A serious one
My Grandmother is black and now lives up near co. Durham. As a child, I never even realised there was anything different about her. She is not 'black as the ace of spades'. People seem to forget there are many different colours that are classed as 'black'. This is irrelevant anyway. As a kid I used to go and spend a few days/weeks with her up north and used to love my time there.

One day we got on the bus for a big day out in the metro centre (those who live there will know that it's the biggest and most horrendous shopping centre in the country). As we got on, some guy shouted to me (I am white, largely by a freak of genetics and mixed raced parents) that I 'should step away from that fucking nigger and respect my country'.

I respect my country and I'm proud of my relatives. I didn't know what to think that day when I watched my Grandmother hold her head up high and ignore the guy that had made ME realise that my family was 'different'.

My relatives worked hard for their place in society and I will never accept any form of generalisation against any migrants to this country. Prejudice is the one thing that makes me want to fight people, even if I end up in hospital.
( more balanced than jeremy beadle It wasn't me..., Thu 1 Apr 2010, 23:18, 1 reply)

I have a prejudice against art students.
I'm sure that someone has already said something similar in here, but I'll rant a bit anyway.

I happen to live in a town with a college that has a good arts school. If I go into that area of town I can always spot the art students very easily- they're the ones with oddly dyed hair, lots of tattoos, old clothing that's been carefully stained and torn, mismatched shoes, often riding one of those bikes that's been made to hold the rider six feet off the ground.

I went to that particular school, and at one point took a class in the Arts building. They looked at me as though I were lost, someone who clearly didn't belong there in my clean tee shirts and jeans with sneakers. All of them trying so desperately to show their individualism through their hair and clothes... which, in truth, may as well have been a uniform. And if you were in there in the evening working on a project, invariably someone would be playing something utterly obscure (with good reason, as most of it sucked) or something ironic like 1940s jazz crooners.

But far worse than that were the dimwitted ideas that I heard coming from their pierced mouths. For example, a friend of mine was taking down a dead tree near an apartment building and a half dozen art students stood out on the fire escape screaming at him for being a tree murderer. They couldn't care less that it was already dead, or that they were in fact standing on a wooden platform made of dead trees- he was a tree murderer for using a chainsaw.

I got to know a few art students who actually were pretty bright and stood out a bit, but they were the rare exceptions, and even they shook their heads in disgust at the others.
( Wanderer, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 23:08, 8 replies)

I have
never met anyone who has an hyphenated name, who hasn`t then turned out to be a complete git.
(Sadarse works like Mist condensing mud flaps, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 23:05, 6 replies)

Only prejudiced whilst driving
and I'm usually proved right when the cuntstack in the BMW or the Mercedes finally overtakes me at 150mph after having been tailgaiting me and flashing his high beams for the past 5 mins, even though I'm actually already over the speed limit.

It's a car not a license to be a prick.
(Bo Nidle Coming back in from the cold., Thu 1 Apr 2010, 23:01, 15 replies)

My job isn't entirely tech support these days, I actually get to do interesting stuff as well
but if I'm working on one of the interesting projects and you call me with a broadband problem or you can't open your emails then you're a fucking moron that doesn't deserver to be allowed on the internet.
I should probably get a grip on myself
( VampireMonkeyOnSpeed a super sexy sexual sex terrorist sex, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 22:58, 1 reply)

Racism
I was a Radiographer in Bridgend. I get a call at 4 in the morning to x-ray a guy in Resus, so off I trundle with my x-ray unit.

I walk in to see a guy, naked from the waist up, who had been given a monumental kicking. His head was like a pumpkin, he had a number of abrasions all over, but what struck me was you could see his Trachea.

Someone had tried to saw his head off, and had managed to do a lovely dissection of his neck, without hitting anything fatal.

What then stuck me was the Nazi tattoos all over this guy. He was a member of the famous Caerau Ku Klux Klan.

He is whining like a bitch though, Fucckin Niggers did this, I hate fucckin Coons etc on and on, so I wander over to him to do a portable chest x-ray, leaned over and whispered in his ear, "mate open your eyes".

He forces one swollen peeper open and sees Ravi. who is a 6 foot 8 inch Sikh, two Filipino Nurses, One Nigerian House Officer, another Indian Surgeon and me, whitey.

We are keeping you alive you cunt, I whisper, so shut the fuck up or we may not bother, OK?

Found out later the South Wales Anti Nazi League had crashed a bit of a cruciform BBQ they were having. The SWANL is a bit more direct it seemed than the rest of the fay hippies that make up the movement.

Should have used a sharper knife though.
(micmac is happy as a pig in shite, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 22:36, 3 replies)

by any other name?
I used to work for Birmingham council on a very insular housing estate that was 99.8% white, I was one of the few not in that percentage. Thankfully in my 3 years on the job there I was only exposed to prejudice once and actually I'm not even sure about that.

Getting the bus into work one morning I was forced to sit behind a big group of school kids. It seems they didn't take kindly to my presence.

They started to discuss the merits of chinese food, how chinese people were dirty and ate dogs. How chinese men had small dicks and the women all had tiny feet so they could fist each other with their feet, (probably). This continued until they reached their destination and as a passing shot they all turned to me pulling their eyes into a squint and mumbling "wing woo" at me as they got off. It seemed to give them some satisfaction so I didn't interrupt. Frankly I was baffled why this seemed to be aimed at me.

You see I'm not chinese.
I'm not Korean, Japanese or anything that vaguely looks chinese.
My background is Indian, I'm well tanned, round eyed, sometimes get confused as being greek, but I've never been mistaken for being chinese. So I stepped off the bus unsure about how offended to be.

I told my coworker when I got in and he presented this anthropological theory:

The local chinese takeaway was called "Wing Wu". Therefore the only non white people the kids interact with are the workers in the chinese takeaway. Their racism training having been severly curbed due to the lack of different ethnicities to practice on, these mini bigots had somehow come to the conclusion that the racial slurs they normally used (aimed at the chinese) are infact universal insults and can be used on all ethnicities.

My theory was either they were retards or that to racists all "forrins" do look the same. More research is pending if I can find an estate that has only one Thai takeaway and nothing else.
(Bo Nidle Coming back in from the cold., Thu 1 Apr 2010, 22:32, Reply)

Light skinned, British & Undocumented.
The story of how I was different and never discriminated against, even though I was an illegal immigrant.

Some of the comments in the "comments" section against the Mexicans are actually friends of mine, who since the article have told me "But you're still different".

www.ocregister.com/articles/burns-237401-immigrants-immigration.html
( Batshitmentalist is sane for once, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 22:29, 1 reply)

I have to say I'm prejudiced against English Students
I should add that I AM one, as a joint-major with Music. The music department I'm in has scores of friendly, dedicated people who really want to do well and have a genuine interest in the subject. And there are plenty of those in English as well. However, at least half of the people in English seem to have the idea that, "I speak English, therefore I can pass a degree in it- what a doss subject!"

At degree level, that shouldn't be enough. Seriously. It cheapens the field.
(Sivvus trolley collision in the fruit aisle led to a jam, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 22:26, 1 reply)

There are only 2 things I can't stand in this world...
People who are intolerant of other people's cultures...
(Mattle, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 22:21, Reply)

I'm not really someone
who is a victim of prejudice to be honest. I'm white, middle class woman at university etc. The only way I can say that I might be a victim is sexuality. I'm bisexual but more on the lines of preferring men but being open to the right woman. I went to an LGBT meeting- once and only once. It turned out not to be my sort of meeting at all, and was well and truly cemented by the President of said society wandering up to me and saying in his most Etonesque manner 'are you a lesbian my dear, or merely here with a friend?'

I said (shyly- I was a first year fresher) that I identified as bi.

He gave a massive laugh and said 'do bisexual women exist? How unusual. There is no such thing as a bisexual man.' He turned his back then and ignored me from that moment on.
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 22:02, 14 replies)

Motorcyclists
I remember once sitting on a jury. The charge was murder, and even though the defendant looked amiable enough, the defense stipulated that he had, in fact, committed the terrible deed.

At the beginning of the voir dire process, the defense attorney asked for a show of hands from the assembled potential jurors. He hesitated, as if unsure how to pose his question, then asked "How many of you here have a prejudice against motorcyclists?"

What a question! Even though I did not own a motorcycle, I had caught a ride on one that very morning, so felt fairly broad-minded on the subject. Nevertheless, half the assembled potential jurors immediately raised their hands, displaying a blood lust for motorcyclists that caught me by surprise.

Later on, I discovered the attorney was speaking euphemistically. What he meant was "How many of you here have a prejudice against bikers?"
(Perv With A Dog had his eyes pecked out by scrub jays on, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 21:58, 1 reply)

girls in pyjamas
i will freely admit to being prejudiced against girls who go shopping in pyjamas. the reason for this is that i've never seen a single one of them who wasn't either acting or talking like a fucking chavvy tramp, never mind the fact that they're walking the streets in clothing designed for the bedroom. if they dressed properly, i'd have no problem with them, but in a supermarket in a pair of tigger pyjamas? fuck off away from me, you skank.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 21:37, 10 replies)

Not me, honest
Look, I've got nothing against people with prejudices. I've got a lot of friends who are prejudiced. They're just like normal people once you get to know 'em.
(funkmotor is not the droid you're looking for, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 21:32, Reply)

Ladies and Gentlemen
Please be aware that your friendly checkout operator is not deaf. We can hear you talking about everything from why you are buying that paricular brand of chocolate sauce to the latest news on your neighbours prolapsed uterus. In my time spent funding my MSc on supermarket tills, I have heard some classics but the one that sticks in my memory the most is the following:

5 or 6 year old girl: "Daddy, I want to work on a checkout when I grow up!" - Kids for some reason are fascinated by the scanning and the beeping.

Father: "No dear, you can do better than that."
(Puddle of Sugar was still wallpapering on, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 21:11, 8 replies)

There are two kinds of people in this world:
Those who separate people into groups and those who don't.
(ChiTown Guy Dating when 35+: sane, single, attractive - pick 2, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 20:35, 2 replies)

Considerably more northern than you.
My Mum, (of whom I've written here previously) was from Yorkshire. She'd left and lost the accent (it made you unemployable outside the county in the 50s), but had she lost the chip?

NOOOOO!!!

"There's us (I was born there), and there's them" says she.

"What about Dad? And the Scarsbrothers?"

"They're them".

Yes, really. AND she'd sometimes give me an extra slap "because a Morley lad should know better".
(all my scars face forward possesses 2.5% of a hyperalloy combat chassis, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 20:32, 1 reply)

Racial Prejudice - Not Always A Good Idea
Last year I was living with a trio of ladies, two Scottish, one Dutch. Our flat was across the hallway from a flat full of (I think) Indians of mixed gender in varying states of employment.

In any case, we saw them occasionally coming and going, but a couple of the girls in the flat started to take a dislike to some of their habits e.g. smoking in the hallway a lot and leaving a key to the block above the front door so those of them without a key could get in (as could burglars, we theorised).

In any case, these feelings grew over time...we had no idea how many people were staying in that flat and we were sure something questionable was going on. The girls seemed to take a lot more exception to them than I did, but eventually it was quietly revealed by one or two of my flatmates that they didn't think much of people from that area of the world (the word Paki was used once before I pointed out that we didn't know if they were from Pakistan, and if they were they'd be Pakistani), and that they didn't feel their belongings were completely safe in such a setting.

A picture was slowly built up of a bunch of chain smoking, insular cutthroats living in a crowded, sweaty, unwashed flat illegally, probably making a living off drugs and plotting to burgle and/or rape anyone they caught alone. I didn't subscribe to this so much, as I'd never seen anything to indict them, but I certainly started to get affected by the incessant talk of how probably awful our neighbours were.

One day, the Scots girls and myself were away and the Dutch one locked herself out overnight. She braced herself for a cold night on our doorstep, until one of our wicked and malicious neighbours walked past on his way home from a late shift. He asked her if she was ok and she explained her situation, precipitating an offer to stay in the drug den for a night.

She accepted, so as not to seem rude, and was taken inside to a flat no worse than any other. Taken into the girls' bedroom, she was given one of the two single beds, while the two girls already in there doubled up without complaint upon having the situation explained by the man (my flatmate's offer to sleep on the floor was met with cheerful refusal). She spent the night comfortably, was not touched up or hit on by any of the men, had nothing of hers stolen, and was offered food in the morning. It was an act of pure altruism - one which, I hastened to realise, we would not have extended to them if the roles were reversed.

Turns out we were just being unreasonable, prejudiced, and very obviously the worse people, despite being white. Who would've guessed?

Length? I think she slept six uniterrupted hours that night. Much easier in a bed than on an unheated concrete floor.
(StapMyVitals wouldn't mind a bit of that, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 20:28, 2 replies)

I'm nawt a bigot.
But I'm laughing my fat white arse off reading these answers. I've never EVER seen such a mighty collection of insults in my life. And some of the childhood stories have me hooting and giggling in turns.

So, from the bottom of my (Caucasian, heterosexually-challenged, non-discriminatory) heart, thank you all.
(blueberrypossum wants to Jaffa your Cake, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 20:10, 4 replies)

My question got picked!!!
I assume my royalties are in the post.

My personal prejudice is against engineering students. I'm aware that there are loads of them, but all the ones I've met are either offensively laddish, or so convinced of their own superiority it overcomes me with muted disgust. They also nick things.

I'm sure as I branch out into society as a whole I'll make more well-informed and worldly unreasonable judgements, but as it is I've got plenty to be going on with.
(StapMyVitals wouldn't mind a bit of that, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 20:00, 1 reply)

BLOODY STUDENTS!
I once encountered a professional gambler on a train home one night who assured the person next to me continually about how much he hates students, while being nice to my face. When he pulled the lazy card (yes I know lazy ones exist, just like that lazy person at work etc)I verbally bitch slapped him with the fact I was working two jobs just to be at uni so i could at least try to get a better job later, which is ironic cos my grades were suffering BADLY. On hindsight, I should have asked him where the lady in the cocktail dress had gone and if he would like a martini...
(Techkitten, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 19:51, 2 replies)

Australians
This is somewhat a sweeping statement, but in my experience Australians have to be the most prejudiced, intolerant people on the planet.

At school, we used to have to read a chapter of a book, then designate the next person to read the next chapter and so on....obviously a lazy teaching technique, but then I was two years younger than the rest of my class due to the fact that at the time we had a reasonable education system here, and, well....they didn't, meaning that topics covered in most classes I'd covered years ago and was very bored.
Anyway, every.single.time. that I was designated, my name was spoken; only it wasn't my name, it was "Pomme". After a severe beating one lunchtime, for doing nothing other than standing against a wall...and for being English, I refused to answer to the name "Pomme" and didn't acknowledge the fact that it was my turn to read. The teacher grew angry and shouted "Pomme, your turn to read!".
Now, every day, I would be regaled with tales of how stupid the English were, how violent they were (this was the 80's so the only thing in the news about England at the time in Oz were articles about football puchups), they ridiculed me about the fact that we drove on the other side of the road from them...until they discovered that they in fact drive on the same side as us. It was relentless, for 18 months. My friends consisted of 1 Canadian, I Italian, 2 English kids and 2 Australians (both of whom had English parents).

Obviously, I would tell my parents about these things...only to find that my dad was getting the same sort of treatment at work. One of the drivers where he worked was showing him the ropes one night; it was pissing down, and large cane-toads were all over the road. The driver would swerve into oncoming traffic to make sure he was maximizing the amount he could squash. My old man asked him why he hated them so much. "Well mate" he said, "they're from wog land aint they?"

One of my friends (one of the English ones) was called "Nobby" - not a nickname, his real name was "Nobby". His family had moved to the UK in the 60's and in an attempt to integrate into UK society his father had named him after a football player he knew at the time. So, the poor bastard was called "Paki" on a regular basis, his name was Nobby and he was a "Pomme". He didn't stand a chance. The moment he turned 16 he moved back to the UK (in the 80's, in London, when I'm guessing that we were not as tolerant of immigrants as we are now). It must have been bad if he preferred it here to Oz with regards to the beatings and abuse he was getting.

Now I can't hear the accent without thinking how stupid it sounds.

Thank God they only work in bars in London and not in proper jobs when they're over here ;-)
(dchurch bah, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 19:41, 14 replies)

Left-handed blokes called Gary, between 5ft 9 and 5 ft 11 tall, who think that Simon Climie was the more talented half of Climie Fisher.

Have you ever met one who isn't a bugger fucking twatbastardy bollock-brained shit sheath?

No, thought not.
(Cave Duck, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 19:38, Reply)

My nan
grew up on a farm in the Highlands of Scotland where the darkest shade you were likely to see was a black sheep or The Night. She's a lovely lovely lady, one of the nicest you're likely to meet - so I feel I should justify the next remarks with a little bit of her history.

For years, if I got a blood blister it was a "black man's pinch".

I had better not be a bad boy, because if I was, the black men would get me.

She had several black neighbours when she moved to Gloucester, and if one of them asked for cigarette money or a cup of sugar, she would give it to them, no questions asked.

How does this work?
( Pretender, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 19:35, 2 replies)

Food for thought...
I was always raised to be open-minded and respectful of others. I attended school where whites were the minority. I've never thought of myself as being prejudiced. When I moved to Alaska though, I heard stories about how the local Natives are belligerent drunks. In the 4 years I've lived here, I'd have to say that 90% of the times I've been bothered by a drunk, it's been a Native.

Recently there was a program on the National Geographic Channel about the Alaska State Troopers. Most of the episodes revolved around Natives getting into trouble while under the influence.

Which begs me to ask the question: Is it prejudice or racism if it's true?
(WillF http://www.flickr.com/photos/silverfischdotnet/, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 19:26, 23 replies)

I don't need to read the answers
to know that they're not funny.
(apeloverage committed the vile act of onanism on, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 19:01, 2 replies)

Internet Forums
I read 1 internet forum where the overriding tone was very much against gingers...oh, hold on...
(GhostAtTheFeast Soup Sir?, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 18:57, Reply)

PE Teachers.
All cut from the same cloth, failed sportsperson, loud, sadistic, unintelligent bully with an utter hatred of anyone in the bottom half of the class when it comes to sporting ability.

No wonder all the kids in this country* are so fat when physical exercise is made so bloody terrifying in schools!

*actually, I can vouch for the PE teachers in Norway being utter bellends also...
( Damien's Hearse, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 18:51, 4 replies)

Every now and then I am accused of being prejudiced in some way
when I get into a certain conversation and I point out a theory that I really believe is true- Stereotypes are not a negative thing.

You see a stereotype in itself (gangsta gangs are likely to mug you, asians are bad drivers, blonde made up with a trowel woman is an airhead etc.) is neither a negative OR positive thing, it's just a tool.
If we went through life never remembering our experiences and always judging every new person or scenario with a blank mind then we would have a job, it's not really possible. You learn that when you see fire it is most likely hot, and when someone takes a certain stance and pulls their leg back in a certain way you are probably about to get kicked, and that if you smell frying bacon when you are coming downstairs you will probably see it being cooked when you get to the kitchen...it's just how we are designed to work. Could it be an illusion, or you be misinterpreting the cues? yes, of course! but if all your previous experiences have told you one thing then damn you, ring that bell and I'm gonna drool Pavlov.

I've lived and worked in China, they actually are really bad drivers- by our standards. Because over there it's like London driving on a major scale; you have to be quick and confident in your manouveres, and there aren't the same laws about indication and lane structure. It's about context.

What I'm trying to say in my round about kind of way is that often stereotypes are based on actual common experiences, what makes them so bad isn't that they exist, it's that so many people don't realise the difference between what is possibly likely for a broad stereotype, and the total individual stood before them that may or may NOT fit that assumption.

The amount of times I've tried to explain this to people who then assume I'm saying that I really believe all asians are bad drivers and every black dude wearing a bit of gold is about to commit a criminal act is astounding, but then maybe I should just take the hint and finally learn to just keep my mouth shut!
( Jessie © needs pirate name suggestions, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 18:41, 8 replies)

Ahem,
I won't tell you where I live (because I am a coward) but we have a large immigrant population hailing from Portugal or more specifically Madeira. When I was at school (20-30 years ago) we had several second gen. Portuguese lads and by and large they were normal kids from hard working families who got on well with everybody and as far as I am aware suffered no significant racism. We got on well and in fact I still bump into some of them periodically and stop and chat etc. However, since school and entering the world of the adult I have come to believe that pretty much all Portuguese men are lying, conniving, thieving sleazeballs who will happily slap their wives and kids around and knife you as soon as look at you and then throw the racism card on the deck whenever they are get caught. To back this up my missus who is quite possibly the most sickeningly liberal lawyer you are ever likely to meet has come to despise them also as she sees so many through her work.

What make this worse is that I really don't like the fact that I feel this way about a race of people. It makes me sad.
( number5 has been fighting tramps and losing., Thu 1 Apr 2010, 18:31, Reply)