i was walking to a bar in costa rica with some people i met on my travels. some of the local people started to call us gringos and insult us for being white. its weird that was the target of racism.
one thought that went in my head was that, im more rich then you, i can afford to travel here for a month, i can go out drinking, im one of the people making your countrys ecomony work, and you are going to be racist to me?
has anyone else been in a situation like this? if so what did you do?
so i got called a gringo last night
so i got called a gringo last night
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Re: so i got called a gringo last night
I wonder why they hate white people.LEGOMAN wrote:im more rich then you, i can afford to travel here for a month, i can go out drinking, im one of the people making your countrys ecomony work, and you are going to be racist to me?
"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."
Emily Kulczyk
Emily Kulczyk
Re: so i got called a gringo last night
i know that sounds like a douche thing to say, but i never thought i was better then them before they opened their mouth.Moxie wrote:I wonder why they hate white people.LEGOMAN wrote:im more rich then you, i can afford to travel here for a month, i can go out drinking, im one of the people making your countrys ecomony work, and you are going to be racist to me?
ive seen the same thing happen with my co workers and thought that exact same thing.
some people from asia came to swan valley on a tour bus and were going to get some ice cream. one of my fat hillbilly never could think about going to college and lives in a trailer co workers started to mock them for being tourist and made fun of their language. i thought to myself "how can you even think of insulting them like that. their more rich then you, more fucking anything then you. how dare you think you´re better then them"
its the exact same thing and thats why i started to think that.
the other towns ive been in in costa rica have had very nice people. i never thought i was better then them in anyway. its people like that who make me think those thoughts.
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I usually either ignore racism or pretend to laugh it off if it's from people I don't know. Getting in a fight about it isn't going to change people's minds about racism and if somebody has just started insulting a stranger I'd be pretty cautious about engaging with them in a discussion about the morals of racism. Also I only weigh 64kg, so I'd get smashed.
Depending on the context, if people I know a racist (usually beginning a sentence with; "I'm not being racist but...") then I'll either call them on it, or I'll just not have anything to do with them again.
I think like religion, racism is a view of the world that is instilled on people by their environment and especially their parents. Like with religion, I think the evolution of our psychology has led to a predisposition to racism (in simplistic terms, because of our ability to see patterns and make predictions - which in many cases gives us a strong advantage, but unfortunately leads to irrational views like religion and racism as well). This means that it's pretty pointless to engage with people over their delusions most of the time. You can't defeat an irrational belief with rationalism, and because they're not rational, forcing them to defend their views can lead to them being strengthened as they become emotional about it. I read somewhere that dismissing and scoffing at such beliefs without engaging in them is by far the most effective way of changing them (although probably not the best way of making friends
).
It's good to see that you're perpetuating the reputation of American tourists anyway, which I guess is a similar phenomenon.
Depending on the context, if people I know a racist (usually beginning a sentence with; "I'm not being racist but...") then I'll either call them on it, or I'll just not have anything to do with them again.
I think like religion, racism is a view of the world that is instilled on people by their environment and especially their parents. Like with religion, I think the evolution of our psychology has led to a predisposition to racism (in simplistic terms, because of our ability to see patterns and make predictions - which in many cases gives us a strong advantage, but unfortunately leads to irrational views like religion and racism as well). This means that it's pretty pointless to engage with people over their delusions most of the time. You can't defeat an irrational belief with rationalism, and because they're not rational, forcing them to defend their views can lead to them being strengthened as they become emotional about it. I read somewhere that dismissing and scoffing at such beliefs without engaging in them is by far the most effective way of changing them (although probably not the best way of making friends
).It's good to see that you're perpetuating the reputation of American tourists anyway, which I guess is a similar phenomenon.
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Blue_turnip
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Re: so i got called a gringo last night
Be appreciative that the racism you copped was mild.LEGOMAN wrote:their more rich then you, more fucking anything then you.
Oliver Adams
Re: so i got called a gringo last night
Oh the irony.LEGOMAN wrote:one thought that went in my head was that, im more rich then you, i can afford to travel here for a month, i can go out drinking, im one of the people making your countrys ecomony work, and you are going to be racist to me?
lol i wasnt trying to seem like a racist person and seem like a horrible tourist, but i guess that just happened. i love costa rica and i love the people. i still dont feel im better then anyone that lives here. and the reasons i thought those thoughts is because in my opinion they thought they were better then me because i am a gringo. before they opened their mouths they were just normal people from costa rica. no better no worse then me.
i talked to some german travelers about this and they agreed with what i said. i bet alot of people would agree with me. does that make them horrible american travelers too?
i talked to some german travelers about this and they agreed with what i said. i bet alot of people would agree with me. does that make them horrible american travelers too?
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The other day, some black kid (1) tried to start a fight with our group of friends (20) outside of a show the other day. This kid shoulder charged another friend (a kid that is super nice) and his girl from the back, almost knocking them down. He wanted us to get away from his friends car that was parked on the street. He said we were fucking with it when we were just talking, having a good time not even knowing this car even existed.
The claim he made was that he told us already to stop messing with it, but it turns out it was a completely different kid. Then he went on about how all white people look the same. Another friend called him on his racism in a very sarcastic manner because we just laughed in his face about it. He the proceeded to call us cracker faggots, over and over and over and over. He couldn't come up with anything else. We just laughed and kept making him look stupid. The situation defused when someone distracted him and we went on our way.
I think he was part white, which was even funnier. Racism is best countered with utter ridicule.
The claim he made was that he told us already to stop messing with it, but it turns out it was a completely different kid. Then he went on about how all white people look the same. Another friend called him on his racism in a very sarcastic manner because we just laughed in his face about it. He the proceeded to call us cracker faggots, over and over and over and over. He couldn't come up with anything else. We just laughed and kept making him look stupid. The situation defused when someone distracted him and we went on our way.
I think he was part white, which was even funnier. Racism is best countered with utter ridicule.
James Randall
Re: so i got called a gringo last night
I know what you're talking about. Thoughts like that have been through my head when I've been antagonized like that. It's probably just a defense mechanism, because it's not like I go around thinking "well, I'm better than you because _____," but my mind just starts creating possible arguements in defense. So yeah.LEGOMAN wrote:one thought that went in my head was that, im more rich then you, i can afford to travel here for a month, i can go out drinking, im one of the people making your countrys ecomony work, and you are going to be racist to me?
I think I had more to contribute to this, but I can't remember..
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