So you're saying the contestant's husband poses an actual legitimate threat to the judge? Or is it just a stereotype he's reacting to?

He's taking a stance for many, and treats the other as if he equally represents many.

He is not ready to "forgive and forget" and put "water under the bridge" for what he thinks those many did (or continue to do) to his country.

That's not a response to a "legitimate threat", but it's the expression of a legitimate (as far as that person is concerned) grievance.

> So you're saying

You're aware of the meme going around regarding this phrase I assume? :)

No, I'm saying there can be an objective, reasoned aspect as to racism, that is doesn't have to be purely based on "fear".

No one is objective and we are very often ruled by emotion.

Which is neither here, nor there.

We might be "very often ruled by emotion" but there's also an objective reality out there. A black guy flirting with a white woman in the 20's Alabama would indeed find themselves hanging from a tree -- whether they were "objective" or not.

And that would happen because of herd mentality outrage fueled by anger that ultimately derives from fear.

If that was true, it could happen towards any group and at all times, but it usually happens to specific groups in specific scenarios.

The anger and outrage helped keep blacks down, and thus their wages down, and keeping them for asking for more and competing with whites. Just like before the civil war it helped justify their being kept as slaves, and thus function as profit centers.

So it's not just irrational fear.

It's often the case that majority groups feel threatened by minority groups, or that the majority is jealous of a relatively more successful minority. Or that a minority group feels resentment for bad treatment.

These are all conditions that cause racial tension to flare. It's actually quite predictable, which reminds us that the spread of racism is like a social disease and should be treated as such.

coldtea was pointing out an example where racism is not irrational, but very rational indeed. It is statistically valid for black people in the US to be afraid of white people in certain situations.