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Is racism a mental illness.

2,747 Views | 46 Replies

Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-14 10:55:21


Because it sure as hell acts like one.

It's basically a form of magical thinking: the assumption that someone's ethnic or genetic heritage automatically implies certain traits. It's not logical, and it causes people to suffer in their daily functioning, although it mainly forces that suffering onto people who do not have the disease.

Just like a mental illness.

Also, people who suffer from it often don't know they suffer from it.

Just like a mental illness.

There's also great stigma against admitting you suffer from it.

Just like a mental illness.

There seems to be a movement towards de-stigmatizing mental illness so that people who suffer from it don't feel a barrier to getting help. Wouldn't classifying racism as a mental illness demand the de-stigmatization of racism?

Imagine this scenario: You see someone telling a racist joke, and instead of laughing (which is an appropriate reaction to anything worthy of ridicule) you just get morose and say "Oh, I didn't know you were suffering from racism. I hear there's a medication for that. We would probably all be happier if you were on drugs"

And let's say, just for giggles, you could get approved for medical marijuana if you were diagnosed as a racist by a doctor. I mean, seems plausible. Stoned hippies are rarely racist.

Of course you would need a high level of involuntary secret medical surveillance over everyone in the united states to make this plan work, but frankly we already have that to catch people with drug dependence, PTSD, anxiety, anger management issues, and other mental health issues that can lead to criminally disruptive behavior. The only thing the medical industry lacks is funding. Please note I didn't mention consent, because many mental illnesses are treated involuntarily, especially drug addiction which is the main model for this sort of intervention.

I mean, how else are we going to stamp out racism? All other forms of ignorance are fought with compulsory education, why should this one be any different?


This is a song about death. It's on mandolin.

Hate is the first step to all solutions.

You will not end bigotry until you learn to hate it.

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Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-15 00:22:38


At 3/14/17 08:13 PM, Entice wrote:
Because there's a good number of people who believe that racist behavior is a right, especially when it comes to racist jokes etc.

The mentally ill aren't people. For instance, they don't have power of attorney for themselves; they have to play mother may I with a designated care giver. That's something only people have, not the mentally ill. Dudes in nambla think they have a right to diddle kiddies, and they are rightfully on a watchlist.

Racists should have to live in that kind of fear too.

I would love to see a will invalidated because allegations of racism destroyed the presupposition of mental soundness in the deceased, and they have to leave all their money to their mixed grandchildren literally against their will.

That's why ideas designed to combat racism are described as discriminatory to the majority by the people who oppose them. To them, combatting racism is a violation of personal freedom.

Does that mean racists think inferior racial status is a disability? Because that would entitle minorities to a disability check. Sometimes you can have your cake by eating it.


This is a song about death. It's on mandolin.

Hate is the first step to all solutions.

You will not end bigotry until you learn to hate it.

BBS Signature

At 3/14/17 10:55 AM, FUNKbrs wrote: words

you are so dumb...racism is a natural thing...what amazes me is that people can't fucking realize that...you're trained to deny assumptions brought on by your racism, but that doesn't mean they're not there.

Let's look at something similar, and you tell me if it sounds like mental illness - I see a doberman pinscher barking at me. I immediately assume the dog is aggressive and do anything I can to get away from it. I've made an assumption that this dog looks like a breed of dogs that is notoriously aggressive, and that I am in danger because of it's breed. Is that mental illness?

Now, I'm not saying you should run away from people if they're a particular race. I'm saying that when you see a person and can identify their race, you will automatically make assumptions about their culture, general preferences, social tendencies, etc. This is based primarily on anecdotal experience (in healthy people), it's not conjured from thin air or rumors. I'm not saying that there are a few people that this happens to, I'm saying this is part of the human condition. Ok, it happens to *you* whether you want to admit it or not.

Our minds instinctively make assumptions about what we see. That's how we operate. See those two white orbs inside your face? Those are predatory mounted eyeballs. We're predators. We see something we want, we make assumptions about it, and we take it - at the most *basic* level of humanity, this is true. How can that not be true when we look at other people? How can we not make assumptions about who someone is based on what they look like? And how can race be somehow precluded from that thought process?

It can't...the endeavor is folly. You're denying your own nature. It's better if we accept that racism is part of the human condition, and we embrace our differences. ok....I'm not advocating racist behavior, or jokes, or bigotry, ok....I just want to point out that judging books by their cover is entirely natural...and in no way a mental illness....

Just tell the doctor you have backpain, and you don't want NSAIDs. He'll probly give you weed.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-15 17:45:59


At 3/15/17 05:21 PM, gumOnShoe wrote:
If you categorize racism as a mental illness there's little left to stop you from finding other lines of thought, philosophies and religions that make no sense and are used as justification to harm people and classifying them as mental illnesses. Is Christianity a mental illness? Judaism? Atheism?

Worked in the russian psikhuskhas

Just sayin'.

Oppositional-defiant disorder and "agitation" are both on the books. I see people pissed off at their doctors get those all the time, especially when they complain about blatantly substandard care. Whine too much and you get the ol' haldol.


This is a song about death. It's on mandolin.

Hate is the first step to all solutions.

You will not end bigotry until you learn to hate it.

BBS Signature

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-15 21:56:03


At 3/15/17 05:21 PM, gumOnShoe wrote: Short answer: no

Short answer: yes with an if. Long answer: no with a but.

Anyway, racism to me seems to be like an offshoot of many personality disorders, but it fits paranoid and narcissistic quite well.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-16 00:30:48


At 3/15/17 10:41 PM, TylerFromTexas wrote: Racism is due to ignorance more than anything, unless ignorance is considered a mental illness.

Ignorance isn't a mental illness, at least the unintentional kind. The good majority of racists, at least subconsciously are cognizant of their beliefs, even if they are deplorable. This is the kind of logic that really is a slippery slope that is probably best not to go down, lest we normalize racist behavior like we did in the past.


Just stop worrying, and love the bomb.

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Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-16 00:37:51


I don't think there is an actual answer to this, just a perspective. It may also be based on the individual.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-16 09:33:36


At 3/16/17 12:30 AM, orangebomb wrote:
At 3/15/17 10:41 PM, TylerFromTexas wrote: Racism is due to ignorance more than anything, unless ignorance is considered a mental illness.
Ignorance isn't a mental illness, at least the unintentional kind. The good majority of racists, at least subconsciously are cognizant of their beliefs, even if they are deplorable. This is the kind of logic that really is a slippery slope that is probably best not to go down, lest we normalize racist behavior like we did in the past.

Is racism due to ignorance?

Studying animal husbandry, eugenics seems to make a whole lot of sense.

Children are ignorant. They're normally not racist until they learn it.

It seems like an oversimplification to say "I don't like this, it has negative effects: It's ignorant."

But it's not just ignorant. Ignorance is morally innocent, but there's nothing innocent about racism. There's malice in it. The people who believe in it honestly are making a eugenic argument that certain people shouldn't be allowed to breed and thrive and integrate into the genome.

The problem is the assumption people are smart enough to manage their own genome without ending up like bulldogs: so limited in genetic diversity that there's not enough old healthy DNA in the species to balance out the congenital diseases caused by genetic mutation and drift and barely able to breed at all without medical intervention.

Not to put too fine a point on it, the main reason we are not currently ruled by pedigreed royalty is because they would always end up so inbred and deformed they would become unfit to rule and had to continually refresh their lines with peasant blood, rendering the whole concept of racial purity hilariously moot.


This is a song about death. It's on mandolin.

Hate is the first step to all solutions.

You will not end bigotry until you learn to hate it.

BBS Signature

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-16 22:24:33


At 3/16/17 10:39 AM, gumOnShoe wrote:
At 3/15/17 09:56 PM, Camarohusky wrote: Short answer: yes with an if. Long answer: no with a but.
No. The only answer is no.

It's a Simpsons quote.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 01:04:07


Because it sure as hell acts like one.
It's basically a form of magical thinking: the assumption that someone's ethnic or genetic heritage automatically implies certain traits. It's not logical, and it causes people to suffer in their daily functioning, although it mainly forces that suffering onto people who do not have the disease.
Just like a mental illness.
Also, people who suffer from it often don't know they suffer from it.
Just like a mental illness.
There's also great stigma against admitting you suffer from it.
Just like a mental illness.
There seems to be a movement towards de-stigmatizing mental illness so that people who suffer from it don't feel a barrier to getting help. Wouldn't classifying racism as a mental illness demand the de-stigmatization of racism?
Imagine this scenario: You see someone telling a racist joke, and instead of laughing (which is an appropriate reaction to anything worthy of ridicule) you just get morose and say "Oh, I didn't know you were suffering from racism. I hear there's a medication for that. We would probably all be happier if you were on drugs"
And let's say, just for giggles, you could get approved for medical marijuana if you were diagnosed as a racist by a doctor. I mean, seems plausible. Stoned hippies are rarely racist.
Of course you would need a high level of involuntary secret medical surveillance over everyone in the united states to make this plan work, but frankly we already have that to catch people with drug dependence, PTSD, anxiety, anger management issues, and other mental health issues that can lead to criminally disruptive behavior. The only thing the medical industry lacks is funding. Please note I didn't mention consent, because many mental illnesses are treated involuntarily, especially drug addiction which is the main model for this sort of intervention.
I mean, how else are we going to stamp out racism? All other forms of ignorance are fought with compulsory education, why should this one be any different?


Dr. Spedmund McMallet

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Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 01:30:47


Remember kids if you spit facts about ethnic groups youre a racist BLACK PEOPLE NEED TO TAKE SPECIAL HEART MEDICATION.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 02:00:32


At 3/14/17 10:55 AM, FUNKbrs wrote:
I mean, how else are we going to stamp out racism?

uhh theres always a certain truth to any saying.

Like if you think of a certain word for a person like nerd you think glasses, pimples, lispy, etc.

Not because it's a mental illness...it's because it's fairly accurate of the traits of a nerd

Or like girls with big boobs are more attractive than small boobs

there's a certain truth to it...


Or if you're gay, A guy with a big ass is more attractive than a smaller one

At 3/17/17 02:00 AM, Dubsyn wrote:
Or like girls with big boobs are more attractive than small boobs

there's a certain truth to it...

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 10:24:07


At 3/17/17 01:04 AM, Spedmallet wrote: Because it sure as hell acts like one.

what why are you repeating

At 3/17/17 02:12 AM, Xenomit wrote: The vast majority of people have racist thoughts or beliefs in one way or another. Every single race and ethnicity.

Stop fucking virtue signalling and trying to make yourself look like jesus fucking christ to get "cool kid points" with the liberal crowd.

Just like there's a difference between having a bout of diarrhea and having crohn's or having a cold versus having COPD, there's a difference between having a symptom of an illness that may cause social debility, and being severely socially disabled.

Healthy people occasionally cough. Healthy people are occasionally depressed. Healthy people sometimes think racist thoughts.

The trick is when you notice it happening, to find a way to make it stop.


This is a song about death. It's on mandolin.

Hate is the first step to all solutions.

You will not end bigotry until you learn to hate it.

BBS Signature

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 14:23:37


Depends...

If I say I don't like people who look differently from me, do I get medical marijuana?


The redesign happened, now my signature doesn't match anymore.

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Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 14:59:59


Hey guys define racism, racist and argue whether or not we're all inherently racist, argue why groups should be thought as inherently the same and why assuming equality isnt a illness because I thought racism is bad because of holding beliefs on ignorance and prejudice should be a mental illness.

Is racism a mental illness.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 15:11:18


Is racism due to ignorance?
Studying animal husbandry, eugenics seems to make a whole lot of sense.
Children are ignorant. They're normally not racist until they learn it.
It seems like an oversimplification to say "I don't like this, it has negative effects: It's ignorant."
But it's not just ignorant. Ignorance is morally innocent, but there's nothing innocent about racism. There's malice in it. The people who believe in it honestly are making a eugenic argument that certain people shouldn't be allowed to breed and thrive and integrate into the genome.
The problem is the assumption people are smart enough to manage their own genome without ending up like bulldogs: so limited in genetic diversity that there's not enough old healthy DNA in the species to balance out the congenital diseases caused by genetic mutation and drift and barely able to breed at all without medical intervention.
Not to put too fine a point on it, the main reason we are not currently ruled by pedigreed royalty is because they would always end up so inbred and deformed they would become unfit to rule and had to continually refresh their lines with peasant blood, rendering the whole concept of racial purity hilariously moot.


Dr. Spedmund McMallet

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Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 15:53:20


At 3/17/17 03:11 PM, Spedmallet wrote: Is racism due to ignorance?
Studying animal husbandry, eugenics seems to make a whole lot of sense.
Children are ignorant. They're normally not racist until they learn it.
It seems like an oversimplification to say "I don't like this, it has negative effects: It's ignorant."
But it's not just ignorant. Ignorance is morally innocent, but there's nothing innocent about racism. There's malice in it. The people who believe in it honestly are making a eugenic argument that certain people shouldn't be allowed to breed and thrive and integrate into the genome.
The problem is the assumption people are smart enough to manage their own genome without ending up like bulldogs: so limited in genetic diversity that there's not enough old healthy DNA in the species to balance out the congenital diseases caused by genetic mutation and drift and barely able to breed at all without medical intervention.
Not to put too fine a point on it, the main reason we are not currently ruled by pedigreed royalty is because they would always end up so inbred and deformed they would become unfit to rule and had to continually refresh their lines with peasant blood, rendering the whole concept of racial purity hilariously moot.

This what I mean how can you people argue racism if you have no common ground on what racist and racism mean you cant argue 2 different things your argument is solely race supremacy while others vaguely argue it like every one has the same idea as they do what ever that is, is thinking 2nd gen mexican immigrants have a high chance of knowing some spanish make people worse then hittler how the fuck should any one know.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 16:15:38


At 3/17/17 04:00 PM, Entice wrote:
At 3/17/17 02:12 AM, Xenomit wrote: Stop fucking virtue signaling
Wow, the gay furry who acts like a conservative
I've truly seen it all now

Then you haven't seen much of the world now have you.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 17:49:27


At 3/17/17 04:20 PM, Entice wrote:
At 3/17/17 04:15 PM, asdfsilax wrote: Then you haven't seen much of the world now have you
There's nothing worth seeing outside the NG BBS anyways

Can confirm.

At 3/17/17 03:11 PM, Spedmallet wrote:
It seems like an oversimplification to say "I don't like this, it has negative effects: It's ignorant."

no, everyone except me and my philosophy are right

But it's not just ignorant. Ignorance is morally innocent, but there's nothing innocent about racism. There's malice in it.
The problem is the assumption people are smart enough to manage their own genome without ending up like bulldogs

why are people so stupid as to not believe my beliefs

refresh their lines with peasant blood, rendering the whole concept of racial purity hilariously moot.

idiots


This is a song about death. It's on mandolin.

Hate is the first step to all solutions.

You will not end bigotry until you learn to hate it.

BBS Signature

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 19:15:54


At 3/15/17 12:22 AM, FUNKbrs wrote: Racists should have to live in that kind of fear too.

The biggest problem with that is that you can't trust anyone to be an arbiter of who's racist and who's not, and the degree of racism present in someone isn't easy to measure. It would be too easy to turn racism into a witch hunt to discredit and destroy people and would ultimately force people to be overly politically correct.


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I grew into racism slowly. When I was about 12 years old it started when I had a fight with my black friend. And grew over time until I got out of a hospital from mental illness and became stable. Now I have no problems except boredom.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-17 21:24:59


At 3/17/17 07:29 PM, Xenomit wrote: The fun part is, I'm not a conservative at all. I'm not on either side of the political spectrum.

Riiight, yet it's funny how all you ever say is stuff that sounds like the alt-right. Like, everything you say, all the buzz words, then you say stuff like this. It looks more like you just don't like owning your beliefs personally.

Also this thread is about what I figured it'd be at this point....


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At 3/18/17 12:47 AM, Xenomit wrote:
At 3/18/17 12:09 AM, Entice wrote: I agree that racism can't really be classified as a mental illness but this has less to do with that and more to do with the fact that your political vocabulary sounds like it was lifted from an Alex Jones podcast
What did I say that can be considered "conservative vocabulary"?

Virtue signalling? That's just a word, no political side owns it. It's when someone signals their virtues to others to make them look morally superior and super ethical. It's just egotistical masturbation, and that's all the OP was, pandering to a liberal crowd by grandstanding with this "I'm so against racism I think it should be considered mental illness" message. It's honestly disgusting to see and I think it should be called out when it happens.

Uh, probably because you're always spitting poison at liberals every chance you get. If you had any common sense, you wouldn't ask silly question on why people think you're a conservative.

You know, just say that you are a libertarian, instead of a classic liberal, and everyone will know where you stand on things. People on the right will call you a liberal, and people on the left will call you a conservative, which all balances out to you not knowing what you want, other than being super vindictive, and anal, about the left, because they don't share your views.

I think this thread has officially run it's course.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-18 11:34:09


At 3/18/17 02:15 AM, Xenomit wrote:
Well, the shit that liberals claim and think these days is insane. You people can check my post history, I used to EXCLUSIVELY rail on republicans, and this was only 2 or 3 years ago. But at this point, liberals have gotten worse than republicans.

Meh, more like everyone is worse, but people can't see it in themselves, just in those around them. It's good old fashioned myopic misanthropy, nothing more.

Solipsism is alive and well. People know it's a dirty trick, but they don't know WHY, because the beauty of solipsism is that it's always by definition technically sound. Solipsistic arguments appear more correct than they actually are in ways that can only be proven in practice, but by that point the error becomes practical as well.

Whoever isn't in power blames those who are. When solipsism reigns free, the under dog always appears right, because only the over dog can be proven wrong.

I wouldn't say I'm vindictive and anal, I'm just opposing the views of the left. OP's view: Racism is a mental illness. Reality: That's insane to genuinely consider that a possibility. Me pointing that out isn't me being hateful to the left, that's just me making an observation.

I never said racism was a mental illness. It's up for debate. I'm admitting it's a grey area, and trying to hash it out. This has nothing to do with existing political dogmas; it has to do with what appears to be an exploit to the logic centers of the human mind. If I were to be pointing out a design flaw in Windows 10 that made it insecure, I'd be a hero. But if I point out a design flaw in the the human mind that makes it insecure, I'm a cunt. But if I keep it secret and exploit it using solipsism, I'm not?


As for "conservative vocabulary" I still don't know what words I used that make me seem like a conservative.

Stereotypes suck. Your language shouldn't be monitored for political affiliation as a matter superior to monitoring it for logical soundness. You message should be read for what it is, not what it can solipsistically be made out to be.

And fuck Spin Doctors, just in general.


This is a song about death. It's on mandolin.

Hate is the first step to all solutions.

You will not end bigotry until you learn to hate it.

BBS Signature

At 3/18/17 02:15 AM, Xenomit wrote:
At 3/18/17 02:02 AM, EdyKel wrote: Uh, probably because you're always spitting poison at liberals every chance you get.
Well, the shit that liberals claim and think these days is insane. You people can check my post history, I used to EXCLUSIVELY rail on republicans, and this was only 2 or 3 years ago. But at this point, liberals have gotten worse than republicans.

Huh, why should anyone waste time looking through thousands of of your posts looking to see where you stand on things? Do you think you are that important to warrant that amount of time waste?

And, I ignore a lot of things liberal say, and focouse on what actually matters to me, and could affect me and others.

other than being super vindictive, and anal, about the left, because they don't share your views.
I wouldn't say I'm vindictive and anal, I'm just opposing the views of the left. OP's view: Racism is a mental illness. Reality: That's insane to genuinely consider that a possibility. Me pointing that out isn't me being hateful to the left, that's just me making an observation.

As for "conservative vocabulary" I still don't know what words I used that make me seem like a conservative.

Let's see.... You went off on this topic at full guns a'blazing at liberals, when it wasn't specifically about them, because you were sure they were overreacting, and making false assumptions, over a question that may seem to you to have an obvious answer.

You may be right that racism is not a mental illness, but that doesn't mean you should discount it entirely. To do so would make you no different than the people you're going after for doing what you see as doing the same thing.

Personally, I'm not going to say that everyone who is racist has a mental illness. After all, it's often just a preference, no different than liking or hating something. But there are people out there who go beyond just merely hating something to the point it becomes abnormal, and extreme, and can manifest itself into obsession, and possibly violence, towards others.

According to the American Psychiatric Association: "Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in thinking, emotion or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities."

I'm no expert on any of this, and I doubt that anyone here is also. But the topic discussion was just little more than a healthy discussion over something, which had no far reaching consequences for anyone. Yet, you used it as an excuse to go after liberals who didn't think your way.

You may not think you are a conservative, or see why people could call you that, but you haven't shown us that you aren't, other than telling us that we are wrong. You have had plenty of chances to join in other discussion about the huge conservative clusterfuck in Washington, and you seem to ignore that to focouse on hating liberals. It doesn't take much common sense why people see you as anything but a conservative.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-18 14:56:50


Well considering that most of psychiatry is complete bullshit then no it's not a disorder or an illness.
The DSM started out as a military handbook and has no scientific evidence to back up it's statements. There's no proof that any of these disorders actually exist in the first place. It's more about healthcare fraud and medicinal malpractice for the most part.

Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-18 19:10:33


At 3/17/17 11:42 PM, Xenomit wrote: If having common sense is all it takes for you to label someone as a "conservative" or as "alt right" then that's really telling of how far politically left you are, which I'm sure you think is a good thing.

No, I came to that conclusion based on two things:

1. You ALWAYS advocate for Conservative positions, never Liberal ones that I've ever seen.

2. You have called me a "cuck" and other alt right terms, and considering your obvious dislike of certain ethnic groups, it seems to me White Nationalism (which is what the alt right is built on) would hold some appeal for you.

Based on these things, and Occam's Razor, it makes me think you're a conservative that just won't own it for whatever reason. Has absolutely nothing to do with my political biases whatsoever.


You don't have to pass an IQ test to be in the senate. --Mark Pryor, Senator

The Endless Crew: Comics and general wackiness. Join us or die.

PM me about forum abuse.

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Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-18 19:11:53


At 3/18/17 02:20 PM, Sause wrote: Wait a minute, what's wrong with being alt-right or alt-left? As far as I can see it doesn't hurt anybody to be uber wingers (besides their own sanity) and the benefits outweigh the cons, the benefits being we get nourishing lolcow milk from their nuclear meltdowns on Twitter.

I almost replied to you seriously....then I caught the sarcasm....we probably will never agree on anything politically. But I'm really enjoying the tone of your posts lately.


You don't have to pass an IQ test to be in the senate. --Mark Pryor, Senator

The Endless Crew: Comics and general wackiness. Join us or die.

PM me about forum abuse.

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Response to Is racism a mental illness. 2017-03-18 20:57:19


I like where this thread is heading.