How did I miss this story? (Ahmaud Arbery shooting in Georgia)[MERGED]

guidomerkinsrules said
ok, good, i'm glad you're wading into this territory bc i think you're les likely to take offense (not bc others are more easily offended but bc they might perceive the question from me as attacking and ths get defensive and i don't think you would)
ANYWAY
where do bystanders fit in with this?

eg, we've seen dozens of videos of Karens verbally attacking families of hispanic descent in Walmarts or the like, and you usually see 20-30 people gathered around, some taking videos, but not intervening - where do the bystanders fall on the racist <> normal, decent fold continuum?

it's essentially the same question that comes up when someone talks about bad cops - saying the % of bad cops is tiny. the retort is obvious bc clearly there are some 'not bad' cops who let the bad cops operate

are bystanders enablers or just a neutral party?

Well, here's where my elitism will be clearly displayed and offend some folks even though this is totally a joke:

Clearly, if they're at Walmart they're racist.

But on a serious note, people are likely genetically predisposed to be afraid of those who are different. When you see someone different whose being accosted for whatever, it's instinctive to assume they're deserving of it. That doesn't make you a racist though it may make you instinctively wrong.

Fixing that requires intellect and discipline and a conscious effort to teach our instincts they're wrong. Inherent bias isn't racism, but it sure can be manifested as such.