Are some people racists or jerks?

I know a few people who often accuse others of being racist. The people being accused of racism are always people they don't know. Me being the lone white guy usually thinks the people being accused are just jerks and would be that way to anyone. I know some of them may be racist, but I have a difficult time with people who think that everyone who is a jerk is a racist simply because they are white. Some people are assholes to everyone no matter what their race. I'm not trying to minimize anything as I know my experience as an anglo is way more different than any other race in America. It just seems that too many people are trying to too hard to be pissed off when they are dealing with a person in a bad mood, or one who is having a bad day. Racism may not have anything to do with a situation at all. Though the majority of people who are racist may be assholes to most people regardless of their color. I know racism exists, I just think we need to be more careful of how we throw the labe

Are some people racists or jerks?
i agree with you. just because someone is rude to for no reason and they are a different race doesn't mean their neccesarily racist, they are like you said just jerks. now, if that person does or says something that is without a doubt racism then by all means call them that. but just because they were rude to you, you can't automatically call them a racist, cause theres a chance that has nothing to do with it. i find this a lot. if people have a difficult time with someone they call them racist, even if this may not be the case.
Reply:Id say a lil of both.
Reply:either a little or an extreme mixture of both attitudes,though i can say being an asian wife living with her anglo husband in australia that there certainly are real racist people who believe the value of a person depends on their skin color,which is soooo unfair but who's to blame some if not most of them if they had been taught that people of different skin color are inferior ones?but then on the other hand,some "coloured" people also use the racism issue to get what they want %26amp;push their way to other people,no matter what race they may be.i had experienced being told to "return to my own country" by a bitchy,pushy aussie woman when we had an arguement at a lift in a public place %26amp; i can tell you man,that hurts.but i had been told by some people that such kind of person were just plain dumbheads who will abuse anyone who gets in their way.
Reply:People of color know racists language when they hear (or see) it. It is difficult for white people to acknowledge that when someone responds as an asshole to something with racial undertones that they are being a racist. I can be in the worse mood on the planet, it will not make me make dispariging comments or call a person of another race something nasty. I simply believe that most white people are sensitive about being called out as racists.
Reply:I would definitely say that the term racist gets thrown around a lot when it really doesn't apply. And the term racist also confuses me to an extent. Most people seem to hate racists and think they are just hateful assholes. However, I have friends that have less than high opinions of other races and even admit to being racist, but I don't consider them such simply because they have formulated bad beliefs from negative experiences. None of them are assholes, they're just a little close minded, and they certainly don't wish violence on anyone. Don't always judge someone on what you believe to be racist behavior, you never can know the truth behind the matter.
Reply:i'm surprised that the word assholes didn't get asterisked





but really......i'm so not p.c. and get to hear the shouts of racism by every angry victim around me. it's so commonplace, it phases me not. for instance, i am fourth generation american, but am brown. i have japanese and mexican roots. since i've only dated white guys and have now married one i get called racist. most of my friends are of the blond/blue variety. my daughter is blond and blue like her father. i used to hear that i was racist because i only liked white people. that was from a puerto rican friend with a white husband! i think i stopped caring back in my 30's. i'm 40 now. and i have a brown son.i don't hear it so much anymore. but my husband gets asked if he's the boy's natural father. ha ha ha





i wonder why he isn't "accused" of liking mexican girls?
Reply:im both sometimes but its only because i hate everyone equally