Why are people racist?

I personally think descrinenating agianst someone against their skin color, nationality, beliefs etc is the dumbest thing ever! I know some people who are REALLY racist but I don't get why??? I don't get how peole become a racist?

It''s in peoples' nature to be intolerant of differences, whether it's to do with race or not. If there were no racism and everyone was pale brown in color (fast forward about 500 years maybe?) there would still be tension and conflict due to differences in appearance, belief, social status, ways of thinking, ways of living.

Ty is correct when she says children are oblivious to skin color, but maybe playing in a sandbox is too simple an activity for racial tension to surface. By the time you reach the age of 15, even if your parents haven't taught you their prejudices, you can see how society is structured to work against the minority.

Fear is a part of it - if people feel insecure they like to find someone 'different' to take the blame for their problems.

Because people are hypocrites

Does anyone have a legit reasonable answer for this? I don't think so... It is a hard topic... but you are right we shouldn't be racist due to skin color, nationality, culture, fat or skinny, pretty or ugly ... we were all made the same... I don't know why people think others are better then one another.

I don't get it either, but I know a lot of other old people are racist, maybee some people get it from their grandparents, like I assume the grandparents got it from their parents. or maybee some people had bad experiences with a couple of the race and basically stereotype them.

it's mainly because people want to put
down other people's cultures and ethnicitys
to make themselves feel superior or like
they have a higher power over everyone else.
If youu get what I mean.
Really I thinks its all very stupid, yes. completely
stupid.

b/c they're ignorant and simple minded some people put others down to make themselves feel good

Because they're ignorant and don't know any better and just want to put themselves up on some throne, even though their probably lower than crap.

Some people are morons, some are cruel and some are both...
Racists fall into the both category...

I was reading up on the origins of prejudice, apparently it has to be learnt. From what I remember of the research, children have no natural prejudices so it obviously is not innate. Where this us against them mentality started from, who knows? Maybe it is access to limited resources, maybe it is greed, I dunno...