I notice the new "color blind" approach to racism has reared its ugly head. You're not fooling anyone. So, to all of thegreat guys that feel that multi-culturalism, affirmative action, the liberal news media, and other civil rights advancements threaten your existence and radicalize our youth, this is my free gift to you... Racism without Racists by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Please feel free to read it at your leisure.
Funny thing is during the civil rights movement there were White folks who said Black folks have the same equal opportunities just like the poster you responded to. Ignorance is what keeps racism alive and well.
Very interesting take... They want Black folks to forget while they wave flags around that remind them.
You dodged this question earlier. Should we consider Lee Atwater, one time Chairman of the RNC, who described the Southern Strategy thus- as "highly representative" of the Republican party?
He described him as a "campaign strategist" earlier in order to dodge his later role as head of the RNC. He'll dodge again.
I wanted to highlight somethings you said . . .. . . I want to marinate on it for a second . . . Rocket River
I had to do a double take . .. . I need to meditate on it . . . I needed to go back and reread some of his previous comments. Rocket River
Got it. In wingnuttia the highest level official in the Republican party apparatus doesn't actually represent the party. When it's inconvenient.
Not long ago at all. About 50 years ago the Civil Rights act was passed. So many people were raised by parents that grew up in this era, it's going to take a little more time. This idea that we can just ignore racism and forget history is silly. "Those who forget history..." and all that. Ignoring problems is never a solution to anything, which I find funny that some people have this approach with racism. If your car is having a problem you aren't told to just ignore it, if you feel a sharp chest pain near your heart it is not wise to just ignore it. If you have a shooter that kills 9 people at a black church and was virtually recruited over the internet by a radical conservative group...you DO NOT ignore it. Had this shooter been a muslim I doubt all of this would have been just ignored and thrown aside. Lets be real about that.
I Believe the intent of justtxyank's post was about pointing out the irony of this other post on the board:
Well very hard to detect sarcasm over the internet. You can argue that the exaggeration of your post should be proof but you have people that make those same arguments and are serious about them.
I obviously read your post wrong but I wasn't attacking you but was also just responding to this idea that slavery was so long ago. I don't get why slavery is always bought up in this discussion. Yes, everyone knows slavery was bad and was forever ago but it seems so many people forget that racism was still well and alive during the 50s. Just reading through the thread since my last posts here there is always this.... Get over it mentality. Also the point above about how white people thought Black people had equal opportunity DURING civil rights is exactly it. EXACTLY the problem even today. People that don't experience it don't know about it and just shrug it off. People that do experience it have to deal with it.
If I may interject here: BTG either sincerely does not know/understand the realities of racism OR he's employing the same diversionary tactics that Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, BTexx and others use to sidestep the realities of history. Simply put, racism is prejudice plus the power to enforce that prejudice. Jim Crow laws, legally sanctioned segregation in public facilities, educational institutions, churches, etc., laws and practices restricting minority voter participation, selective law enforcement practices based on racial identity - these are examples of racism. This is why BTG's constant assertions of black racism rings hollow because the power to enforce such prejudice does not reside in the hands of black people. Never has which is another inconvenient truth that folks like BTG will refuse to acknowledge because it does not align with their concept of reality. Now BTG has asserted that the very concept of a "black church" is in and of itself racist which is ridiculous when considered in the proper historical perspective. Well I did a little research and came upon this article at CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/22/opinions/chase-confederate-flag-history-verdict/index.html. Consider the following passage: Now, remember: the very reason the black church exists is because of the practice of segregation - again a practice that was enforced by white citizens on slaves and freed slaves and not the other way around. Now, BTG's response has been consistent here: "But this is old moldy stuff best left in the dark, ugly past. It has NO relevance to what happened at Emanuel AME last week. It's only people like yourself who want to see racial problems in everything that are the "problem"". Again, that's simplistic (and somewhat self-serving) position that appears to be the default position staked out by those who continue to deny that a problem exists. In looking at the conditions that allowed this tragedy to occur, a lot of attention has been directed at the battle flag of the Confederacy that flies over the South Carolina capitol and was prominently displayed by Roof in his various photos and online postings. Now, as every balck person knows all too well, that flag is merely a symbol of an attitude or state of mind amongst those who support its display. But what does this really tell us? In an article posted on Al Jazeera America, Sean McElwee offers some real insight into the attitudes behind the symbolism. His article, Taking Down the Confederate Flag Isn't Enough can be found here: http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/6/taking-down-the-confederate-flag-isnt-enough.html. To quote: Using the American National Election Studies 2012 survey, the article examines three areas of racial opinion: structural areas of racial resentment (effects of slavery, blacks don't work hard, how much discrimination do blacks face), racial stereotyping (are blacks hard-working or lazy; intelligent or unintelligent; blacks have too much or too little influence in politics) and white attitudes toward solutions (govt aid to blacks, govt should ensure fair access to jobs for blacks). The article focuses only on non-Hispanic whites in Confederate and non-Confederate states. Here are the results: My apologies for such a long post but there was so much to which I had to respond.
No, racism is the belief that humanity is made up of different races. People who believe that there ARE different races - a hypothesis for which there is no biological basis - also believe that we are different because of our "racial" differences. Racists are people who engage in racial discrimination, which is unequal treatment due to your "race," which people who are racists generally assess based on skin color. Certainly all humans are individuals, with unique DNA just for starters, but we are all members of one race, the same race, which is the human race. Also, anyone who believes that certain "races" of people are somehow immune to being racists because of their "race," is very certainly a racist. And that is true regardless of what that person's skin color is, or what sort of self-serving explanation that anyone comes up with to try to excuse their racism.
There's a deeper systemic truth to gisb's words because classism in the US isn't as deeply political in play compared to the rest of the world. It's been shrouded through divisively racist policies over time with concessions to poorer white classes until there's nothing left to give except deep seated notions of inherent superiority. It's why the South, which receives more in federal funding than other parts of the country, still house the poorest of classes, irrespective of color, yet are deeply wedded with a political party hellbent against social services that uplift the same group, and will play the "socialism" or "wealth redistribution" card on Pavlovian cue. "I don't receive no derm handouts." Except the ones that you take for granted and that Fox News/AM radio doesn't remind you as unfair.