Am I a racist?

[EconProf]

Several years ago Jesse Jackson, in an unguarded moment of candor, said if he were walking down a dark street at night and a group of men were walking toward him, he would be relieved if they turned out to be white.
He later tried to recant, but his statement was out there already.
Statistically speaking, his feelings were understandable, given the far higher crime rate for black youths vs. other races.
In your case, I’d suggest that while your feelings are superficially understandable, everyone must be measured on their own merits, which can only be predicted once you get to know them better. Take their full and detailed application and then make the decision.

[NotCranky]

Just pick the nerdiest applicant. They are usually pretty trouble free roommates regardless of race.

[NotCranky]

Just pick the nerdiest applicant. They are usually pretty trouble free roommates regardless of race.

[NotCranky]

Just pick the nerdiest applicant. They are usually pretty trouble free roommates regardless of race.

[NotCranky]

Just pick the nerdiest applicant. They are usually pretty trouble free roommates regardless of race.

[NotCranky]

Just pick the nerdiest applicant. They are usually pretty trouble free roommates regardless of race.

[jpinpb]

I think for me it would depend on what they did for employment and/or age, background education, etc. Is he/she a black banker, business man in a suit or a ghetto drug dealer axing me how much the rent is w/marbles in his mouth. But that would go as easily for a white person. If some white guy came w/his hat backwards and his pants dragging below his butt, scrambling to put words together to form a sentence, I’d be reluctant to rent to him, too.

I’ve had good luck w/students (depending on school). I once had a roommate from Turkey and she was really great. I had a female student from Japan and we stayed friends long after we were roommates, attending each others’ weddings. I’ve had some roommates that were not the best. There’s no girls are better than guys. Really depends on their jobs, I think. I had a guy who was great, buyer for a company.

[jpinpb]

I think for me it would depend on what they did for employment and/or age, background education, etc. Is he/she a black banker, business man in a suit or a ghetto drug dealer axing me how much the rent is w/marbles in his mouth. But that would go as easily for a white person. If some white guy came w/his hat backwards and his pants dragging below his butt, scrambling to put words together to form a sentence, I’d be reluctant to rent to him, too.

I’ve had good luck w/students (depending on school). I once had a roommate from Turkey and she was really great. I had a female student from Japan and we stayed friends long after we were roommates, attending each others’ weddings. I’ve had some roommates that were not the best. There’s no girls are better than guys. Really depends on their jobs, I think. I had a guy who was great, buyer for a company.

[jpinpb]

I think for me it would depend on what they did for employment and/or age, background education, etc. Is he/she a black banker, business man in a suit or a ghetto drug dealer axing me how much the rent is w/marbles in his mouth. But that would go as easily for a white person. If some white guy came w/his hat backwards and his pants dragging below his butt, scrambling to put words together to form a sentence, I’d be reluctant to rent to him, too.

I’ve had good luck w/students (depending on school). I once had a roommate from Turkey and she was really great. I had a female student from Japan and we stayed friends long after we were roommates, attending each others’ weddings. I’ve had some roommates that were not the best. There’s no girls are better than guys. Really depends on their jobs, I think. I had a guy who was great, buyer for a company.

[jpinpb]

I think for me it would depend on what they did for employment and/or age, background education, etc. Is he/she a black banker, business man in a suit or a ghetto drug dealer axing me how much the rent is w/marbles in his mouth. But that would go as easily for a white person. If some white guy came w/his hat backwards and his pants dragging below his butt, scrambling to put words together to form a sentence, I’d be reluctant to rent to him, too.

I’ve had good luck w/students (depending on school). I once had a roommate from Turkey and she was really great. I had a female student from Japan and we stayed friends long after we were roommates, attending each others’ weddings. I’ve had some roommates that were not the best. There’s no girls are better than guys. Really depends on their jobs, I think. I had a guy who was great, buyer for a company.

[jpinpb]

I think for me it would depend on what they did for employment and/or age, background education, etc. Is he/she a black banker, business man in a suit or a ghetto drug dealer axing me how much the rent is w/marbles in his mouth. But that would go as easily for a white person. If some white guy came w/his hat backwards and his pants dragging below his butt, scrambling to put words together to form a sentence, I’d be reluctant to rent to him, too.

I’ve had good luck w/students (depending on school). I once had a roommate from Turkey and she was really great. I had a female student from Japan and we stayed friends long after we were roommates, attending each others’ weddings. I’ve had some roommates that were not the best. There’s no girls are better than guys. Really depends on their jobs, I think. I had a guy who was great, buyer for a company.

[davelj]

You’re probably not a racist, but rather what I refer to as a “culturist” (I made this up). A thought experiment…

You have two applicants. One is a college-educated black guy with a job as an engineer; good credit, etc. The other is a high school-educated white guy that works construction with a few dings on his credit report.

If you’re a white collar – for lack of a better way of putting it – dude, you’re probably going to pick the black dude to rent to, all else being equal. Why? Because he’s probably the closer of the two to you in terms of culture, or how you view the world.

So, I doubt it’s a racial issue so much as a cultural issue (but since I don’t know you I could be wrong). Now… this is where some folks jump up and down and say, “Discriminating on the basis of culture is just veiled racism!” To which I’d respond (as EconProf pointed out), “Talk to Jesse Jackson about that and then get back to me.”

The bottom line is that we all discriminate to some degree on the basis of culture – we like to hang with folks that share a similar value system, and I think this goes well beyond race.

[davelj]

You’re probably not a racist, but rather what I refer to as a “culturist” (I made this up). A thought experiment…

You have two applicants. One is a college-educated black guy with a job as an engineer; good credit, etc. The other is a high school-educated white guy that works construction with a few dings on his credit report.

If you’re a white collar – for lack of a better way of putting it – dude, you’re probably going to pick the black dude to rent to, all else being equal. Why? Because he’s probably the closer of the two to you in terms of culture, or how you view the world.

So, I doubt it’s a racial issue so much as a cultural issue (but since I don’t know you I could be wrong). Now… this is where some folks jump up and down and say, “Discriminating on the basis of culture is just veiled racism!” To which I’d respond (as EconProf pointed out), “Talk to Jesse Jackson about that and then get back to me.”

The bottom line is that we all discriminate to some degree on the basis of culture – we like to hang with folks that share a similar value system, and I think this goes well beyond race.

[davelj]

You’re probably not a racist, but rather what I refer to as a “culturist” (I made this up). A thought experiment…

You have two applicants. One is a college-educated black guy with a job as an engineer; good credit, etc. The other is a high school-educated white guy that works construction with a few dings on his credit report.

If you’re a white collar – for lack of a better way of putting it – dude, you’re probably going to pick the black dude to rent to, all else being equal. Why? Because he’s probably the closer of the two to you in terms of culture, or how you view the world.

So, I doubt it’s a racial issue so much as a cultural issue (but since I don’t know you I could be wrong). Now… this is where some folks jump up and down and say, “Discriminating on the basis of culture is just veiled racism!” To which I’d respond (as EconProf pointed out), “Talk to Jesse Jackson about that and then get back to me.”

The bottom line is that we all discriminate to some degree on the basis of culture – we like to hang with folks that share a similar value system, and I think this goes well beyond race.

[davelj]

You’re probably not a racist, but rather what I refer to as a “culturist” (I made this up). A thought experiment…

You have two applicants. One is a college-educated black guy with a job as an engineer; good credit, etc. The other is a high school-educated white guy that works construction with a few dings on his credit report.

If you’re a white collar – for lack of a better way of putting it – dude, you’re probably going to pick the black dude to rent to, all else being equal. Why? Because he’s probably the closer of the two to you in terms of culture, or how you view the world.

So, I doubt it’s a racial issue so much as a cultural issue (but since I don’t know you I could be wrong). Now… this is where some folks jump up and down and say, “Discriminating on the basis of culture is just veiled racism!” To which I’d respond (as EconProf pointed out), “Talk to Jesse Jackson about that and then get back to me.”

The bottom line is that we all discriminate to some degree on the basis of culture – we like to hang with folks that share a similar value system, and I think this goes well beyond race.

[Author]

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