if you agree it's not a choice do you also believe racism isn't a choice? if not, do you see why the two don't have to go hand in hand in diagnosing mental illness?
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Originally Posted by uh-oh
the problem i have with that statement is "we as a society", who is the we in that? i didn't hear this racism is a mental illness talk until literally the other day. when did "we" decide this?
as for the question, no i havent heard former racists or ex-clansmen talk about why they were racist. were they prescribed some medicine by big pharma that cured them? or did they just change their mind one day after an epiphany? maybe one day i'll get an epiphany and my "depression" will go away.
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i understand your problem with that, i guess i can only claim reference to americans who disagree with racism but don't let our disagreement of racism interfere with our diagnosis of where it is coming from. if you exclude racists and centrists, the only reactions to racists seem to be punch them in the face and/or extinguish them from our society, or sit down and educate/introduce them to members of other races to dissipate what they've previously been conditioned to feel.
as far as your last two questions, the answer is neither. they came to realize that their prejudice was rooted in self-loathing, insecurity, lack of experience, and fear projected as hate and anger. i believe some of those symptoms are the common denominator in all forms of prejudice as in gender or class.