Salty Rants

Racial Preferences

Are racist. 

I saw this on Instagram this morning, so I thought, "Why not make a rant about this?"

Why are racial preferences racist?

Example: I'm not attracted to Asians.

Response: So you're telling me that out of 4 billion Asians in the world (oh, and let me add, not everyone in Asia looks like a k-pop artist. Indians are Asian) not a single one gives you a lady-boner/boner? You've traversed the globe, took each and every Asian out for a coffee, and hence decided that you're not attracted to Asians? Didn't think so. 

Having a racial preference is a racist opinion, no matter what excuse you may have for it. That doesn't necessarily make you a bad person, to the likes of KKK members or Nazis. Usually, people aren't even aware of it, nor do they see it as problematic (when it is).  

Wait, so if I'm a male, and prefer males over women (I'm gay), does that make me sexist?

Nope, because race isn't a sexual preference. It's not biological, like being attracted to the same gender, it's societal, it's institutional. The kind of person you're attracted to isn't branded into your DNA, and neither is it part of your sexual identity. By comparing sexuality to racial preferences, you're implying that being gay/lesbian/bisexual/whatever, is a choice, when really, it isn't. 

Western society has influenced us into accepting certain aesthetics over others, mostly by bombarding us with "hot white people." Minorities are underrepresented in the media: just flip through any magazine, watch any movie, or look up at any billboard ad. I can assure you that 95% of the time, you'll find a white face smiling back at you. Just look at Hollywood, where the most celebrated actors/actresses are white (who also get cast for roles meant for minorities)—since Hollywood is the level of "hotness" most people aspire to, then white= hot. 

How can a minority possibly compete with that? We aren't bombarded with that melanin-richness on the daily!

Isn't it the same thing as saying "I prefer blondes over brunettes?" It's just a preference!

Nope. Physical preferences aren't the same as racial preferences. Racial preferences imply that an entire race shares the same physical features. There are black people with blonde hair and blue eyes, as there are Asians with dark skin and brown eyes. No race has identical physical attributes, and frankly, deeming an entire race as 'unattractive' is racist. As I said before, you haven't met every single member of that race to make such a generalisation, and I can assure you, that even if you did, you wouldn't be making such a bold claim.

I'm a black man and I find black women unattractive. I can't be racist to my own race!

Yes, you can, actually. You seem to be suffering from a bad case of internalised racism. Internalised racism (as defined by Wikipedia) is  the internalization by people of racist attitudes towards members of their own ethnic group, including themselves. This can include the belief in ethnic stereotypes relating to their own group. 

Finally, I'm white, but I was raised in a predominantly Hispanic neighbourhood. I dated mostly Hispanics, so does that make me racist?

No, but actively seeking out/rejecting other races on the basis that "I don't find them attractive because...[BS reason]" is racist. 

To put it in simpler terms:

It's not racist to think that a specific Asian person is unattractive. But once you start claiming that AS A RACE, they are all unattractive, that's a sweeping a generalisation, and frankly, a racist opinion.

-:-

There's no excuse for you not to change. It's a mindset. Only once you realise that being prejudiced towards other races is wrong and acknowledge it can you move forwards. 

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Is there something that you're itching to complain about, but have the good sense not to do so on a public forum? I can do it for you! Feel free to PM me with the topic you want me to rant about, and I won't think twice before adding it here. I'll be waiting!