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Racial Inclusiveness

When I was in college, it seemed rather trivial to have friends who were non-white. I like that because while skin tone can be meaningless, there are lots of cultural varieties and I find them fascinating. I went to a school where 30% of the students were Japanese and that was a great experience.

But now, I find myself surrounded with mostly white men and some white women.

I read a bit about the atheist community these days and some other people have noticed the white male atheist is the average atheist.

It's tricky to ask, but what groups do a good job of being racially inclusive? Are you racially inclusive, what do you do that works?

I'm not turning away friends for being white and male, but there should be a way to improve my ability to run into diverse people and avoid unintentionally alienating them, right?

Tags: inclusiveness, race

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Permalink Reply by Brian Wood on April 19, 2011 at 3:09pm

Atheists have figured out that skin tone and sexual orientation are about as meaningful as handedness. I admit, I'm left-handed. Whacha gonna do about it?

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Permalink Reply by World Walker on April 19, 2011 at 7:07pm

That's definitely one of the high grounds of atheism. One of the topics I read about at times is how ignoring race also marginalizes the remaining battles. I'm not saying that does in fact happen. I'm saying I'm sensitive about that issue and I hope I'm doing the right thing. I can't make minorities talk to me but hopefully they feel welcome to, you know?

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Permalink Reply by ETres on April 19, 2011 at 4:08pm

I initially treat everyone I meet with respect and dignity. If they do something to betray that respect, then I exclude them. It doesn't matter what race people are - if they suck, they suck.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Black on April 19, 2011 at 6:47pm

The only subculture I have seen where race, religion, and economic status have minimal impact is the pool hall culture among the players. You will still see some division along these lines. But, most players are only concerned with your love of the game and how well you shoot.

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Permalink Reply by World Walker on April 19, 2011 at 7:09pm

In Virginia, racial stereotypes are everywhere. When you're not hearing about it, you wonder if you should be speaking against the stereotype anyway. Things are better than they used to be but the white trash culture often tells racist jokes that I hear to this day. Granted, some of the people aren't racist through and through but they seem insensitive and enough people here are in fact racially homogeneous.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Black on April 19, 2011 at 7:33pm

Stereo types tend to have the same lifespan as a culture. And, they tend to be out of phase by 5 years. Unfortunately, stereotypes do fit a significant portion of the population that is being characterized. The problem is that mentally lazy people use the stereotype to describe a larger portion of that population than what the stereotype fits. You can’t eliminate stereotypes. You can only choose not to rely on them.