Again I find a lot of the opinions expressed in here thoroughly disgusting! Aptly a friend posted this on social media earlier and I want to share it in this thread as it should give everyone something to ponder.
There's been a lot of talk of Syrian refugees lately, with a lot of people claiming to be unjustly labeled 'racist' for simply arguing their case against taking refugees in their country or city. Since racial bias isn't always conscious, I have a helpful checklist that you can use to check it out for yourself.
First, a dictionary definition:
"Racism - Noun. A belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others."
Now for the checklist:
☐ 1. The 'increased crime' belief
If you believe that the arrival of refugees in your area would cause a spike in crime, vandalism, rape or general unrest, and you have no proven facts or research to back it up, then your assumption is based on the belief that people from another country and/or culture are more predisposed to criminal or immoral activity than yours.
☐ 2. The 'not enough money' belief
This is a tricky one, because it's true that cuts to public services and benefits are causing much damage in many European countries. But if you believe that cuts to the still widely available and affordable health care you enjoy or the increased living costs in your area mean it is impossible for your area to accommodate refugees fleeing for their lives, then you believe that the (important, yet not acutely life-or-death) details of our highly privileged existence are more worthy of protection than the actual lives of people fleeing destruction of their homes and cities, death, torture, starvation and abject poverty.
☐ 3. The 'they should be helped in their point of origin' belief
If your argument is that these people should be given help to remain in their homes, and that their men should stay and fight for their own country, then you likely haven't bothered to educate yourself at all about what is actually happening in their point of origin. This indicates a world view that revolves around your culture, its history, and assumptions of any hypothetical crisis situation occurring within the framework of your current way of life. Furthermore, it implies that with zero research, you are willing to label an entire country's male population as cowardly.
☐ 4. The 'benefits scroungers' belief
If you believe that Syrian parents would risk their children drowning or starving on the way out of their homeland, and that Syrian people would leave everything they have ever owned, known and loved, just to live on your tax dollars/pounds/euros, then your assumption is that Syrians are placing "an easy life" above the lives of their families and the rich culture and history they are forced to leave behind, and that the life you take for granted here is far superior to any life in the country, society and culture that the refugees come from. It also implies you assume that the refugees have neither skills to offer nor willingness to work to integrate into our economic system instead of living on handouts indefinitely.
RESULTS:
0 points - not racist
1-4 points - racist
I hope this is helpful. If you checked any boxes on the list, have no fear. You can be racist if you want, or you can inspect your beliefs and educate yourself to see if your views could be better informed. Just don't turn the discussion on its head and make out that you're the victim in this humanitarian crisis just for being called racist.
