• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Is racism morally wrong?

Arcade22 said:
Well is it? [qimg]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehosting/188094b300a2915bb7.gif[/qimg]

For simplicity's sake, let's define racism as 'valuing people differently based on their ethnicity or race'.

As a thought experiment, imagine that i am walking along a river. I stop for a second and hear two people screaming for help.
Seeing two people struggling for their lives, one of them a Swede and the other being an Arab, and noticing that i only have time to save one of them.

I instinctively rush to save the Swede, and in the process allowing the Arab to drown.

Would i be acting immorally in saving the Swede's life by the single fact that he is Swedish?

No i say, in fact i would argue that i acted an extremely moral way.
In the same way that i am willing to save my family from a burning house while letting yours burn to cinders,
i am willing to save a stranger from death while letting someone else perish simply because he was of the same ethnicity as my self.

Am i wrong? Is racism really immoral?
What do you think?
Click to expand...
Its only human nature to want to preserve the life of a fellow countryman. It would be immoral to let the arab drown if he was the only one drowning however.
 
skeptigirl said:
Humans evolved to support the group each was part of. What's the big deal?

Of course the human race is becoming more global all the time. So at some point, people will likely no longer identify with skin color and will instead view human as human.

...snip...
Click to expand...

Doubt it we will just find something else to use so we can still have an "us" and a "them" :(
 
If the Arab was a child and/or female and the Swede was middle aged man does that change who you would save?
 
(Personally I am wondering how you could even know that someone was a Swede or an Arab in such circumstances but hey it's just a silly hypothetical.)
 
Roboramma said:
Within the thought experiment, how do you know? I mean, do you ask first:
"Excuse me, are you a Swede?"
"What? I need help, I'm drowning!"
"Yes, I know, but are you a swede."
"No!"
Third person: "I am."
"Ah, thanks."
*goes to help the swede*
Click to expand...

Darat said:
(Personally I am wondering how you could even know that someone was a Swede or an Arab in such circumstances but hey it's just a silly hypothetical.)
Click to expand...
By asking, as Roboramma explained. However, the conversation goes a bit different. Many Arabs living in Sweden are Swedes. And in the racist's mindset, they are also liars. So here goes:
"Excuse me, are you a Swede?"
"What? I need help, I'm drowning!"
"Yes, I know, but are you a Swede."
"Yes, I am."
"But you don't look Swedish."
"I've been naturalized 4 years ago. Now will you please help me?"
"Can you show your passport first then?"
"It's in my bag... blub blub"
 
Darat said:
(Personally I am wondering how you could even know that someone was a Swede or an Arab in such circumstances but hey it's just a silly hypothetical.)
Click to expand...

Swim over and ask them where they come from before you decide who to save.
 
indeed. the OP suggests that a person of Arab descent...cannot be a Swede.

racism is wrong folks.
 
How about in the United States, I see two men drowning on opposite sides of a bridge, one black and one white.
I am white, so I choose to save the white man.
Alternatively, I am black, so I choose to save the black man.
Do people have a problem with this?
 
You start this thread incorrectly by assuming that family = people with same ethnicity.
 
Last edited:
AvalonXQ said:
How about in the United States, I see two men drowning on opposite sides of a bridge, one black and one white.
I am white, so I choose to save the white man.
Alternatively, I am black, so I choose to save the black man.
Do people have a problem with this?
Click to expand...

Again... silly hypotheticals are silly. Racism is wrong.
 
AvalonXQ said:
How about in the United States, I see two men drowning on opposite sides of a bridge, one black and one white.
I am white, so I choose to save the white man.
Alternatively, I am black, so I choose to save the black man.
Do people have a problem with this?
Click to expand...

same distance from you? same age people? flip a coin, i say.
 
parky76 said:
same distance from you? same age people? flip a coin, i say.
Click to expand...

"The other day the most peculiar thing happened to me. I was crossing a bridge, and when I was exactly in the middle, two middle aged men of different colours started drowning in each end. One was electric blue and the other fucsia. I've uploaded the video on youtube. Poor guys."
 
AvalonXQ said:
How about in the United States, I see two men drowning on opposite sides of a bridge, one black and one white.
I am white, so I choose to save the white man.
Alternatively, I am black, so I choose to save the black man.
Do people have a problem with this?
Click to expand...

As -In the US or in the UK- the black man could easily be my actual biological son and/or half-brother I don't see any reason why you would favour the white man. I'd probably see which was the easier to save. How anyone could be dictated by "But he's my caucasion" as opposed to how good they seemed to be struggling against the water/how many people were on either side of the bridge/whether the black and white men were older or younger than each other is anyone's guess.

Strangely enough, racists would probably have no problem with saying there is nothing wrong with saving whitey, but they would probably scream "injustice!" to high heaven if a black man said: "I'd save my black brother before the white man."
 
Last edited:
Undesired Walrus said:
Strangely enough, racists would probably have no problem with saying there is nothing wrong with saving whitey, but they would probably scream "injustice!" to high heaven if a black man said: "I'd save my black brother before the white man."
Click to expand...

In my experience, open white racists would expect and have no issue with white saving white and black saving black; they expect that to be the natural order of things.
In contrast, in my experience, it's black racists that would see it as natural for a black man to save the black man but racist for a white man to save the white man.
 
Megalodon said:
"The other day the most peculiar thing happened to me. I was crossing a bridge, and when I was exactly in the middle, two middle aged men of different colours started drowning in each end. One was electric blue and the other fucsia. I've uploaded the video on youtube. Poor guys."
Click to expand...

If your mother was white and father black, what do you do?
 
AvalonXQ said:
How about in the United States, I see two men drowning on opposite sides of a bridge, one black and one white.
I am white, so I choose to save the white man.
Alternatively, I am black, so I choose to save the black man.
Do people have a problem with this?
Click to expand...

If one of them was a child or a woman would that change who you would save?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom