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I suspect this question has been posed by way of another thread in the past, but I've not seen it yet...
This forum often touches upon what is racist, and of course no one admits to being a racist even though their comments seem to suggest they are. Observing this for so long has me wondering how we can actually determine if we have racist beliefs and/or tendencies. What questions might help us know whether we are racist, or xenophobic or mysogynist, white supremacist, etc?
Especially with Trump's wall and all accusations along these lines supposedly behind what drives many people to be for or against, would be nice if we could truly know how much support is truly free of any racist or xenophobic influence. What questions can we pose? What questionnaires?
Anyone who thinks these problems are not alive and well in America is a fool, but to what extent Americans are racist, how many, this is the question (of interest to me anyway). In part brought to mind upon reading this article this morning...
Coast Guard officer accused of wanting to kill Democrats and journalists was inspired by Norwegian mass shooting, feds say
Court documents say Hasson espoused extremist and white supremacist views and allege that he relied on the manifesto of Anders Breivik, a Norwegian who was convicted in 2011 of two terror attacks that killed 77 people.
The accusation has been overused and misused so much that the term now has no meaning whatsoever. It is simply a liberal recant that encompasses anything that makes the liberal uncomfortable or unhappy.
"Racist" can now mean anything from a poor hamburger to wet shoes. Who knows what the original meaning of the word actually was. Perhaps historians in the future will discover the meaning for future generations.
I figure if I can't get a "racist" response from a liberal, I have probably not articulated a well thought out, intelligent statement to them. It is disappointing not to elicit this response from a lib, as it is equivalent to a "Rumplestilzkn" character, storming and fuming after repeating his name.
I am always truly mystified by these sorts of arguments...
Of course I don't get to decide or control what people think. Why would anyone think to argue such a thing?
I most certainly can judge what someone else thinks, whether they act on their thinking or not. Say someone thinks it would be good to kill a bunch of people like this guy in the coast guard, or say grandpa sits on the porch all day explaining why white people are superior to black people, surrounded by jars with different color water to make his point...
Of course no one can control how ignorant or wrong someone might be with respect to their thinking, but we certainly can pass judgement about how ignorant or wrong someone might be with respect to their thinking!
And as we should, for example, if your child asks you what you think about what grandpa is muttering about on his front porch...
I clearly stated that you have all the right in the world to tell them what you think of them, or think what you want.
That's the fricken point.
What I'm against is people trying to control what others think by silencing them. I think it's better that we know exactly where one stands.
I would define racism as a willful discounting of individual traits in favor of group traits. Meaning if you believe that purple people are very good violinists, and you personally meet a purple person who does not know one end of a violin from the other, and you expect them to play the violin, you are a racist.
I do not consider the attribution of different traits to different groups to be racism, because there is a lot of evidence that different groups have different traits. And I do not even consider ascribing median group traits to an unknown individual of a group to be racism, as that is statistically valid and our brains are inference machines that survive by making educated guesses about the unknown.
But if you encounter an individual of a group whose traits do not fit the stereotype, and you continue to treat them according to the stereotype, then that is racism.
The accusation has been overused and misused so much that the term now has no meaning whatsoever. It is simply a liberal recant that encompasses anything that makes the liberal uncomfortable or unhappy.
"Racist" can now mean anything from a poor hamburger to wet shoes. Who knows what the original meaning of the word actually was. Perhaps historians in the future will discover the meaning for future generations.
I figure if I can't get a "racist" response from a liberal, I have probably not articulated a well thought out, intelligent statement to them. It is disappointing not to elicit this response from a lib, as it is equivalent to a "Rumplestilzkn" character, storming and fuming after repeating his name.
About to sign off and get on to something else. Thanks for providing the extra inspiration to do so and waste no more time here...
Not sure what sort of character you might be other than the common "lib" this and "lib" that common character, perhaps that eats too many poor hamburgers and walks around in wet shoes, but you're not the sort of character I can understand too well in any case.
I'd rather be racist than dead.
Being racist I have the power to change my mind .
being dead people are voting in my stead, things I may not approve.
Though I greet all people ,not all people greet me.
I pity the weak and the lost and broken even the stupid .
I have not with held help from any one for any reason .
Yet I am judged by the fearful and the profiler .
I am not racist and am a conservative that believe in the best of people generally,
but I know that evil is alive and well in all races.
I'd rather be racist than dead.
Being racist I have the power to change my mind .
being dead people are voting in my stead, things I may not approve.
Though I greet all people ,not all people greet me.
I pity the weak and the lost and broken even the stupid .
I have not with held help from any one for any reason .
Yet I am judged by the fearful and the profiler .
I am not racist and am a conservative that believe in the best of people generally,
but I know that evil is alive and well in all races.
Don't need to be dead before people are voting in ways you may not approve!
Hopefully more people vote progressively along these lines rather than going backwards is all. Unfortunately we went backwards with Trump this time around, but we're human and can always correct the error in our ways as you also seem to believe...
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