At some point, the word "racist" is going to lose its force, I think.

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

Perhaps it's because I've seen unabashed racism (beating, various derogatory terms, denial of basic civil rights), but some of these charges of racism here seem a bit overblown. I don't want to say that they're incorrect in toto. But I'd hate to see racism being watered down. I'm not so sure that any of Rand's words, for example, can be defined as racism proper. There may be ends to his logic that racists would embrace--e.g., the repealing of Civil Rights legislation. But we really ought not allow the ends to define the means by which they are gotten. This makes a mess of all sorts of things. Again, Rand may or may not be racist, but I have yet to see specific language used which would indicate as much. In fact, the language he employed with Maddow, for example, eschews any sort of racist rhetoric. Again, his reading of the Constitution will obviously allow for some sort of willful racist actions on the part of the citizenry. No doubt. And his leagal reading may be misinformed and ignorant of precedent. Again, no doubt. But to align this with racism is problematic for me on two levels: 1) it really aborts any sort of charity offered to another human person and shuts down all honest communication (if he really is racist, then we really ought to let him speak); 2) it waters down authentic, and often brutal, racism. Once it gets watered down so much that a person is accused of being racist for supporting X (the support of which would mean Y 7 degrees removed, but never the lees would make one racist), then we've hurt our own cause of being against racism and unequal rights. And make no mistake, it is OUR cause (some of us have been fighting decades).

Is Rand an ass hat? No doubt. Yes. But is Rand racist? No, I doubt it. Does his reading of the Law lead to conclusions that racists would no doubt support? Yes. But is he a racist? Are tea-baggiers ass-clowns? HAH! Racist? No doubt, a whole lot of them. But I suggest we extend a bit of charity to the particular persons. They may or may not be decent humans, but they are humans nonetheless--which seems to be one of our arguments for charity around here.

[Raineyb]

1. Ah yes, if we pretend we don't see it it doesn't exist.

There are no words to describe how boring this gets reading the same old shit over and over again.

[political_Dem]

26. +10000 Indeed. It's like a broken record. And I'm sick of it.

[JuniperLea]

2. Wow...

[uponit7771]

3. There's a generation where said "Force" doesn't apply, it's just a matter of fact. This Genxer doesn

...doesn't understand what racist get so upset at being called racist. That's what they are and this is America, they should be proud of who they are or change for the better or stop bullshitting people.

On Rand, using HIS OWN LOGIC he would allow a private hospital to not treat a person because of the color of their skin because they had "free speech" rights....Rand is full of shit.

[HipChick]

4. Not ever..not for a person of color

Which I assume you are not..

[Xipe Totec]

5. Racist, or Imbecile... Tough choice! nt

[slackmaster]

6. La palabra saltó el tiburón la semana pasada

[Raineyb]

24. No it didn't.n/t

[slackmaster]

36. It is getting overused a bit

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8379626&mesg_id=8379626

[Raineyb]

38. Jumping the shark no matter what language you use is overused.

Those who constantly refuse to acknowledge racism are trifling. What is not over done is the damage that this bullshit does to people. But of course those who are not affected by it never give a shit. And they're the ones who are constantly declaring racism "over", "overused" or whatever word they decide to use that day to try to downplay it so they don't have to actually do shit about it.

Linking to some dumb ass asking a question for the sole point of trying to make the point you're trying to make doesn't make the word overused or your point less stupid.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. One of the things racists always say.

Things racists always say:

1. I have lots of black friends.

2. I am not a racist, but...

3. I am color blind.

4. MLK Jr. said we shouldn't judge people on their skin color.

5. I'm sick of hearing about how I'm racist.

6. Too many black people keep throwing around the word racist.

7. If people keep throwing around the word racist it loses its effect.

8. The Civil War was not about slavery.

9. Blatantly Racist Politician is not a racist.

10. Where is Obama's birf certificate?

11. McCain/Palin!

12. I'm opposed to all the tax increases

And so on.

[political_Dem]

28. I can add to the list. Like you, I've also heard them all....

13. Stop whining about racism!

14. We voted Obama in and he's African-American. Racism is over.

15. We're in post-racial America now. You haven't got a leg to stand on.

16. Stop whining and get a job.

17. There's nothing to see here.

18. I don't see racism in this case, so there's isn't any racism at all. You must be delusional.

19. You're lying. There's no white privilege and supremacy.

20. We're all humans here.

21. One day, everyone will be so mixed up that race will not exist anymore.

22. Go back to Africa/Asia/Mexico/Middle East....etc.

23. Slavery was so long ago. My family didn't own any slaves. Stop living in the past.

24. I met (fill the space in for a specific Black politician/celebrity/author/athlete/figurehead) and they said, blah, blah, blah.. So, I'm not racist and therefore you are wrong.

25. Ethnic studies does nothing but cause minorities to hate whites.

26. Why can't there be a White history month too?

27. There should be a WET (in response to BET).

28. All your people do is follow Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. You can't think for yourselves. (Yep. That was told to me as well.)

29. Al Sharpton is scum.

30. White privilege does not exist. Where's my Rolls Royce and million dollar mansion if I'm so privileged?

31. Well, the Bell Curve says that whites are smarter than any other race.

32. Affirmative Action is nothing but quotas.

33. If Black people can say it, why can't I?

34. I'm a victim of reverse racism.

35. There is no racism issue. Only class issues exist.

36. Can't you take a joke?

37. I'm only saying what people truly think.

38. My spouse/significant other is (a race of color) so, I can't be racist.

39. You're just looking for something that isn't there!

40. Move along. Nothing to see here.

41. If you keep on talking about race, you'll end up insane.

42. My friend of color isn't offended by what I'm saying.

43. Welfare is only a handout.

44. Black people are more racist than white people.

45. I'm a (member of white minority group). That makes my experience just like Black folks!

46. "You people......"

47. White males are the only ones discriminated against now.

48. You must hate white people to talk like that.

49. I know this about Black people because of (citing one ethnic studies/sociology/psychology/humanities class) I took in college...

50. Martin Luther King said........(most commonly use the line from the March on Washington: "...content of one's character..." but doesn't recognize or recall the rest of the themes purported in King's historical speech).

51. "All you people want reparations so you can stay lazy and have twenty kids. Hell. You already have reparations. That's welfare." (this has been told to me as well.....)

52. "Obama doesn't openly react to racism like you do. Why can't you be more like him?"

53. Reverend Wright is a racist. After all, he said, "Goddamn America!".

54. The NAACP is like the KKK. (I kid you not...)

55. What happened to you? You used to be so nice.....

56. I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps. If you get an education, graduate and work hard, you'll be like me. America treats us all the same. (the myth of meritocracy).

57. You're only trying to make me feel guilty.

58. We gave you Obama. You shouldn't be mad at us anymore.

59. Blacks are better off here than in Africa. You should be grateful your ancestors were kidnapped and brought here.



There's more where that came from. But I wanted add my two cents to the list of things I've heard racists say over the years.

[NNN0LHI]

8. Sure, little randy is no racist

He is a fucking bigot.

Don

[CBR]

9. Racism is dangerous in all forms. It is not just about

fire hoses and water fountains. It is insidious and, often, the most "brutal" forms of racism are the ones that the discourse seeks to deny and are hidden. Rand promotes policies which are racist -- enough said.

[aquart]

10. But whether he is a racist isn't the issue, is it?

It's whether he will allow racism to proceed unchecked by any effort from him.

He is ever so live and let live if YOU want to be a racist.

And look how many fools are willing to give him a pass for that. Even on DU.

And please remember, he easily equates people of color with property, like guns, or perhaps sheep. You're comfortable and cozy with that, too?

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

18. I'm flame retardant here, so I appreciate your post.

You make two excellent points which I think my OP makes:
"It's whether he will allow racism to proceed unchecked by any effort from him."
***I affirmed this very thing. I think his reading of the law is incorrect, quite frankly. But this doesn't make him a racist.

Again, my post affirms your contention: "And please remember, he easily equates people of color with property, like guns, or perhaps sheep."
***I find this appauling and would never vote for the man. Hell, I won't vote for a dem. who unabashedly supports this sort of quasi-chattelistic culture (which is exactly what child labor in foreign countries for our cheap products amounts to).

My only objection was that we call the person racist. That's all. That seems to go to intentions--not to (mis)readings of law, not to the myopic appropriation of all things free-market.

Yours is a very good post. Thanks.

[Iggo]

33. something-ant.

[Hannah Bell]

32. I think it's immaterial whether he *is* a racist. He's just one guy, & he'll die soon.

What matters to me is that he's a politician who favors policies that allow exclusion on the basis of race, policies that would help maintain/extend a racist society, and help re-normalize racist beliefs.

I don't see the point in arguing whether he's racist, when it's so obvious that allowing public businesses to exclude on the basis of race is racist & pernicious, a huge step backwards.

[nomorenomore08]

11. I just don't see any "non-racist" way to oppose something like the Civil Rights Act.

Considering it was enacted to try and rectify a brutally unjust system that was based entirely on skin color. You can hide behind "small government" ideals all you want, but if in doing so you allow appalling racial injustices to continue, how are you not, on some level, a racist?

[EFerrari]

12. Yes, he is a big honking dog whistling racist.

lol

Good grief.

[uponit7771]

14. AMEN!!!!

[WeDidIt]

13. Wrapping racism in a libertarian blanket doesn't make it any less racist. n/t

[FrenchieCat]

15. As a Black Person, I found Rand's statement racist and unforgivable.

Rand obviously believes that the freedom for some who own businesses
to choose who they should be able to do business with
overides the freedom of Americans to not have to face daily discrimination
simply due to the color of their skin,
something that is not a choice.

In essence, he believes in some's right to choose over others.

That is not freedom, and it certainly isn't liberty!

[Quantess]

16. He is in favor of allowing racism.

There! Is that better?

[Balbus]

17. "going to lose its force..."?

It has already.

[William Z. Foster]

19. racism is not something that people "are"

The right wingers and white supremacists have shifted our understanding of the concept from being about what people say and do, over to what people supposedly "are." They did that because it is impossible to prove what a person "is" - what their interior subjective state may be. Then, should people be challenged for racist statements or actions they can say "are you calling me a racist? I am not a racist" and all discussion comes screeching to a halt.

Racism is in what people say and do, not in what they "are." We have many people right here saying racist things and supporting racist actions and defending that with a mere declarative statement - "I am not a racist." If that doesn't work, they will act all hurt and offended - "how dare you call me a racist! You are labeling, you are attacking me."

Clever, isn't it? The perpetrator - the person making the racist statements or calling for or supporting racist actions is now to be seen as the poor persecuted victim. This is the main way that racism and white supremacy are being promoted today. We need to take a firm stand against it.

White supremacy is being aggressively promoted right here, every day, all day long. It is being done in "polite" and "reasonable" ways so that it does not resemble the things that the KKK and other overtly racist groups say, but it has the same effect, or even a more powerful effect.

The concept of racism is losing its power because it is not examined and discussed enough, not because it is being talked about too much. It is losing its power because too many white Democrats and liberals and progressives have internalized the right wing racist framing of the issue.

[miscsoc]

20. I think the word "racist" can be used in harmful ways

But using it to refer to a guy who openly opposes the fucking civil rights act on the basis of some legalistic libertarian bullshit isn't one of those ways.

Come on man, if you elevate some flawed 18th c. document or some abstract concept of "state's rights" above the rights of black people to go about their business, go shopping at Woolies, etc. you probably don't really have any human affection or even basic respect for black people as human beings. i.e. you are a bit of a racist.

[NYC Liberal]

21. Bullshit. Racism does not just come in white sheets and pointed hoods.

Exposing racists who have learned to couch their racist bullshit in TV-friendly language NEVER "waters down" other forms of racism. Racists know that they can no longer use the kind of language that was once acceptable. And you're buying into the notion that racists who put on a suit and tie and can speak well are some how less harmful than the Klan. You're wrong. They and the policies they support are JUST as harmful. The only thing that has changed is the marketing.

Again: Racism should ALWAYS be called out, EVERY time, no matter how subtle or "harmless" it may seem. Doing so NEVER "waters down" the fight against racists and their racist policies.

[Hoyt]

23. I agree completely.

Today's racists support cuts to funding that helps the poor, which are too often minorities. Today's racists don't come right out an say, "_________ need not apply" as they did in job ads in the 1950s and 1960s in the south. They just hire human resources people to cover up the reasons they aren't hiring a minority.

I actually saw some "young Republican" a few weeks ago responding to a TV host's comment that teabaggers often come across as racists. His comment was "we are not racists, we did not lynch anyone during our march." I'm old enough to remember seeing Klan members on TV claim they were not racists while hiding behind their robes.

Today's racism is not that overt, but it is insidious and still harmful.

Rand Paul is just following after his father and many of the Republicans who are angered by anything that protects the rights of minorities or helps them in our society. My biggest fear is that many Republicans and so-called "libertarians" will be attracted to today's racist "leaders/politicians" like Rand Paul. They sure are in Georgia where I live.

[quickesst]

22. Not agreeing, or disagreeing about Rand.....

..., and not really commenting, but one observation I have made during my years as a member of DU is that there are more than a few here with the extraordinary ability to find a racist in an empty box. Thanks.
quickesst

[EFerrari]

27. We're experiencing a spike in hate group activity at the moment

by every metric.

[readmoreoften]

25. You've got to be joking.

:eyes:

[Solly Mack]

29. Claptrap

[krabigirl]

30. I agree with you, but we are in the minority.

[coti]

34. I do too. I don't think he's racist, but I do think that he hasn't completely thought through

his ideas.

As a civil libertarian (aka, an ACLU libertarian, not "Big L" Libertarian), I can understand where he's coming from. I think that the measures taken in the title of the Civil Rights Act he's referring to are extraordinary ones (in the same way that I think forcing everyone to buy private insurance is extraordinary- and unconstitutional). They certainly infringe on people's freedoms.

However, the reasoning behind that infringement, in my mind, is awfully compelling. The scope of the issue at hand is not limited to the world of ideas and freedom of expression that is protected by the 1st Amendment. We're talking about whether people (and ignorant people, at that) should be allowed to effectively split our country into two, or three, or four different countries based on the most ridiculous method of judgment- skin color- and on hate. I don't think he's thought about how repealing that law would only further exacerbate the already very serious cultural divisions we have in the U.S.

[EFerrari]

39. Oh, please. He hasn't thought it through?

He's talking to the nearly all white tea baggers that show up with racist signs at every rally.



Maybe some of you agnostics should watch this video, White Power USA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sQ7JCgbYc4

and then Laura Flanders' interview with one of their recent recruit where he swears that he only joined a hate group because he's worried about THE ECONOMY.

http://www.grittv.org/2010/01/07/white-nationalism-in-the-age-of-obama/

This is what racists sound like. Break their code for yourself and you will never make the mistake of giving these hateful people the benefit of the doubt again.

[TheKentuckian]

31. What is the functional difference between being a racist and "merely" allowing

conditions for people to be mistreated because if their race?

I don't care about what is the intent of the man's heart but what type of policies he'd have us live under and if he had his way we'd still be effectively living under Jim Crow and patiently awaiting the invisible hand to take action.

You're focused on a difference without any real world distinction.

[seabeyond]

35. ya. people tell women and gays to shut up too. speaking out is "hurtful" to their cause. nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

37. Your underlying point is sound. We use negative adjectives like cusswords.

They lose their meaning. Sexist, racist, pedophile, xenophobe, nazi; without regard to their dictionary definition.

Rand Paul? He's a tool who treats his libertarianism like a religion, without recognizing that the crusades conducted under its banner are harmful.

[EFerrari]

40. New SPLC Report: "Patriot" Groups, Militias Surge in Number in Past Year

03/02/2010

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The number of extremist groups in the United States exploded in 2009 as militias and other groups steeped in wild, antigovernment conspiracy theories exploited populist anger across the country and infiltrated the mainstream, according to a report issued today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Antigovernment "Patriot" groups - militias and other extremist organizations that see the federal government as their enemy - came roaring back to life over the past year after more than a decade out of the limelight.

The SPLC documented a 244 percent increase in the number of active Patriot groups in 2009. Their numbers grew from 149 groups in 2008 to 512 groups in 2009, an astonishing addition of 363 new groups in a single year. Militias - the paramilitary arm of the Patriot movement - were a major part of the increase, growing from 42 militias in 2008 to 127 in 2009.

The report, "Rage on the Right," is the cover story in the Spring 2010 issue of the SPLC's quarterly investigative journal Intelligence Report.

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/news/splc-report-number-of-patriot-groups-militias-surges-by-244-in-past-year

Hot links at link.