, women, work.

lol I've often fantasized about crushing the religious fanatics in such a fashion, converting their youth to paganism or non-religion via cold, calculating logic.

I also am a huge person, but rarely use it to intimidate. I should probably try it a bit more.

I absolutely agree with the first paragraph. Intellectuals that contemporary liberals worship (kinda ironic to the topic of race since intellectuals 50-60 yrs ago were perfectly convinced that some races were inherently inferior to others) tend to think in terms of perfect problems and perfect solutions, but in reality there are only trade offs. You can accept bit of bad with the good or you can make things a lot worse by doing a bit of good. Failures of war on alcohol and drugs are good examples. Likewise with racism, people will always have their prejudices. Suppressing views that's considered outside of what the community finds acceptable is a slippery slope to state controlled media and first step to the total surrender of our civil liberties.

The bit about road to hell comes to mind...

Same here in Maryland! It just goes to show you how the mainstream media spreads nonsense.

@bmanva: I prefer to think in ways others than that of dogmatism which views hell as a believable result of actions such as conflict being natural as well as it can be and should be managed. No offense, intended.

Here's what everyone should follow

"Sticks and stones may break my bones

but words will never hurt me"

If they're words they do nothing to you

It's pretty simple for me, I treat people the way I want to be treated. If I run into someone who doesn't give me the same respect, I correct them and move on.

It makes my nuts hurt

Woohoo, anecdotal evidence! Racism doesn't exist because I didn't see it at the mall this weekend!!!!! Brilliant!!!

@BranKetra: I don't see the separation. Negativity implies good and bad, which in turns suggest moralistic relativity. How can you say you want to decrease "negativity" on the internet without a clear definition of what you categorize as negative. And you implicitly declaring yourself as the judge or "manager" of what's right and wrong, how is that different from dogmatism?

If only that were true. If words were meaningless, fewer people would be motivated to hurtful actions. Hitler (sorry, Godwin's Law....) came to power for a variety of reasons, but primarily because due to his powerful public speaking skills. In more recent history, presidential hopeful Trump motivates people to violent action at his rallies, while certain news networks instill fear simply by using words and twisting real-life examples.

No one should stand by and have to listen to hateful, inflammatory speech, especially by public figures, if it motivates people to hurtful action.

Talking shit or being insulting is one thing, but anything beyond that is bad.

I wasn't fat but I was a computer geek/skateboarder back when those things were definitely NOT cool, so yeah I got picked on up until Junior High where, like you, I decided to fight back. I took it further though, and after gaining some confidence (and physically maturing faster) I started harassing the people and their cliques who used to harass me.

Yeah I took it too far but what the **** do people expect, teachers turn a blind eye to bullying (at least in my day) so what are you gonna do? Just take it?

**** that.

Just remember the whole idea is to intimidate, not to actually fight. Some people will take that bait and swing your direction, just make sure you have a plan one way or the other if that happens. And you'll be surprised how many little guys will take a swing at you.

We need a president with the mind of George Carlin. This country needs George Carlin. RIP George.

You speak as if there's a unified voice on what it means to be liberal. Come on man, you aren't that shallow.

Clearly, you're missing the message. Or maybe it was just a lame attempt at a joke on your part.

I remember in one thread where you posted evidence that republicans were more racist than democrats.

It was pretty funny in doing so you countered your own point.