Can we stop with "racism" already?

[Tedbuckland]

Republicans are mostly racist old white men. Or rather old white men that use racism as a means of baiting ignorant Southerners into voting for them.

Most racists are usually Liberal whistle blowers projecting their own prejudices on other people. Ever heard of the saying "The pot calling the kettle black."? You are the epitome of this saying.

[Deleted]

People, there is a possibility that we could go into a third world war here with everything going on in Russia... and people think the NBA or equal marriage laws are the most pressing issues of the time? America needs a sense or priority here, badly.

"There could be a third world war so screw those homosexuals."

Just outright say you're a homophobe and a racist and stop making up excuses.

[Elegiac]

The Democrats strategy is to play on race and accuse the Republicans of racism while they truly do not give a shit about blacks anyways and herd them all into govt housing projects away from their white neighborhoods. Dont tell me that isnt true either because Ive seen it a million times. Ive been in parties with nothing but drunk democrats. Btw if you dont think that the blacks are just as racist as any white people are then you have never worked in or lived in a mostly black area either.

You've seen it a million quantifiable and falsifiable times? Please do provide us with a write-up of your analysis.

[Common Sense]

Honestly, it's a modern day witch hunt. That's really the best way I could describe it. Take Cliven Bundy as an example. Sure, what he said may have come off racist, but honestly, at the end of the day, it was about land rights and a Federal power grab. Why is everything completely discredited because he may or may not have said something that may or may not have offended someone? I mean, why does the original issue go out the window?

I know most people are European on this forum, and that's fine, but we do have a first amendment right in this country. It's not illegal to be openly racist in America as long as you're not harming people. You and I may not agree with what is said, but people have every right to hold their own opinion. And as I said, these modern day witch hunts need to stop.

The real racist people are those sitting in front of a camera on the news dwelling on these issues when all they're doing is dividing us as a nation. It's not a party issue either, Martin Luther King Jr.'s entire family was Republican. Abraham Lincoln was Republican. You can't just say all Republicans are old white racist men. It's simply not true. Meanwhile you have literal race baiting on MSNBC, daily, that throw conniptions the second a white guy looks at a "minority" the wrong way.

People, there is a possibility that we could go into a third world war here with everything going on in Russia... and people think the NBA or equal marriage laws are the most pressing issues of the time? America needs a sense or priority here, badly.

How easy it must be to brush away issues that don't affect one personally. Oh and by the way, Republicans THEN and Republicans NOW are two very different groups of people.

[Kurioxan]

We can stop worrying about racism when racism stops existing.

Would help if anti-racism methods stopped backfiring
Just the laws of the universe, all actions have equal reactions.

I do find, in many topics, not just this particular one, that the fast criticism of thought purely out of feelings/ideologies to be rather damaging, it creates insular communities detached from reality, from people trying to escape (perceived or real) persecution for ideas that dont match what is accepted.
Education and understanding are keys for change, "censorship" just creates counter movements and reinforces beliefs.
Cant fight racism by dismissing arguments based on them being biased and risking missing an actual concern either.

Meh, its sad racism and bigotry exist, but being a reality one needs to deal with it using appropriate actions, and somehow i dont think many of the current methods are it.

[Elegiac]

Most racists are usually Liberal whistle blowers projecting their own prejudices on other people. Ever heard of the saying "The pot calling the kettle black."? You are the epitome of this saying.

Being born in the South doesn't make you a racist, being a racist just makes you a conformist.

My prejudice is against people who should know better but do otherwise.

[Deleted]

The Democrats strategy is to play on race and accuse the Republicans of racism while they truly do not give a shit about blacks anyways and herd them all into govt housing projects away from their white neighborhoods. Dont tell me that isnt true either because Ive seen it a million times. Ive been in parties with nothing but drunk democrats. Btw if you dont think that the blacks are just as racist as any white people are then you have never worked in or lived in a mostly black area either.

People of colour can absolutley perform race-motivated acts, but often when people talk about racism, they are talking about the ingrained, built-into-our-society racism that depends on you being the race in "power" to exist. I'm not going to get into a discussion about whether or not that exists any more because it's obvious how you feel and we're not going to convince each other, I just wanted to make you aware that in many cases people arn't talking about individual race-related actions.

Example: If a black guy kills a white guy simply because he is white (or vice versa), it is a racially motivated murder, but not racism in the same sense as large-scale institutionalised subjugation of an entire race simply because of their race. That kind of large scale institutionalised subjugation requires you to be in a position of privilige and the target race to not be.

[Common Sense]

The Democrats strategy is to play on race and accuse the Republicans of racism while they truly do not give a shit about blacks anyways and herd them all into govt housing projects away from their white neighborhoods. Dont tell me that isnt true either because Ive seen it a million times. Ive been in parties with nothing but drunk democrats. Btw if you dont think that the blacks are just as racist as any white people are then you have never worked in or lived in a mostly black area either.

What's the Republican strategy? To get the misinformed masses to hate the poor and use them as scapegoats while giving them delusions of grandeur of one day being part of the 1%?
What's the Libertarian strategy? Convince people that we don't need government because one day humanity will magically not be violent or greedy and everyone will be able to live independently without governance and regulation?

[Zhangfei]

People of colour can absolutley perform race-motivated acts, but often when people talk about racism, they are talking about the ingrained, built-into-our-society racism that depends on you being the race in "power" to exist. I'm not going to get into a discussion about whether or not that exists any more because it's obvious how you feel and we're not going to convince each other, I just wanted to make you aware that in many cases people arn't talking about individual race-related actions.

Example: If a black guy kills a white guy simply because he is white (or vice versa), it is a racially motivated murder, but not racism in the same sense as large-scale institutionalised subjugation of an entire race simply because of their race. That kind of large scale institutionalised subjugation requires you to be in a position of privilige and the target race to not be.

Well said. Racism is systematic oppression of a group, prejudice is hatred for a group different from yourself. The oppressed group cannot be "racist" (well, they can in subcultural ways, but not in general) but they sure as smeg can be prejudiced against you for your race, mistreat you and abuse you for it.

I do think it's important to explain why things are racist or otherwise discriminatory, rather than just calling the person names, but there's also a problem of how people receive criticism. People are just all kinds of ugughhghuguguguguugughgguuguguguguggugh.

Also well said. Most people will be racist because of cultural development, not conscious choice - it's not a good thing to be but it is also is something you can move past and an individual shouldn't be completely held to blame for having thought processes pressed on them from outside sources.

[Stormspellz]

The Democrats strategy is to play on race and accuse the Republicans of racism while they truly do not give a shit about blacks anyways and herd them all into govt housing projects away from their white neighborhoods. Dont tell me that isnt true either because Ive seen it a million times. Ive been in parties with nothing but drunk democrats. Btw if you dont think that the blacks are just as racist as any white people are then you have never worked in or lived in a mostly black area either.


[Infracted]

don't need to accuse when they prop up people like bundy

[Dezerte]

It's not illegal to be a racist in, I'd wager, any European country so I don't know what you're on about.

Just as racists have their freedom of speech so do those of us who aren't racists. You cannot give one group freedom of speech but not the other.

[Endus]

No. We can't stop it with calling out people for their racism. Not until the racism is gone.

Do you have the right to be racist? Does your right to free speech apply? Absolutely. However, nowhere in that right is included the right to not be called out and labelled for the content of your speech. That is not anyone's right. If you do not wish to be labelled a racist, you should keep your mouth shut and not express any racist opinions. The moment you do, you have not only allowed for but invited such criticism.

Nor has the word been in any way expanded, or lost it's meaning. It's the same meaning it's always had.

In the end, if you don't want to be called a racist, you have two options;

1> Don't be a racist to begin with, or
2> Keep your mouth shut about your racist beliefs.

The moment you open your mouth and express those beliefs, everyone else's freedom of speech protects their right to call you out and point out the content of your speech and how it speaks to your character.

[Lenonis]

Sure, what he said may have come off racist

May have come off racist? May have?

we do have a first amendment right in this country.

Please demonstrate how the first amendment has been violated in any of these cases where people accuse racism.

And as I said, these modern day witch hunts need to stop.

Or people could, you know, stop say racist things and keep their nasty opinions to themselves.

People, there is a possibility that we could go into a third world war here with everything going on in Russia

Yeah...that ain't going to happen.

America needs a sense or priority here, badly.

Because the government can only do one thing at a time.

Stop trying to use all of these tired and lame excuses for justifying poor behavior because you are sympathetic to it.

[Adam Jensen]

Land rights and a federal power grab? No. The man's cattle was grazing on land already owned by the Fed. Bundy was in the wrong, not the Feds.

He's not racist? Yeah, claiming that "negros need to learn to pick cotton" isn't racist. Nope. Not at all.

As for Russia? Putin's not that stupid, we're not going to war against Russia anytime soon. This bullshit in the Ukraine is nothing against the worst of what the Cold War has thrown at us.

[GennGreymane]

Honestly I do not like the examples in the OP, but see the overall point.


My view on the whole thing is to not sweat the little stuff so much. It simply brings the little stuff on the same level of something far more serious and detrimental to us all.

[Deleted]

but often when people talk about racism, they are talking about the ingrained, built-into-our-society racism

No they aren't. Not outside of tumblr anyway.

There isn't a definition of racism anywhere, by any standard, that is solely about systematic oppression, outside of circle-jerked tumblr/twitter spheres and psuedo-sociology.

People of colour

Who are people of color? I mean black isn't technically a color, and it would be offensive to lump all ethnic minorities of Western Countries in the same category.

[Adam Jensen]

Please demonstrate how the first amendment has been violated in any of these cases where people accuse racism..

Lets clarify the First shall we?

It means that Congress cannot make a law limiting your right to state your opinion. It does NOT mean that people can't criticize you, or socially ostracize you or that your opinions won't have consequences.

No First Amendment rights have been violated. He has every right to make racist remarks and we have every right to call him out on it.

[Fooliecoolie]

I prefer to call Cliven Bundy a big fat hypocrite since he is complaining about minorities getting welfare but he owes the government on the subsidized land his cattle has been grazing on for the last 20 years. The US government is only charging him and other ranchers(who are more than happy to pay their share) $1.35 per AUM(Basically one cow and one calf) compared to $14.00 to $20.00 AUM on private grazing land.

[Lenonis]

No First Amendment rights have been violated. He has every right to make racist remarks and we have every right to call him out on it.

Well, that was my point. LOL

[Kurioxan]

I do think it's important to explain why things are racist or otherwise discriminatory, rather than just calling the person names, but there's also a problem of how people receive criticism. People are just all kinds of ugughhghuguguguguugughgguuguguguguggugh.

Exactly, just calling out/censoring/ignoring people without explaining why is akin to beating a child, it serves no purpose other than the relieve of your own anger.
Want to end racism, explain, educate and yes, tolerate (to a degree). People change slowly and it is hard to change cultural stigmas imprinted by the parents/environment, it is a slow process which can be easily hindered by ostracizing people.

Heh, how people receive (and perceive) criticism is indeed an issue, but i dare say that it is also blame on the receiving end.
When you look for something hard enough, you will find it... many times people express themselves without realizing/understanding colloquialisms and kinks of the language, and be perceived as racist while in truth they are not. One should be a tad more cautious when passing judgment I think.