The difference between a racist and someone who is blindly ignorant

Sometimes someone can say something that comes off as racist...usually its when that person conforms to some stereotype.

But that doesn't necessarily make them racist, so to speak. There is a famous video on youtube where this guy (I think he may be black or biracial, i dunno) talks about how to tell someone what they did was racist.

As he said, there is a difference between telling someone they are racist and telling someone what they said or did was racist. Now naturally, the racist will deny it at all costs, will get defensive either way, and ultimately call you the racist for pointing out their racism.

But what makes the racist different from someone who is blindly ignorant?

Well the blindly ignorant are so cultured in their white privilege that sometimes they don't realize how patronizing they can be to minorities and how conforming they actually are to stereotypes. Yet when you tell them what they are saying or doing is wrong or how it will be percieved and they listen and try not to do that again...that is what makes them different from the racist.

A racist will keep defending their actions without listening to your rationale. An ignorant person is more apt to listening to what you have to say. They may not understand why its wrong and may not care deep down that its wrong and may even think in their own mind that you are making an issue out of nothing...but if they at least stop what they are saying or doing, you have made it one step further than you ever would have with a racist.

What it basically comes down to is respect. You address the blindly ignorant, they are more likely to respect your wishes to stop what they are saying or doing. Only the racist would continue on, showing not only their racism, but their penchant for being disrespectful.

I remember on an episode of ER, Ross was assuming this black man was a cocaine druggie and wouldn't let him have his daughter. Conni (the black nurse) had to set the record straight. She told him she didn't see Ross as a racist, but what he was doing was. So Ross made things right, and turned out the dad wasn't a druggie but the daughter was...and as it turned out, what that family was dealing with was the same kind of things any ordinary family would be dealing with that would result in a rebellious teen doing drugs. Of course there have been other episodes with issues of race popping up where a white person jumped to conclusions only to be proven wrong (Green and Archie Morris, and this is not including all the episodes of racist cops harassing the black doctors).

In the end, the blindly ignorant still have a little bit of a chance of being educated...but the less we educate the more likely the will learn to become a racist.