[Gunthar]

Questions like those have become extremely taboo in American culture and are considered rude. Yet, biologically, there are differences between races that set them apart. Would you consider the question ‘Why is some people’s skin darker than others’?’ offensive? If yes, why? The fact is that people often wonder about these kinds of things, and perhaps having them explained would help clear up any confusion. Y? Forum is one of the few places where this can be done.

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Name : Gunthar, Gender : M, City : Los Angeles, State : CA, Country : United States, 

[Lynne22522]

I suppose that as humans we are curious about what makes us all different. Not everyone asks such questions in a racist way. I am a white female with red hair and freckly skin and used to get teased because of these two ‘different’ characteristics. Perhaps you could interpret that they were implying I had ‘defects’? Perhaps these people are just curious. Usually when people don’t understand something they can get offensive.

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Name : Lynne22522, Gender : F, City : Sydney, State : NA, Country : Australia, 

[Jim C.]

We are a middle-aged gay couple with two profoundly, obviously, orthopedically handicapped children. Our little girl drools and has impaired speech. Our little boy is multiracial and has very twisted legs. Both are in wheelchairs. One of us is a big bear. As a family I think we probably encounter every sort of bigotry, prejudice and judgment there is. That being said, I’d like to suggest to you that when someone asks ‘Why are your palms pink instead of brown’ the motive may not be to degrade, judge or imply that brown hands with pink palms are inferior to pink hands with pink palms. It may simply be that they would like to know why the two hands are different. Not every question or observation about how people differ is fueled by a desire to claim superiority of self and inferiority of others. Learning to recognize when you are facing bigotry and when you are facing curiosity is essential when you are not one of the majority. We have found that if we assume the best motive and accept nothing less, we plant seeds of tolerance (if not acceptance). It doesn’t always shield us from pure hate, but it does help us (no easy goal) keep from becoming hateful ourselves. Jim & Tim

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Name : Jim C., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 42, City : Rochester, State : NY, Country : United States, Occupation : Medical Tech, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Shawn]

I’ve read all the responses to date, and I, too, find it ironic that the majority of them were mainly harsh in tone, and from white people. I’m not ‘thin-skinned’ or ‘too sensitive,’ but I am fed up with hateful, ignorant questions disguised as questions to gain enlightenment. It’s one thing to question why someone acts the way they act, but to question why someone looks a certain way is taking it too far. The following is a post of mine that never got posted, which was in response to a particular individual who happened to e-mail me personally. I believe it still is applicable:

As I stated in my post, questions of this nature are not to gain enlightenment, but to poke fun, and demean a race’s physical characteristics. I haven’t run across any question in this forum asking why white people are so pale, why their hair is generally straight, why they have thin lips, why they smell funny after they get wet, etc. — that is because we don’t feel it necessary to make ourselves seem superior, by make others seem inferior. I wouldn’t ask such silly questions because there is an underlying hate embedded in them. Such questions aimed at non-whites are designed to make them feel a self-hate about who they are and what they look like, because our society, for so long, pushed a blonde, blue-eyed Barbie-and-Ken stereotype that was considered the ideal American. I find it more times than not that Afro-Americans are called upon to explain or justify themselves in Y Forum, as if we’ve been placed under some microscope to be dissected. I find that European-Americans have such an arrogance about themselves that they feel they can do and say whatever, and that it is justified. Not so.

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Name : Shawn, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 31, City : Baltimore, State : MD, Country : United States, Occupation : MIS Programmer/PC Specialist, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[jesse29746]

they are different in many ways. Niggers think differently, they look different, and they act different. I honestly think they should be classified as theyre own dam species. More along the lines of APE.

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Name : jesse29746, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Disability : bad knee, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 20, City : new lenox, State : IL, Country : United States, Occupation : operater, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Schmee]

A question about physical features, does not imply that those features are non-standard, but a question as to why DNA is encoded in such a way. A question as to why are ‘black’ people’s hands and feet white … could be out of curiosity, not hate or jest. The same as why do some people like Robin Williams have excess body hair which is an honest question as well about a ‘white’ guy … if he was of an ethnic origin, the question would have the same meaning, but would it be interpreted differently … assuming someone is making a slur? It shouldn’t. You should never be afraid of questions that help someone understand something better. I personally don’t know why ALL people have white palms … if anything, it is something that proves we are all the same, instead of something to tear us apart. It is, to me, the same as asking why some fish have certain fins, and others don’t. Neither one of them are non-standard for their particular type, but the question is still valid. Let us all stop being so quick to jump the gun and start seeing everyone as equal, peaceful, and love each other as human animals regardless of gender, race, age, sexual orientation, belief or any other thing you try to find wrong with someone (my religion teaches me to love all, even if they don’t agree with me, and lead by example of love and not hate and discrimination and allow them to come to faith by His works, not by my force), and love other animals and our earth/environment as well.

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Name : Schmee, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Christian, Age : 28, City : Zuber, State : FL, Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class, 

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