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The author of the r/AskReddit thread, u/Gamerbrineofficial, told Bored Pand about the inspiration behind the question that they asked. "I had just watched a YouTube video about an ex-Nazi and a Jewish person talking about their lives when I got the idea for the post," they shared with Bored Panda what got them thinking about life.

The redditor believes that exposing ourselves to new cultural experiences, whether through volunteering, travel, or other ways, can help make us more accepting of other people. "I think by embracing other races and cultures as human, we can work towards a better world."

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views My story is a bit different from the others here. I was a skinhead since I was a kid..about 13. We ran in a gang and listened to both racial music and also nonracial music. We were a bit mouthy etc about race, but the place we grew up in was totally white. There was one Chinese lass out our whole school..about 1,200 people. It didn't take me too long to realize that the "they took our jobs" talk was a load of s**te as there were no ethnic people..and no jobs. So I did grow out of the racist thing myself pretty quickly.

It was only really when I went to university that I actually encountered different races. I got to work beside black and Asian guys, played football with Africans and Greeks and generally had a great time and met great people who I still keep in contact with. I think even though I didn't consider myself racist..I couldn't imagine me having black friends..or going on holiday with a group that included several Muslims, which I did do a couple of years back.

Wee funny story before I end about prejudices. I went to live in another city, and was just myself..talk to anyone. One night I got a cab. The driver was a Muslim in full Pakistani cultural gear. Skull cap, long gown etc. I thought, people are people and have the right to do or dress how they want, but I don't think we are going to have a lot o talk about, not much common ground. I gave him my address and sat back to chill out.

Guy turns round..you a Scot? I said yeah mate. Then he starts chatting about when he first came to England in the 60s before the majority of Pakistanis, he used to get picked on at school. The other guys who were picked on were Scots and Irish. So they formed a gang of the eight of them. From that day they could go watch football, go out at night, and generally stick up for each other. He said, that was a long time ago, and I still get a shiver when I hear Scots or Irish accents. Now he teaches kids at the mosque not to dislike white christians, and the best ways to mix and interact. We sat for 20 minutes when we arrived at my house and just shot the breeze.

I think that's when the last bit of bigotry left me.

Allydarvel , Stephan Schmid Report

Final score:

313points

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S. 2 years ago

This is so wholesome, this submission sent shivers down my spine — in a good way, of course, it touched my heart. :)♥

53points

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views Not me, but my dad was quite racist to the local native group. My dad was a woodsman and felt the native land agreements were unfair, and didn't agree with their hunting and fishing rights/treaties.

At age 18 during my last year of highschool I was doing a lot of community volunteer work and my dad helped out managing a youth program with me. The parent group above us arranged for an event at the local reserve.

My dad begrudgingly went with me to the event to supervise the younger kids.

It was a transformative experience for him. We were invited to take part in a drum circle, did a bunch of ice breaker activities, listened to talks, met elders, and were served amazing food.

The band gave my dad a t-shirt and he proudly wore it so often after that, someone actually asked him if he was native. (he does have darker skin colouring from being outside but is still as white as they come)

Now my dad speaks out a lot against racism directed at native/indigenous folks. He's become very passionate.

On the one hand I'm really glad he improved but on the other I think it's sad he needed a personal experience of such magnitude to have empathy. It places the burden on THEM to educate US. But I suppose it's still better than him being racist the rest of his life.

HFXmer , MJ Tangonan Report

Final score:

250points

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KatHat 2 years ago

That's a really important observation there at the end. "It shouldn't have to happen to you, to matter to you." Being able to think about and care about others' experiences is vanishing and it's making the entire world worse.

80points

I also wanted to get the redditor's opinion about modern-day racism. "I agree racism is alive in the 21st century (unfortunately) and has been alive since other races first started interacting with one another," they told Bored Panda. Despite the fact that there are people fighting for more tolerance in the world, u/Gamerbrineofficial doesn't believe that racism can ever be fully eradicated. "I do not think, sadly, that racism will ever be fully gone from the human race. It is a sad reality that there will always be hateful people in the world."

Previously, I spoke about accepting everyone, no matter our differences, with award-winning human rights activist and writer, Elizabeth Artif-Fear. She told Bored Panda that at the core of acceptance lie empathy, communication, listening, dialogues, and compassion. We have to strive to expand our social circles and move out of our own echo chambers and comfort boxes.

"It's important to meet, socialize, work with and get to know people from a variety of different backgrounds—people from different ethnic backgrounds, age groups, faith traditions, nationalities, etc. This helps us to learn about different views, beliefs, experiences, and values,” she said.

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views This story is difficult to share. I am typing this at the request of my son.

I was raised as a racist. We lived in Southern California near a lot of minorities. My father was a union leader and I think his hatred of minorities came from his job, because the union was mostly white guys and they saw the minorities as trying to take their jobs. Whenever we would drive around and see them in the street, my dad would always point them out and talk s**t about them.

I grew up and had kids of my own. I was doing the same thing to them without realizing it. One day I came home and caught my 14 year old daughter screwing around with a black kid. I threw him out of my house and beat him in my driveway. The cops were called and I went to prison for assault. In prison, I saw how ethnically divided everything was, but my counselor was the one who basically shook me out of it. She helped me realize that continuing this hatred would really only hurt my own life. I tried to avoid the racial groups in my prison. I stayed on my own and earned my GED. In my classes I met a lot of minorities who had also never graduated high school. I listened to my counselor and got to know them and realized what a hard life they had. Before, I thought that they were just lazy and sold drugs for easy money. We went through a lot of the same struggles in our education.

When I got out, I started a construction company. I make an effort to hire both former cons and also minorities. I am trying to make up for the kind of things I have done in the past.

erhywerhwer5hw , Larry Farr Report

Final score:

248points

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Natasha Hartman 2 years ago

Thank your daughter for me. I believe writing it down and saying it out loud will keep you in this path

70points

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I met a holocaust survivor. He was a child at the camp in Sobibor. It was a life changing experience. Without it, I’d probably have ended up being part of the alt-right. Instead, I got a real wake up call and have taken to being a major supporter or human rights.

QuadCannon , Vlada Report

Final score:

233points

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snipergun 2 years ago

Never forget what they went through. It doesn't change what happened and how bad it was, but the moment we forget it, nothing will stand between us and repeating same mistakes.

77points

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I was skinhead adjacent during high school. It offered me identity and a sense of belonging and purpose. Started becoming more extreme, identifying more with the idea of white oppression by “the Jews”. Then I had this sudden realization that my best friend was a Jew. And his family offered me more acceptance and belonging than I’d ever find in the movement. It was an amazing aha moment. To think that I was teaching myself to hate the people who showed me the most love was a little heartbreaking but it was an important moment in my life. I’ve never looked back.

I_been_some_places , Zac Ong Report

Final score:

204points

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Rod Egret 2 years ago

Originally the skinhead movement was not political....

5points

According to the human rights activist, volunteering and travel are two ways that can help us learn more about the world and how different people live.

“That's why initiatives in our local area such as volunteer projects, inter-community groups, interfaith projects, and social/youth clubs which enable us to meet as many different people as possible are so important. Authentic travel is also important but not affordable or accessible to everyone. Funded schemes, fellowships, and intercultural exchange programs may offer more affordable and accessible ways to engage," she told Bored Panda.

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views Lets pretend you’ve never seen a platypus. But you’ve heard about them. You’ve heard that they have a bill and webbed feet. You’ve heard that they lay eggs. You’ve heard that they have a tail like a beaver. But you, yourself, have never seen one. You take for granted that these things are true because EVERYONE around you says they are.

I grew up in a super tiny farm town in the middle of nowhere. All 300 people in the town were white. My parents were racist. My friends were racist. My friend’s parents were racists. Even the vast majority of teachers in our k-12 school grew up in or around my town, and were racist. Guess what? With literally every single person around me telling me that black people were inferior, i thought black people were inferior. I took for granted that it was true, because it seemed unlikely that EVERYONE was wrong. Just like I currently take for granted that a platypus lays eggs.

When I was 10 I went to a summer camp a few hours north of me. There were black, hispanic, and asian kids there. Hell, I even shared a cabin with a black kid. I honestly thought I would get attacked at night. By the end of the third day of camp, I realized that other than talking a bit different, my black cabinmate was no different than my white cabinmates. And the talking a bit different thing didn’t bother me. I had family from other parts of the US that talked different from me, and it didn’t matter much.

This started a slow but steady realization in me that maybe my parents were wrong about things, and maybe people were just people. I’d like to think that I treat everyone with the same level of respect today. I sincerely hope I do, anyway.

Still not sure about platypus though

awesomecubed , Meg Jerrard Report

Final score:

196points

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Rijkærd 2 years ago

The platypus stuff is true, you can rest now.

65points

JoakimSpinglefarb , Unseen Histories Report

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views A lot of my old racist tendencies were subtly taught through culture and peers. I didn't start changing until I finally realized what Dr. Martin Luther King meant in his speech: don't judge people by the things they had no choice over, judge them by the choices they make.

It's never somebody's choice to be born black, asian, middle eastern, Hispanic, gay, bisexual, or transexual. It's totally somebody's choice to want to see them wiped from the face of the Earth.

Final score:

196points

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Mad Dragon 2 years ago

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

80points

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I was 1 of 3 native people in a school with 300 people. I was harassed daily, got called a chug, squaw, dirty Indian and was told to go back to my rez. I've had food, bottles and other things thrown at me. My cellphone was stolen and smashed days after my parents saved up to buy me my own. Girls would try and physically fight me for no other reason than that I didn't look like them.

By the end of highschool I HATED white people. I thought they all hated me so it would be fine if I expressed the same kind of resentment and anger, even towards strangers who hadn't done anything wrong.

All it took to change my mind, was a trip to a national park with my dog. People were so friendly and kind. I couldn't believe it, people from all of the world were interacting with me and my dog. I was receiving nothing but kindness and love, especially from white people and children who wanted to pet my dog. That's all it took, was a dog to undo years of my racism towards white people. Surely if my dog could love any human he encountered, why couldn't I?

OliveJuiceYou , Bailey Burton Report

Final score:

173points

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S. 2 years ago

Dogs rule the world!

60points

"If we only ever meet, see, and talk with people of exactly the same backgrounds we miss out on the varied nuanced diverse experiences of life. In such a context, we can't work to understand other people's needs, wants, views and experiences as best as possible. We're all neighbors and our diversity should be celebrated,” Elizabeth said.

“Learn a new language, volunteer at a non-profit organization supporting people from different backgrounds, and go out there and meet people and visit places (when safe to do so!)," she suggested some ways in which anyone can broaden their minds.

#10

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I fell hard for a guy of color. Made me question everything - every thought I ever had. And while it didn’t work out I’m forever grateful for him and his compassion and patience.

ExerciseLocal5248 , Justin Groep Report

Final score:

155points

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Miss Cris 2 years ago

Usually love open our mind, not only our heart.

24points

#11

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I teach film to kids some times, and we come in and make a film with these kids in a matter of days. This one kid I had in my group recently was known as coming from a racist household, mainly against refugees (a big point here in Europe right now). He made some remarks here and there, and when watching the news got very focal against refugees.

We were going to show a short documentary about refugees, and the teacher was preparing me that this kid could be triggered by this and be annoying. The documentary we watched was from the point of view of a kid just a few years older then the kids in this class. You saw him struggling to learn our language, living in close quarters and most importantly living far away from his parents. A big part of the film was about him trying to get permission to get his mother and sisters, whom he had not seen in years, here.

At the end of the film the refugee family was not reunited. After trying for years to no avail. The kids in the class were all devastated, but most of all this one ‘racist’ kid. He insisted on signing the petition to help the boy in front of the whole class, and was noticeably upset about the situation the boy lived in.

It warmed my heart to see him go against the hate he had been taught. Kids aren’t racist. They are just copying their parents. The empathy in a child is such a wonderful thing.

Judgeman , Julie Ricard Report

Final score:

133points

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Raven DeathShade 2 years ago

I see this a lot while interacting with other kids. They're just repeating what their parents say, they don't have their own opinions most of the time. They need to learn how to think for themselves, especially since many of them are anti-mask and anti-vax.

46points

#12

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views Being born in a brown family you'd think there's nothing to be racist about. I mean, we're already of colour who are we racist about? Well, you're wrong. Brown parents are racist of every other race. Black, Asian and even white people (yes, that's also racism as it is discrimination because of colour). So as children of brown parents we're also brought up thinking that any other race is bad, for whatever reason. (Not only colour but brown parents also discriminate because of religion, just wanted to add)

Anyways, in highschool I had a few friends who were a little darker in colour than the rest of us and my parents told me to stay away from them. But they were genuinely nicer than many other fake friends (it's highschool) so I liked hanging out with them. That's when I realized that it was a genuine wrong thinking and also that this will always be normal in my brown household so I chose to move to another country. I mean, there were many other reasons for me to get to this decision

bdum_tss , MChe Lee Report

Final score:

114points

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Mohammad Ammar 2 years ago

This needs to be talked about. The global conversation on racism revolves almost entirely around poc in white western countries. This is partly why Asia is sooo racist. They don't see it as their problem. When the whole BLM thing was going on people here didn't even bother to reflect on their own actions. All I heard was " oh look at how racist those white people are". Colorism is huge here, religious intolerance is frightfully high and don't get me started on discrimination based on ethnicity and social class.

126points

#13

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views My parents were both closet racists (racist behind closed door/out of earshot) but we were taught other races couldn't be trusted as kids. I can remember my mum deliberately not inviting a Pakistani kid to a birthday party that sort of thing.

I was stereotypical angry white kid, around 15yo I started listening to Eminem that progressed into black artists I heard him duet with.

I genuinely give credit to rap music for making me realise my parents were wrong. Biggie, Snoop, Dre, Kanye and 50cent opened me up to a different path in life which ended me up with a Japanese partner so all's well that ends well.

butwhywouldit , eminem Report

Final score:

112points

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LazyPanda 2 years ago (edited)

This is all great and well, but I personally don't think marrying out of your race is the ultimate "I made it out of racism" triumph. You get something in return out of marriage. These stories are much more touching (imo) without the triumphant marraige at the end. Show me you learned to love someone different from you with no promised exchange in return. I live in a community where people constantly hail mixed marraiges as the end to racism and I feel we are missing something there. Still happy they were freed from such hatred though! And through rap, I love it!

34points

Masterblaster2222 , Josue Isai Ramos Figueroa Report

#14

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I started a construction job. Hispanics are some of the nicest, funniest people you’ll ever meet. The language barrier even adds to the hilarity. It was an eye opener that these guys are just trying to make a living and go home, just like me. Landing this job has changed my view on ALL races and I’m very happy it did. You can’t just HATE someone for their distance from the equator.

Final score:

110points

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Jaclyn Levy 2 years ago

"You can't just hate someone for their distance from the equator." Boom. Nailed it.

51points

#15

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views This isn’t a former racist thing, but I realized early on that color isn’t “only skin deep.” If you grew up in the late ‘80s and ‘90s this was a thing people said. Color is only skin deep. My friend cut his knee in gym class and it started bleeding. After they got it all cleaned up I saw that his skin color only went down like 1/16 of an inch. It’s only a couple layers of your skin. Under that he was as white as me. So yeah, that’s when I realized we’re all the same color under the first couple layers of skin. It isn’t skin-deep, it’s just the outer part of the skin.

Ramii83 , Channey Tang-Ho Report

Final score:

106points

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Jo Choto 2 years ago

It's a very common white attitude to use whiteness as the default and compare everyone else to that whiteness. So this guy is white like you a few millimetres down, and that's what makes him ok? I know that's not what you mean, but that is actually what you said. It wouldn't matter if someone were black all the way through and had different coloured blood from me. Being like me is not what makes someone acceptable. Being human is what unites us.

42points

#16

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views Sesame Street. I'm not even joking.

Was raised in a slightly racist household in a pretty racist state.

Seeing kids of all colors playing together made me wonder why my mom wouldn't let me play with certain people.

It kind of snowballed from there.

Miss_Sweetie_Poo , sesamestreet Report

Final score:

101points

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Nathan Pogorzala 2 years ago

Sesame Street has been pretty progressive through its history and ALWAYS put the social and cultural education of children at the top. Look at all those bigoted dickheads getting all pissed off at big bird, or about the muppet with same sex parents. They are teaching children about honest world and human values and they don't get swayed by politicians or angry interest groups. I applaud them for sticking to their guns for 50 years despite pushback by people with theirs heads up their asses.

46points

#17

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I used to be pretty racist. I would say things like “I’m not racist, I just think black Americans have a culture problem”, or “I’m not racist but why don’t they listen to cops?” Just things like that. Like always making excuses for the oppressors but never allowing a single excuse for the oppressed.

What got me out of it was just working in retail and being exposed to other people and ideas. I learned to put people first. Put people above culture, put people above tradition, put people above current systems. If you do that, really learn to value human life, you will end up a progressive every single time

excusetheblood , Heamosoo Kim Report

Final score:

93points

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Na Schi 2 years ago (edited)

Funny that it was retail - though good. The one thing retail taught me was that pigs came in all shades and colors. There is no different in race: demanding arseholes (aka customers) with no manners can be found everywhere.

42points

#18

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I met, fell in love with, and married a black woman. I was extremely ignorant and did not believe there was a race problem in this country. Then again I grew up with an extremely comfortable privileged life. Then once I started getting the same looks and stares and comments from being with her, yeah trust me it’s a huge problem.

BojanglesWarrior , Jakob Owens Report

Final score:

91points

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KatHat 2 years ago

I'm glad this person learned but the wording here is unfortunate. No, I don't need to "trust you" because you finally EXPERIENCED it so now believe it. I already believed Black people when they told me it was a huge problem. LISTEN to others' experiences.

28points

#19

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views My friend was an on again off again Trumper last year and kept posting about how "hero" Luke Skywalker and a few of us told him Luke literally had a school of jedi of all different races and backgrounds and sexes, you root for him as a fictional character but support the Emperor of real life and he got real quiet.

Bark4Soul Report

Final score:

89points

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Olga Dremina 2 years ago

You could just ask your friend to check Mark Hamill himself Twitter account, where he called Trump Tangerine Palpatine))

61points

20MinToFindUsername , John Schnobrich Report

#20

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views Growing up I was told that all the woes of my state were caused by those ( ethnic slur)s. We would drive through the poor area of town and it would be pointed out to me that " they make everything worse. they are like cockroaches". Something about these claims just didn't sit right with me and when I was old enough to look things up online I realized everything I was told was truth was just regurgitated Fox News. The more I looked things up, the more lies I saw. Nobody would listen to me when I tried to show them. I think they know deep down, but racism is an easy scapegoat for the world's problems.

Final score:

85points

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S. 2 years ago

"Blaming is a universal human trait that helps people feel good while feeling bad, or as my old teacher Elvin Semrad used to say: 'Hate makes the world go round.'" — Bessel A. van der Kolk

22points

#21

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views My parents were/are racist. I grew up in a “Christian evangelical” household. Despite living in a diverse city (London) my parents would say the most disgusting things. And of course, I said the same things. I didn’t know any better - until I educated myself. Now I call out the racisms and homophobia - but it’s exhausting being the person who made mum cry again. My mum died a while ago, and although I do miss her and have fond memories of her - my overruling memories of her is when she was toxic and racist/homophobic. My dad is the same, but is less vocal about it.

My parents were the typical I am not racist I have black/Asian friends. I always used to say, what do you think your black/Asians friends would say if they heard what you said behind closed doors.

One time - I moved country. And I was really new to the country so didn’t speak the native language. My mum FaceTimed me and was complaining about how she is fed up of not hearing English in the streets and all these immigrants taking our jobs.. blah blah blah. I couldn’t believe she was saying that - to me, an immigrant who didn’t speak the language. Racists are just f**king stupid. There is zero logic in their way of thinking.

CopperHead49 , Heather McKean Report

Final score:

82points

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JustAnother Soul 2 years ago

You don’t get racists in heaven. Just saying.

26points

Adam_is_Nutz , Joel Rivera-Camacho Report

#22

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views Little nervous posting this, ngl. I served Marine infantry for four years and deployed to the middle east. I got out about 6 years ago and idk if racist is the right to describe me then, but its pretty close. I hated everyone from the middle east. Didn't matter religion, age, gender - I hated all of them. If they were born in the US, I had no feelings against them, which is why idk if its racism or "regionalism" or something. Maybe I'm trying to shift blame, but I feel like it was not all my fault. We were trained to not think of them as people, and seeing them in country wounding and killing my fellow Americans really had a way of warping my opinion.

I got out of it by growing up and experiencing diverse cultures in college. The world is a huge place. If I can go out of state to this university and meet people from other states, other countries...they are good people from places I've never heard of. It just makes sense that there must be good people in the middle east as well. It took a few years of softening up, but the hatred wore off. I look back and im at least a little disgusted with myself. I never acted out against someone or committed a hate crime. It simply wasn't fair of me to think the way I did. But tbh a lot of things aren't fair to a poor boy from the middle of a flyover state fighting in a war. I'm glad I changed. I'm not glad I was ever that hateful in the first place. Its not one of those "im glad I experienced it so I could grow" situations. It was just bad.

Final score:

73points

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Mohammad Ammar 2 years ago

This is so scary. These were the people who were supposed to liberate the middle east and Afghanistan? Yikes.

47points

#23

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I was a lower case r racist growing up. Not a cross burner or anything like that, but I had biases, I made tons of jokes and comments, and as shallow as this sounds I wouldn't even watch porn if it featured anyone of color.

what broke it for me was my early adult life. I worked s**t jobs and dealt with occasional homelessness. I ended up having to spend time with people of color. A lot of it.

It's hard to stay angry and bitter when you work with people for years, alone with them for hours at a time every night. You find common ground even if you try and fight it.

It starts with overhearing them talk about s**t you like too, smelling their dinner while they're on break and going "damn that smells delicious.", seeing s**t in the newspapers and hearing them express similar feelings.

No matter how much you try and dehumanize them, you just can't fight the eventual realization that they're just like you, with maybe a few quirky differences.

reddit , Nathan Dumlao Report

Final score:

71points

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Otter 2 years ago

Sadly, some people do successfully fight the feelings common humanity the OP talks about, because they'd rather feel superior to the people around them than make friends or share dinners.

1point

#24

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views Travelling. To actually experience the culture of other people is a brutal eye-opener.

onion4tears , Anete Lūsiņa Report

Final score:

71points

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Daria B 2 years ago

Yep. Now, try getting a visa. ♡

11points

#25

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views Echo chambers and lack of diversity. I grew up in the 90’s in an area with a tiny black population. The older people were racist, and the younger people just repeated what the older people said and didn’t have any experiences with black people that could have changed their minds. Not to mention it doesn’t help when the news blasted black crime all over the television every night to help fuel the divide.

I started thinking for myself and learned to judge people based on the person they are. I read books, and philosophies, and simply educated myself. I also started noticing that the white supremacists were always the least supreme looking of the white race. Trash breads trash.

RockySlough , Cristina Gottardi Report

Final score:

66points

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Jaclyn Levy 2 years ago

Yep. I grew up in a similar time and looking back I realized the only time black people were featured on the news or TV in general were in mug shots.

16points

R005T3RK1NG , Alexander Baxevanis Report

#26

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views Interacting with other races. Was racist against Mexican people because the first one I spoke to was a d**k. Loved black people cuz one of my best friends was black. Then I worked with the laziest slobbiest black guy, and the most honest hard-working Mexican dude. Then I remembered that a lot of white people were d**ks, and a lot of us were lazy. And then I met this Indian dude. He smelled. Awful. Every day he smelled terrible. I also am capable of smelling awful and I've been a d**k to people, and I've been lazy at some jobs. I'm a person, everyone else is also a person, really doesn't matter that colour they are or what they believe in. I'll disagree with some people and I'll agree with others. We're all people.

Final score:

57points

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Jo Choto 2 years ago

I feel like there's a LOT more learning some people need to do to understand racism, out in the world, and in themselves.

5points

#27

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I was raised in a close family setting and didn’t have many friends. Went to school but never really did anything. Made good grades. Dropped out 9th grade really went full on conservative and racist. I mean my whole family still is so it was just casual talk for us.

Then I went to college, met a lot of people, did a lot of finding myself. I knew I was a lesbian years ago when I was 18. But when I was in my late 20s early 30s I went to college and really found myself. Realized that’s not how I wanted to live. I was socialized with lots of people from lots of different backgrounds and lots of new perspectives. And found out that within myself I was an angry person due to my past traumas and didn’t like that part of me. And almost changed overnight. I don’t laugh at my families racist jokes anymore, I don’t hang out with them much unless they come to my house, I’ve moved past it and have grown up and matured.

I’m not perfect but I’m no longer a racist. And I no longer blindly say all cops are good. Husband and I argue quite a bit over that. He was a police dispatcher for 20 years. He sees the bad ones but says it’s only a few. And in recent years we’ve both realized it’s more than just a few.

Rubicon2020 , Shubham Sharan Report

Final score:

50points

POST

PurpleDoople 2 years ago

You knew you were a lesbian but got a husband? Like are you bisexual? Did your label change? You need to give context

10points

#28

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I realized that I didn’t dislike black people for being black...I disliked pretty much everyone regardless of color. Just lived in a s**tty area and everyone was s**tty. Left and everything got better.

makenzie71 Report

Final score:

50points

POST

LazyPanda 2 years ago

Location can make a massive difference. Happy for them

12points

#29

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views Leaving home. My mom is Japanese and raised me Japanese, racism and all. I left my house late 17y/o and now that I’ve lived on my own, I grew to be myself, and with that, grew up mentally.

reddit , Mike Kotsch Report

Final score:

46points

POST

LazyPanda 2 years ago

As stated by Mohammed before, I really appreciate all the shares that go beyond black and white. As a black person, I have unknowingly offended or harmed people of other cultures and gratefully had friends to expose things to me or resources available to make me aware. There are ways to be racist, prejudice, or ignorant in all directions unfortunately

38points

AwkwardRadish3820 , Sven Scheuermeier Report

#30

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I come from a non-practicing Christian background and grew up in a small town where everyone was white as well. Though I never personally experienced outwardly racist sentiments from my family, I did not personally meet someone with different skin color than mine until I was 19. That's 19 years of development and never personally interacting with someone of a visibly different race. There was 1 black family that moved to my town when I was about 11 and I found out years later they sadly had to move due to racism. I'm sure that was very isolating for them. Thanks to a weird, archaic, low-tech device called a 'television' I was exposed to African Americans by way of Family Matters, The Cosby Show, and 21 Jumpstreet. Carl Otis Winslow's outbursts cracked me up. I never much cared for Urkel and his antics, Carl was my 'average dad next-door' hero. Theo Huxtable was an early tv crush, and as I got a little older, I adored Judy Hoffs! She was the coolest cop chick on tv and wanted to hang out with her at that modified church headquarters. I still watch the show just for her character, and to recognize filming locations and scenic backdrops from Vancouver. Not to mention some of my favorite vocalists are Mixed Race/African American/Jamaican or from the Bahamas. Through the entertainment I consumed, I just accepted that there are people out there, vastly different than myself that I was always curious about them. I just always assumed people who weren't having vile racist poison poured down their gullets and had access to cable, movies, and MTV would experience different people the same way. It's nice to know there's hope for people to come out of that. I'd like to believe that racism, is one small jagged fragment of the human condition that has never taken hold in my mind and I hope it never does.

Final score:

39points

POST

Jaclyn Levy 2 years ago

YES! Oh my gosh I loved those shows and looking back I'm so glad they were marketed as just shows and not "and now for our black family show!" It was just shown as normal TV. I loved Sister Sister, Cosby Family, Family Matters, Fresh Prince, The Proud family, even Single Living. So so good. Representation matters!

13points

Lilly Swaim 2 years ago

Sister Sister! I didn't get along with my actual older sister. I always thought it'd be great if I could have Tia and Tamara as my sisters, we could be triplets, even though I'm obviously white as milk, they were my dream sisters

6points

VesselTrenchBlurryface 2 years ago

I had a crush on theo too

0points

Dodo 2 years ago

Wait. Is that why Judy Hopps is called that?

0points

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#31

My grandma grew up in Virginia in the 1900s. Being racist is just the default setting. Nana loved her family more than anything, though. So at one point in the late 1980s, she met her first not-100%-white grandkid, and discovered she still loved him.

She made astounding late life progress accepting that darker skin toned people were not only people, but family, friends and welcome in her house.

IronOhki Report

Final score:

26points

POST

#32

I’m not nor have been racist but I heard this story from a similar post a little while ago, and wanted to share.

A guy and his racist buddy are big sci-fi nerds (star trek Star Wars mass effect etc). Racist buddy says something along the lines of “man don’t you wish races and cultures could exist like this in real life”. Guy replies “you can’t even appreciate the races and culture that are on the earth today, and you think you’d treat them differently?” And apparently this causes racist buddy to reevaluate his entire perspective on life.

I loved this story cause I always believed sci-fi and fantasy helps rationalize real world issues and makes people understand that we are more similar then different, and now I have at least one good piece of evidence.

tyrom22 Report

Final score:

23points

POST

Daria B 2 years ago

Wow, if you're a racist and "love" Star Trek.... you... completely missed the point of Star Trek. O.o

20points

#33

Started high school and had a crush to someone who said I'd be hotter if I wasn't racist. Kind of a s**tty reason but I'm glad it provoked me to question things

madspacker Report

Final score:

23points

POST

LazyPanda 2 years ago

Baha that's one way to get it done

11points

#34

Grew up in a small conservative town of 99% white people In the 70’s. when I went to college and met people of different backgrounds and spent time with them my views began changing. This is also when I starting realizing the Bible wasn’t factual. Took about another 20 years to become a liberal atheist but here I am and it’s very eye opening.

Moper125 Report

Final score:

22points

POST

LazyPanda 2 years ago

Breaks my heart to see the sheer amounts of people being taught and believing that God (guns) and racism are synonymous. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28 This is what Christianity actually says. There's actually an extensive letter in the New Testament of Paul convincing a slave owner to free a slave based on Christ's teachings (Philemon)

13points

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

#35

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I was raised by racist parents and grandparents but I just grew up and formed my own ideas. Public school helped, most of my friends were Mexican as we lived in a mostly Mexican town growing up. It wasn’t a big realization or anything After I turned 9 I stopped believing in god, stopped being racist. By 12 I was interested in politics and left leaning while my parents are die hard republicans. I just formed my own ideas and didn’t let them brainwash me.

f**kingsnailsinthe , NeONBRAND Report

Final score:

20points

POST

See Also on Bored Panda

Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

#36

My parents.

When I was a kid, both of my parents were in grad school and extremely busy, so my paternal grandmother spent a lot of time taking care of me. Unbeknownst to my parents, she filled my head with racist stuff about how I shouldn't be friends with blacks or Latinos. Just stick to befriending the other Indian kids, though whites were acceptable too. One day, I said something about black people that caught my parents off guard (I don't remember what) but my parents asked me where I had learned that and I told them.

They talked to her and she never really changed her ways. This ultimately led to my parents no longer letting my grandmother live with us or be around my siblings and I without their supervision, because they couldn't allow such a negative influence helping to raise us.

My parents talked to me about why what my grandmother told me was wrong. It didn't take too much to get me back to being a normal, non-racist person because I genuinely liked many of the black and Latino kids in my class.

I_punch_kangaroos Report

Final score:

20points

POST

Dodo 2 years ago

Apparently my grandmother was like this. I think in her case it was more fear than hatred, but I still found it odd because she lived in a multicultural street. I guess in her mind it was 'well, these are the good ones, everyone else is awful'.

5points

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Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 24 Photos Of Regular Visitors (New Pics)

“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

#37

My brown godfather found out [I was in a skinhead group]. He confronted me about it crying. Disassociated with those a**holes then and there (I was like 16)

Had my american front tattoo covered up by a reddit alien recently.

PossiblyTrolling Report

Final score:

20points

POST

LazyPanda 2 years ago

Wow, never seen a story from a grandparent calling out someone younger.

6points

50 Of The Most Incredible Shots That Were Submitted To The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

#38

My parents are pretty racist and I just parroted whatever they said without really thinking. Then I went to a school that was 50% black. They were generally pretty loud and rowdy and one of them did not respect personal space but they weren't bad people like my parents told me and I realized they were full of s**t.

I also saw that the school was practically segregated. All the white and Asian kids were in the school's special program which had its own fancy new building with fancy new smartboards and shiny new textbooks. The normal part of the school was pretty much all black and Hispanic, the teachers were apathetic, and there weren't enough textbooks for a class, and the textbooks that were available looked like a rabid dog on meth tore through them. That didn't sit right with me.

MKQueasy Report

Final score:

18points

POST

Lilly Swaim 2 years ago

sad

7points

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French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

#39

Met black people, met asians. Realized they're just people and it took more energy to hate them irrationally than it did to just... Not. From there it was easy to not be racist against others.

ducks-everywhere Report

Final score:

18points

POST

LazyPanda 2 years ago

This made me smile. It does take more energy

9points

#40

I wouldn't say I was super racist, but I was raised in a family that seriously looked down on blacks and it may have colored my views a bit. I just accepted they weren't as smart, made dumb financial decisions, more physical and more prone to being violent. Stuff like that.

Then I found out the guy I was gaming with online for years was black. Super intelligent guy, PhD student, total weeb, and a damn good ADC to my support.

reddit Report

Final score:

18points

POST

LazyPanda 2 years ago

Gaming community for the win

12points

Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

#41

not me but - my grandad was a very racist white old man, who attempted to push his beliefs onto his children. my dad kind of followed suit, but when i ask him about it, he says he knows he’s “in the minority” and “that racism isn’t ok” so i really don’t understand where he stands - anyway - my uncle went on to have 3 children with his wife from zimbabwe, and my auntie had her daughter with a man from nigeria and 4 children with a man from kurdistan. my grandad has been a lot less racist since then.

shansvents Report

Final score:

17points

POST

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Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

#42

I come from a family of racists. They spoke of other (than whites) races using ethnic slurs as common as commenting on the weather.

When I was about 5, my older brother and i went into the local bakery to pick up an order for our mom who was waiting in the car. A black boy was in front of us in line. This was something i hadn't often seen and i said very loudly to my brother, look it's a n-r!

My brother quickly shushed me,which made me very confused, but it was the crushed look on the boy's face that made me start to question my family's viewpoint.

Over 40 years later, I have a very diverse friend group, but still feel shame on how I made that boy feel those many years ago.

SJExit4 Report

Final score:

17points

POST

Luthor 2 years ago

For some reason this quick little tale really affected me. The words you used "(I) still feel shame on how I made that boy feel those many years ago." It's like you discovered the seeds of empathy on that day... and I'm here for it.

1point

#43

It happened slowly over time, so slowly that I didn’t even notice it until it had consumed me.

I went to a college that was > 50% POC, which was located within a poor, mostly Black neighborhood. I got along fine with POC students: we worked together, hung out together, partied together, etc. But as time went on, I developed prejudiced and racist attitudes towards the “locals,” as I referred to them.

It originated with several instances of my close friends being brutally mugged / assaulted, enough to put them in the ER for several days. I became afraid and angry, and that anger eventually morphed into hatred.

My moment of clarity came after my roommate was assaulted. I was recounting the story to a friend, and then he asked me, in a hateful tone, “were they Black?” to which I responded, in an equally hateful tone, “what do you think?”

After those words came out of my mouth, I didn’t even recognize myself. I had always considered myself a progressive, and here I was talking like a racist. It didn’t take me long to realize the truth: I WAS a racist.

I think that was the most insidious part of it: I had managed to convince myself that I wasn’t racist, despite the fact that I treated every POC who wasn’t a student like they were a threat, and despite the ugly ideas and prejudices that were forming in my head. I was blinded by my anger for my friends, and I could no longer see myself.

I’ve done a lot of introspection and self education since then, and I’d be naive to say that I’ve completely purged myself of my biases, but I am in a much better place than I was.

this_is_balls Report

Final score:

16points

POST

Raven DeathShade 2 years ago

Good. The Internet can be your friend in these matters. Educating yourself is wonderful, and very easy.

4points

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Woman Refuses To Chip In For Babysitting Because She Doesn’t Even Have Kids, Asks If She’s A Jerk

“This Breaks My Heart”: People Stunned—And Angry—After Woman Buys Lost Luggage From Airport

#44

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views I grew up in Utah County, UT. I am white, male, and Mormon. My father was from San Diego at a time when a lot of immigrants started to flock to California. He use to tell me the stories of the stupid black guys in the job corps, the Mexicans that were taking good jobs and the gays grooming young men in LA and turning them gay.

The fathers in Mormon families are the end all be all of the knowledge. How could I ever think differently? I had very racist and homophobic thoughts And POV up until 2007ish and changed my whole POV when the prop 8 issues came up.

No, I didn’t sit there and chant white power but I really did think that being a white male in Utah made me better than everyone else who wasn’t.

Seeing how s**tty the true belief’s of the Mormon church coupled with real empathy made me never want to be like my dad to his core.

It makes no sense to me when we are all human dealing with being human. I hate that I have an advantage because I was born white. I can’t change it but I can try and show anyone I come in contact with that it shouldn’t matter what color anyone is. I can’t change anyone but I can show people you can be different and just care about everyone.

Phunny , mliu92 Report

Final score:

16points

POST

Randolph Man 2 years ago (edited)

Mormons voting for Trump and Sen. Lee is all you need to know about their beliefs. The LDS church is a business conglomerate worth over 100 billion dollars. Go Google "Largest landowner in Florida". You won't get much done in Mormon land unless you pay your membership fee. Go look here how "diverse" they are: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/leadership-and-organization/ "The God I believe in isn't short of cash...mister" - Bono.

6points

"I Didn't Start The Dryer": Karen Gets Taught A Lesson After Throwing Out Neighbor's Wet Clothes

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Guy Divorced 3 Years Ago Drops Off 3 Y.O. With His Ex-Wife Completely Out Of The Blue

#45

I wasn't racist but my mum was. I had a middle-eastern friend and she realised she's not a terrorist and she realised that race doesn't make you a terrorist - being a terrorist does

AnnaIsABanana Report

Final score:

16points

POST

#46

I’m from Ireland.. I used to think it was funny using words like ‘paki’ for anyone who wasn’t white. I moved to Australia at 25 and became friends with people from many cultures/ skin colours/ sexuality etc… I visited home a few years ago and was horrified by the way people talked. For me, the racism was just the way people talked, but also having no experience for people who weren’t white and from were most people in Ireland are used too

Wankhard123 Report

Final score:

15points

POST

Leodavinci 2 years ago

It has been said that racism/bigotry are based on ignorance.

2points

Thoushaltdenycheese Report

#47

Grew up in a small remote town. Racism runs rampant when everyone is the same and you rarely meet anyone who’s different than you and the 900 other people.

Once I moved away I realized the culture of my town was the problem, not the other people. I also got a formal education which really helped.

In Canada, our schools teach its students basically nothing about the atrocities committed against our indigenous people. This only increases the amount of racism.

Final score:

14points

POST

angry_waffle 2 years ago

In my area, that has begun to change. About 3-4 years ago it became mandatory to learn about these atrocities.

3points

“All Three Shot Out Pink”: Triplets' Baby Shower Turns Sour, Pregnant Wife Wants A Divorce

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College Student Does Exactly As Told After Roommates Demand They Keep Their Stuff In Their Room

#48

I was only ever online racist because I spent way too much time on 4chan during my impressionable years. Beyond being a joke I never really understood or fully believed it.

One thing I have learned that made me understand race wasn't the issue is that there's stupid people in every walk of life and the biased opinions of racists are cherry picking to fit their world views.

Skwareblox Report

Final score:

13points

POST

Raven DeathShade 2 years ago

There are stupid people wherever you walk, and extremists in every religion. Hating all for the actions of few is pointless.

5points

Zestyclose-Sell8735 Report

#49

Fear.

I grew up in a rural town, my dad was a racist and surprisingly I wasn’t yet. I of course had my bias towards everyone but I hated how my dad spoke of so called…well you know the word.

Then I had an experience that would take me about 9 years to reverse the consequences. I was a really introverted kid so I didn’t really talk in school, however in social studies one day I was walking along the back wall of the class during a project and awkwardly walked past a black classmate. I smiled to be friendly and the response was him football smashing me into the concrete wall and kicking me while saying racial slurs. I still remember him walking away laughing “f**kin’ white boy”

Yeah so after that I just despised black people and had a distrust of everyone not white; from age 11 to 21. It wasn’t until I discovered my love for philosophy and fell in love with a Muslim woman that is the best person I know that I changed. We’re not together just friends though due to religious restrictions; which is more than fine.

Philosophy taught me “We were born to work together like feet, hands and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are unnatural.”

Final score:

13points

POST

Leodavinci 2 years ago

"Religious restrictions" are not more than fine. They are part and parcel of the same problem. And that last paragraph is not "philosophy", it is "a" philosophy... and not one I share, except for the "to obstruct each other is unnatural" part and only that part. We are not cogs of a greater whole. We are complete unto ourselves. Society/culture are merely collective aggregations of us and our individual activities. Neither is an entity deserving of the sacrifice of any individual for the so-called "greater good".

4points

RyanOhNoPleaseStop Report

#50

30 Ex-Racists Share What Honestly Changed Their Views Wasn't racist, just ignorant.

Small town of only white folk, every town over same thing. The only things I knew about other cultures and races was from movies (life before the internet).

Turns out movies grossly exaggerate things. Not all black guys are in gangs. Not all Indian guys run convenience stores. Not all Asians are matheletes. But you would never know otherwise. When I first moved to a city and meet diversity, I definitely embarrassed myself a few times and admittedly, was cautious around certain minorities for no reason.

Now I love exploring different cultures. Their food and customs and all that jazz is neat and some of my good friend are all sorts of nationalities.

mydogisamy , Erik Mclean Report

Final score:

13points

POST

#51

Ooh i can finally answer one of these in a serious way. So I was raised in the bible belt by a super far-right dad. My mom and sister were pretty normal but growing up I hated Obama and I was on the email list for a couple of groups that were extremely pro-second amendment and far-right. This seemed normal to me and all throughout high school, i acted like a jack a** to people in my school who weren't white or supported a liberal agenda. Eventually, I went off to college.. took a year off.. and moved back in with my dad while I saved up money to hike the Pacific Crest Trail on the west coast. During that year that I took off, I interacted with so many minorities and liberals and people who I would have hated in high school. But after living a ‘hippy’ lifestyle for 2 months while hiking the PCT and even living at an “Eco-Feminist-Hostel” in Hawai’i for 2 months I became a lot more chill. Now I'm no longer racist and I'm a lot less likely to judge someone for their beliefs no matter what they are.

Final score:

13points

POST

#52

Fellow native Kansan here. While my town was bigger this is exactly how it was for me too. I moved and my exposure widened. Then I got a job working with a girl from inner city Chicago. Her life was like a movie that I couldn’t even imaging having to endure but she and I had personalities and values so similar that we quickly became best work friends. I learned a lot from her and most of it came down to shut up and listen.

It’s such a simple lesson but people are people are people and it dawned on me that everyone I grew up with was wrong.

This last summer was eye opening to me because I finally understood it’s not my place to do anything g but listen. The white people pushing back and nay saying on the American black experience are wrong and I finally get it.

I would argue most mildly racist people don’t know what they are doing.

revelrebels Report

Final score:

12points

POST

Lilly Swaim 2 years ago

Listening and understanding is a cornerstone of being a good person, just goes to show that racists are not good people on the inside

4points

#53

I was one of a few white kids in a largely Hispanic community and school. I got mistreated pretty badly, as did the other white kids. It was enough to change my opinion of Mexican people.

fast forward to real life: I work in a restaurant now and my Mexican coworkers are the hardest working, genuinely kindest people I have met and never once have an ounce of complaint even when we're all tired and overworked. the dishwasher does extra stuff for me when he doesn't have to simply because he's a kind person and he knows I'm busy. the Mexican cooks are more likely to make food for everyone around lunch time, f**king delicious food. I have so much appreciation for the culture and mentality of Mexican people now that I couldn't find when I was younger due to mean and immature children that bullied me for being different.

natalooski Report

Final score:

12points

POST

#54

The military. We all bleed red.

Phonophobia Report

Final score:

12points

POST

#55

Internet. Internet helped me understand everyone has problems.

Pritviraj_kamble Report

Final score:

12points

POST

#56

I was raised to not be racist. I didn't even recognize being white as a child, I told people I was peach colored. I had bestfriends who were black, Spanish, middle eastern. Then I went into a group home. My friend was jumped for being white, I was made fun of, I got hit a lot, was told I was a no good whitey, got yelled at walking down the street, called snow bunny, got called honkey, hady food stolen for being white, was told I could never understand hard times. And for a long time it made me bitter and judgemental. Now that I'm out of those situations I don't generalize anymore and I'm back to my old self.

YesChefHeard Report

Final score:

12points

POST

Luthor 2 years ago

I am genuinely so sorry that happened to you. How awful. It's nice to see you were able to come out the other-side but that does not negate your experiences. Bigotry in all forms hurts and I am so sad that you had to experience that.

1point

#57

Spent a month as a minority. It's pretty disconcerting to have everyone turn to look at you everywhere you go. I spent a month in an Asian country. I didn't see another white person for a week. Even though there was no animosity, it was just tough being "the strange looking person" day after day

dudinax Report

Final score:

12points

POST

#58

I moved from the backwoods of upstate Pennsylvania to South Florida. I didn't meet someone other than a white person until I was about 18. Moving away from a sheltered place changed everything.

ryanajames Report

Final score:

12points

POST

#59

Just grew up. was a bit of an angry lonely kid found the the right wing on the Internet and as a teenager they gave me someone to blame for all my problems and something to be apart of fast forwards to the present day I've got some real world experience and I've done a total one eighty I'm basically a border line socialist I've interacted with people of different races and backgrounds and have realised people of different races and backgrounds aren't the enemy and that we are compatible

yaboicrackers Report

Final score:

11points

POST

#60

It’s kind of hard to articulate but I’ll try. I grew up and still live in the Bible Belt in a predominantly white area. I grew up being taught that the KKK was evil but also hearing racist jokes every now and then and the people around me laughed so I thought they were funny too and would even pass them on. It didn’t happen overnight but there was this slow realization that these jokes are not funny and it’s NOT ok to have a feeling of superiority over someone because of skin color or cultural differences. The middle aged white people in this area are so ignorant of how they sound. The same people that tell racist jokes would be butthurt if they would be called racist. Someone that I know fairly well was trying to be super PC and she called black people “the coloreds” because she thought that was better then just saying black. It was so cringey.

reddit Report

Final score:

9points

POST

#61

I was extremely racist in 6th and 7th grade. I had a strong hatred for East Asians, African American, and Caucasian people for no good reason. My parents also didn't express any form of racism, which just makes my actions even more ridiculous.

I would constantly harass this East Asian girl, making fun of her appearance and telling her that she ate dog. I would also refer to Caucasians as "crackers" and would make slavery jokes in front of the African American kids. So yeah, I was a pretty terrible person.

I changed after two events occurred. The first was when I got into a race war with an African American girl. I made a really racist joke about dark chocolate, which led to her telling me off. She didn't mention my past history, which led to the principal letting me off the hook. Later that day, we had a liturgy (I went to a Catholic school), and my crush was there. An African-American kid was trying to be nice and let me sit next to her, but instead I pushed him over and told him to get hanged. Eventually, my crush and a teacher overheard my remark, which led to me being taken out of the liturgy and sent to the office. I was later given a detention for my remarks, and that detention became Saturday school when the girl told the teachers of my past behavior.

A few months later, I was still unchanged. I just stopped teasing the African-American kids. One day, I went to the East Asian girl and made a joke about her belonging in a sweatshop. Clearly annoyed, she told me off. I was immediately suspended, and my parents decided to take me to a behavioral counselor for my actions. After this incident, I reformed myself. I apologized to everyone I had harassed for the past two years, and stopped my racist behavior. I left the school one year later, as I wanted to leave the past behind. I learned to accept everyone of all colors, and no one should be treated poorly because of the color of their skin.

reddit Report

Final score:

9points

POST

LazyPanda 2 years ago (edited)

I would really like to hear more about what this transformation process was. It's kind of tacked on at the end with a lot of the bad parts described. Is it bad that I don't believe them? Something's off. Racist in only 6th and 7th grade, for one, is...interesting. This person maybe adjusted their behavior but I can't be sure about the ideologies

10points

Prince_Cat_of_Cats Report

#62

Grew up without much exposure to those from other cultures and inherited some biases from my parents/family.

I fixed it by going to college in another state where I was surrounded by a much more diverse set of people and being open-minded.

Zeliv Report

Final score:

8points

POST

#63

Leaving my comfortable white privileged home town

Mustafamonster Report

Final score:

8points

POST

#64

I grew up in Utah. I didn’t see or meet a black person until I was 10 yrs old. We had Mexicans and native Americans, mostly Navajo around us. There was plenty of racism towards them.

We had a neighbor whose office was adorned with all kind of KKK posters and paraphernalia. The hate that was spewed on those posters scared the s**t out of me. Though I liked to joke about other races, I couldn’t understand such hate.

monkeyshinenyc Report

Final score:

8points

POST

#65

Not a former racist,friend was. He hated everyone different to him. He had an accident which damaged his spine. He had to learn to walk again. It took two years. He married his nurse after his treatment ended. I was his best man at his wedding. They have three lovely children. Godfather to the oldest. His wonderful wife is dark skinned

cursebless Report

Final score:

7points

POST

#66

I saw Home Alone. After that I loved white people.

WayneGarand Report

Final score:

7points

POST

Dodo 2 years ago

I can see the clickbait headline now: "Macauley Culkin made me an ex-racist!"

4points

#67

One on one time with white people. I had bad experiences with white peers when I was a kid. I was always left out and felt ostracized. As an adult, I still feel that way sometimes. It helps to have one on one time with acquaintances and friends who are white. You get a better sense of their inner monologue. By finding common ground, you make better assumptions about them even in their absence.

Final score:

6points

POST

#68

I had low self esteem, and no friends. The skinheads at my school were nice to me, and treated me as one of their own. I adopted their beliefs as sense of belonging. Well, actually I was never racist, never. I would however go along with it, because I liked them, they were my friends and I did not want to lose them.

Eventually my self esteem improved enough that I no longer felt a need to conform to a group I disagreed with, just to have friends. Ironically it was having these skinhead friends that built up my confidence.

On the plus side when I finally left the group, most of them had abandoned their racism, as if it was just a passing fad.

ricogreyfu Report

Final score:

5points

POST

LazyPanda 2 years ago

Stories like this concern me. If you were willing to participate, you were racist. Racism is a lifestyle, not a cloak you put on and off.

6points

Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

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Kotryna is a Photo Editor at Bored Panda with a BA in Graphic Design. Before Bored Panda, she worked as a freelance graphic designer and illiustrator. When not editing, she enjoys working with clay, drawing, playing board games and drinking good tea.

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What do you think ?

POST

Buren 2 years ago

Exposure and widen your experience are the keys. The world is out there, one shouldn't be determined by colors, cultures, races or religions. There are bad and good people with every face.

16points

Daria B 2 years ago (edited)

This is very true. Sadly, however, my experiences have made me more alert towards those African men who approach me, because, so far, most of them just tried it with me in a selfish, unpleasant way. Not been assaulted, which is a good thing (not that I fear that, just stating this as a little piece of info for anyone reading this comment who might have a dramatically wide imagination). I had no problems with African looking Americans, though, the USA people, they were nice. Still, I don't immediately jump to assumptions, but my awkward self might get the best of me sometimes and I can look as a racist. I find it embarrassing, but what can I do? Can't adapt to everyone and in every situation. (For context, I am Mediterranean European in Korea, and these encounters happened all in Korea, my second home my whole adult life.)

1point

Andy Acceber 2 years ago

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Summer Mason 2 years ago (edited)

So my husband.....grew up with an extremely racist/homophobic father. Its taught on that side. His great grandfather was a dragon in the kkk. When he grew up he was attacked in downtown knoxville for being white on the black side of town (by three large black men, I'm talking about my husband) when another big black guy ran and helped him fend off the attackers. He then apologized to my husband for their actions and they became close friends. Soon after my husband meet a gay guy through his ex wife. They became best friends. Recently our middle son came out bi. We are totally cool with it. My dad had a simular experience. But when he got into the military he became best friends with a gay black soldier. Who is like an uncle to me. He protected his secret in the military so he was not discharged. My dad raised me totally different than he was raised because he realized all of his idealism was horrible wrong growing up.

8points

Mari 2 years ago

Rascism is mostly fear, once you get to know the people, this fear will disappear. Good for your husband and dad!

4points

snipergun 2 years ago

So, plenty posts here and I see no single one about Netherlands. Literally most mixed culture probably on this world and they're racist as hell. Won't be active most of the time, but the jokes, thinking of other races (not so much religion I noticed they seem to be pretty ok with different beliefs) its unbelievable. And if you happen to be dutch of different race they'll easy do it in front of you about "others" and tell you not to be offended because that's not about you, that's about those "others". I'm whiter than 70% dutch people but I happen to be foreigner and it's unavoidable and ridiculous. And wait till you hear their opinion about slavery... Anyway, it is a problem. Everywhere.

7points

Leo Domitrix 2 years ago

Yeah, I kinda avoid the Netherlands after my one and only visit so far. Lovely country until they see me (dark-eyed) also dark-tanned. I'm that "otehr". Ummm.... Wow. And, oh, yeah, they apologized to Africa, so slavery's all fixed. That was another thing I heard. As they told me, a US citizen, how racist my nation is. I'd sooner hang out with my UK in-laws, who are at least non-hypocritical about being racist sh*ts.

7points

Mari 2 years ago

The Netherlands and Belgium have the same problem, even after 3 generations, the people are still "foreigners". That's so sad really.

2points

elSti 2 years ago

That's because in the Netherlands you can make fun of everything. Making an exception on that rule would be the racist thing to do in their minds.

0points

Jo Choto 2 years ago

If you are white, the chances are that you have absorbed some aspects of racism just by being alive in the world. I would urge everyone, regardless of your background, to learn more about implicit bias (there are tests you can take online). Even those who are champions for equality will have areas of ignorance of bias, without realizing it. Read about racism. Read about white privilege. Listen to first hand accounts of people of colour. The truth is out there, waiting for everyone to find it.

6points

Eiram 2 years ago

Actually, white has nothing to do with it. Being alive and human means you will be in contact with it.

2points

Andy Acceber 2 years ago

Harvard has a great implicit bias test available for a range of subjects. It's free and a handy tool for learning more about yourself. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatouchtest.html

0points

maper sam 2 years ago

f**k off, racist!!

-1point

Sinkvenice 2 years ago

I grew up in a small town and was one of only three "non-white" kids at school. I'm mixed race, my dad is white, my mum is West Indian and I look really ethnically ambiguous, people who have tried to guess have said pretty much every country on the globe. I got a lot of racist abuse, all three of us kids did. There was a Chinese girl who's family ran the local Chinese takeaway and there was an Indian girl who's family ran the local Indian takeaway. My dad was a doctor and my mum was a nurse, I got abuse for that too as apparently my parents, especially my mum, shouldn't be successful. It was bizarre. It never put me off white people and I did have a circle of friends consisting of musicians and artists. That was great, if I didn't have them I don't know how I may have felt.

6points

Summer Mason 2 years ago

I'm so sorry that you where treated that way. I hate to constantly apologize for us white people being ignorant as fk sometimes, hopefully you find peace now days being you.

4points

Natalie Kudryashova 2 years ago (edited)

Great variety of stories, but I do think the title is over-optimistic. Racism is not just something you switch out of completely in a moment of enlightenment to become an ex-racist. Prejudices are deeply entrenched and internalised to the point of becoming unconscious biases that you can. Art and exercise despite your best intentions. The work to unlearn them is an ongoing need rather than a handful of encounters that helped you see the light

5points

Andy Acceber 2 years ago

Very true. It's a lifelong process, and everyone makes mistakes. I remember a time I was trying so very hard not to be racist. A kid in my class wanted to wear a racist Native American costume for Halloween so I dove into the entire history of genocide and how that wasn't cool -- in front of my Native friend who was understandably pissed that I just casually brought up genocide. My intentions were good, but I was definitely still ignorant and hurt her. Learning not to be racist is a lifelong process.

3points

buttonpusher 2 years ago

Few years ago neighbours moved in. A couple from Ghana and their young kids same age as ours. Eventually our kids were at the age where they wanted to play together outside and part of me was kinda worried one of mine would say something innocent but might be taken as inappropriate as our area is mostly white. Nope, all got along great. Lovely kids too. And my kids did eventually ask me about the skin colour difference and once I explained it was "ok" and that was that.

5points

Leo Domitrix 2 years ago

Under the skin? We all bleed red. ANd look gooey. Just sayin'.

4points

Tres D 2 years ago

As a white kid in a 95% all black high school I can tell you how it is to be the victim of severe racism. DO NOT TELL ME BLACK PEOPLE CANT BE RACIST!!!!

3points

Leo Domitrix 2 years ago

Being isolated due to one's race (or perceived race) *sucks*. That said, racism is not just about whites vs blacks or blacks vs whites. Within some cultures, the *shade* of one's brown-to-dark-brown skin is an issue. TLDR: Sucks to be the one treated as The Other. Don't do it to people. Especially if you know how it feels.

4points

purple zebra 2 years ago

I am fortunate to say that I grew up oblivious to racism. I grew up in NYC with friends and neighbors from all races, cultures, religions, etc. which was delightful.Never once did I feel someone treat me differently because of my skin tone nor did I know that treating someone differently because of skin tone was still a thing. It was something that we learned about in history class and in books but didn’t experience first hand. It wasn’t until I was an adult and moved to other states, first PA and then NC that knew what that was like. It was disheartening and made me sad that Southern kindness was only a stereotype I had read about in books. It has made me more hesitant to put myself out there and make more friends because you never know what a stranger’s experience has been like and how they might perceive you before you’ve even managed to get a word out. I wish all children could grow up in the bubble I did. The beautiful melting pot bubble that was my childhood.

3points

Rens 2 years ago

I am a white woman who grew up in apartheid South Africa; I didn't vote for it, I didn't cause it nor did I ever condone it. I have never considered myself racist, even when the Government introduced affirmative action. I was in my 20's, in the 90's when we were told we had to hire a black man to work in our group. He was a nice enough man, cheerful and pleasant, but he never came to work on time, left early and never did anything apart from talk on the phone and leave the office to run his own errands. I had to do all his work as well as mine; no-one could do anything about it, his job was secured. I left as soon as I was able to; I felt frustrated that as a woman with a degree, I was doing the work of 2 people but earning a pittance - I lived in the safest area I could afford, and I was feeling very unsafe as a single white woman. I left South Africa in 1998, and haven't been to visit since 2003; I don't miss anything about South Africa. I now live in the UK; I worked as a carer specialising in challenging behaviour and dementia, palliative care and long term clinical care. I worked alongside people from all over, mostly Eastern Europe and Africa. I was always hearing about these "foreigners" stealing the jobs, when I said I was a foreigner too, they would look embarrassed and say "oh, not like you, you're like one of us" because I speak, read and write perfect English. We "foreigners" aren't stealing the jobs, we are willing to do the jobs the English don't want to do: minimum wage, unsociable hours, challenging work. I think that as long as we see differences instead of similarities, we will always find a reason to dislike eachother.

3points

Rose Rosee 2 years ago

What was the point of talking about the Black guy who according to you never did his own job? Then you mention not feeling safe as a White woman, so that means what? Your entire post is suspect as hell. Doing too much work and not getting paid right happens to MANY people, of every stripe/color.

1point

Miss Cris 2 years ago

Very interesting. Thank you all for explaining how you got racit and how you quit it. It's very brave from you.

3points

Josy Bannon 2 years ago (edited)

I love this post. It comes down to the "contact theorie" after all, that you are very likely to dispose your stereotypical opinions or hate if you meet the people you hate and get to know them.

3points

marianne eliza 2 years ago

My mom is 100% Italian. Her grandparents came over in 1904 and 1906. They always made sure we understood that we came from NORTHERN Italy. We didn't come steerage but 2nd class. We weren't part of the mass migration from southern Italy and Sicily. Our grandparents and parents all graduated from college. Was always told to stay away from Sicilians. There was quite a gap between the Northern and Southern Italians. While my very extended family now includes marriages into all kinds of colors and religions, somehow the prejudice against Southern Italians and Sicilians hung around.

2points

deanna woods 2 years ago

Growing up in a very diverse neighborhood helped me to see everyone as equals. I don't have prejudice feelings towards anyone unless they are personally a bad person. There is a white woman that I went to school with that I am not very fond of, but her race has nothing to do with it. It's how shallow she seems to be and how she tries to appear like she is so worldly even though that is not the case. Also, she said the movie Bruce Almighty was blasphemy and I still don't understand how. I now live in a very racially diverse apartment complex and we all look out for one another. It has kind of gotten sad around here though because two of my neighbors aren't here anymore. One of them was my sister and she moved out and the other neighbor was a really nice guy that recently passed away. I have new neighbors though so it's not that lonely.

2points

Mari 2 years ago

I hope your new neighbours will be cool too.

1point

Jill Bussey 2 years ago

I met my first person of a shade different to mine when I was about 5/6 yo. He was my family doctor, the first Indian in a purely white small town. He was wonderful. I would like to think he laid the foundation of a non-bigoted person for the rest of my life; but only others could tell you that.

2points

Mike Ieva 2 years ago

It would be really interesting knowing the opposite: what turned you into a racist?

2points

Leo Domitrix 2 years ago

Usually parents, from what I know of it. Parents program children. Or they have one bad experience and extrapolate from that "All (race in question) are bad".

4points

Daria B 2 years ago (edited)

Most of the entries explain that part too, no? Most cases appear to be what Leo said - bad education at home and bad experiences, such as bullying, for example. Being victims of a crime can also contribute to becoming racist. But also the feeling of loneliness and the need to belong to a group, as we've seen from a good number of examples of people from neo nazi subcultures. I have a friend myself, who turned neo nazi for a brief time when she was young. She said it's an embarrassing part of her life, and we're both very glad she's out of it.

2points

Eiram 2 years ago

Fear and ignorance. Listening to stupidity of others who don't know the truth, and are willing to make things up and lie to themselves, which makes you do the same. Also, hearing cultural activities like female/male circumcision, or religious abuses, or even unfounded nationalism or politics (american prison camp for all asians, or screaming orange faces) can turn a person racist.

0points

KimB 2 years ago

Stop seeing stereotypes (like you were taught) SEE the person in front of you! (My way of thought)

1point

AnnaBanana 2 years ago

When I lived in the US for a couple of years (late 90s), I had some friends who were an older couple. We went on a weekend vacation together and, one night over dinner, I startes talking about the black vs white divide in America. We don't really have anything similar in Australia, our aboriginal issues are more akin to the native American issues. Anyways, I asked my friends what their thoughts were and I was so shocked when they told me they considered black people to be "inferior". I mentioned a couple of mutual friends who were black and asked "so you think (name) is inferior?" They both said that they did. And yet, they acted completely normally around our mutual black friends, but trashed them behind their backs!! It taught me so much about 'inherited racism', i.e. blindly following what your parents and peers say, just because you don't know any different. Now, I'm not perfect - I certainly have some racist thoughts of my own - but to actively think that someone is an inferior being just because of the colour of their skin is just...awful.

1point

Mari 2 years ago

What??? This is so sad and cruel.

0points

Vera Cyning 1 year ago

My husband was a skinhead before we met. WS tattoos and red laced Docs, the whole shebang. Homophobic as well. He changed the moment his son came out, crying because he thought his dad would hurt him. Hubby was horrified at his own behavior and opinions. Sucks that's what it took, but he recently got his last tat covered... by a black guy. Work was gorgeous. They hugged. He cried. ❤️‍🩹

0points

Katinka Min 2 years ago

I never considered myself racist, but I sometimes keep catching myself having racist thoughts about other ethnicities. Nothing as drastic as described here, of course, but really subtle prejudices about 'The Russians or The Chinese. And while cultural differences and even stereotypse do exist, (Germans, on the whole, really are pretty a**l xD ) it is really important that we keep trying to look beyond them. Because when we expect to see and experience something, our brain will do its best to make us see and experience exactly that.

0points

Quinn Alexander 2 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

-2points

maper sam 2 years ago

another crappy post from woke bored panda. Trump isn't a racist, but Kamall Toe may very well be, the way she talks about white people...

-3points

Hedgielover98 2 years ago

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Daria B 2 years ago

Errr.... dear sir? There's entries here of confessions from a variety of ethnical backgrounds?

4points

Temperance Raziel 2 years ago

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Theodore Kwesquire 2 years ago

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Leo Domitrix 2 years ago

Not disagreeing. As a white person, I'm afraid to ask if I can help with awareness campaigns b/c it might be seen as racist. Even if all I'll do is make coffee or pass out leaflets. It's arrogant AF for white people to discuss the best way to end racism or how damaging it is, without including non-whites in the discussion. And if whites do, it's seen as token-ism. It feels like a no-win for whites who want to end racism. Nothing we'll do will be okay, and it just increases the alienation within societies, IMO, but what do I know? In the US, I'm white! (Otuside, a few questions are asked. Oy.)

6points

Andy Acceber 2 years ago

Racism will never end if we white people remove ourselves from the cause. I agree that white folks in the U.S. shouldn't be leading racial justice movements right now. People of color, especially Black folks, have a much much better understanding of U.S. racism than we do. So, to help, we should follow their leads. It's that easy. Where I live, there are lots of BIPOC-led racial justice organizations that regularly post a need for volunteers. Look for those in your own neighborhood and throw your support behind them.

-1point

ivan bolitekurac 2 years ago

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K Witmer 2 years ago

Huh? Sounds like self hatred to me according to all your comments. You are not oppressed even though you desperately want to be. Equality looks like oppression to you that says all we need to know about you.

8points

POST

Buren 2 years ago

Exposure and widen your experience are the keys. The world is out there, one shouldn't be determined by colors, cultures, races or religions. There are bad and good people with every face.

16points

Daria B 2 years ago (edited)

1point

Andy Acceber 2 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Summer Mason 2 years ago (edited)

8points

Mari 2 years ago

Rascism is mostly fear, once you get to know the people, this fear will disappear. Good for your husband and dad!

4points

snipergun 2 years ago

7points

Leo Domitrix 2 years ago

7points

Mari 2 years ago

The Netherlands and Belgium have the same problem, even after 3 generations, the people are still "foreigners". That's so sad really.

2points

elSti 2 years ago

That's because in the Netherlands you can make fun of everything. Making an exception on that rule would be the racist thing to do in their minds.

0points

Jo Choto 2 years ago

6points

Eiram 2 years ago

Actually, white has nothing to do with it. Being alive and human means you will be in contact with it.

2points

Andy Acceber 2 years ago

Harvard has a great implicit bias test available for a range of subjects. It's free and a handy tool for learning more about yourself. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatouchtest.html

0points

maper sam 2 years ago

f**k off, racist!!

-1point

Sinkvenice 2 years ago

6points

Summer Mason 2 years ago

I'm so sorry that you where treated that way. I hate to constantly apologize for us white people being ignorant as fk sometimes, hopefully you find peace now days being you.

4points

Natalie Kudryashova 2 years ago (edited)

5points

Andy Acceber 2 years ago

3points

buttonpusher 2 years ago

5points

Leo Domitrix 2 years ago

Under the skin? We all bleed red. ANd look gooey. Just sayin'.

4points

Tres D 2 years ago

As a white kid in a 95% all black high school I can tell you how it is to be the victim of severe racism. DO NOT TELL ME BLACK PEOPLE CANT BE RACIST!!!!

3points

Leo Domitrix 2 years ago

4points

purple zebra 2 years ago

3points

Rens 2 years ago

3points

Rose Rosee 2 years ago

1point

Miss Cris 2 years ago

Very interesting. Thank you all for explaining how you got racit and how you quit it. It's very brave from you.

3points

Josy Bannon 2 years ago (edited)

I love this post. It comes down to the "contact theorie" after all, that you are very likely to dispose your stereotypical opinions or hate if you meet the people you hate and get to know them.

3points

marianne eliza 2 years ago

2points

deanna woods 2 years ago

2points

Mari 2 years ago

I hope your new neighbours will be cool too.

1point

Jill Bussey 2 years ago

2points

Mike Ieva 2 years ago

It would be really interesting knowing the opposite: what turned you into a racist?

2points

Leo Domitrix 2 years ago

Usually parents, from what I know of it. Parents program children. Or they have one bad experience and extrapolate from that "All (race in question) are bad".

4points