Is it just me, or is racism now becoming somewhat socially acceptable?

[JerseygirlCT]

I can remember when the whiff of it could sink a candidate or commentator. (Regardless of course, of their real feelings, that is).

Now I see a piece on the latest Tea Party insanity - stuff that would have been covered once, and then the whole organization (disorganized organization?) would collapse and back away into oblivion, utterly shamed.

It seems not to be the case here. It seems blatantly racist comments, "jokes" and the like are being more and more taken as something in the spectrum of normal political discourse. On the fringe, but still in the spectrum, if you know what I mean.

It mystifies as much as horrifies and angers me.

[babylonsister]

1. It's not just you, and I'm angry, too. I'm not mystified; say something,

read slogans, hear about it, etc., often enough, and it becomes part of our lexicon, again. We're regressing, though I keep thinking the teabaggers are a small part of the whole. I hope their role is reviled by most others, but I don't know.

[The Magistrate]

2. It Is, Ma'am: There Has Been Quite a Back-Lash To Electing A Black Man President

All who are to the slightest degree invested in the idea whites are better have difficulty coping, and must re-define the boundaries or accept they were in error....

[malaise]

4. Did you see KOs worst person in the world- write in teabagger candidate Billy Roper in Arkansas Sir?

He even has a web site called white revolution - he's an overt racist.

[JerseygirlCT]

7. That's the thing that got me thinking

I was so taken aback by what he wrote. Stunning.

Then remembering the place the Birchers had at the conservation convention... this organization that was considered as shameful as the KKK... And yet, there they are, being treated like a part of civilized society.

[malaise]

17. I think the internet and new media give them visibility

Racists never went away. I need evidence to know if the numbers have actually increased.

[JerseygirlCT]

19. Oh, I'm not claiming their numbers have increased

I just think they're being allowed more and more out of the closet. Given attention as if they represent something legitimate, when in the past they wouldn't get this sort of air time or attention. And feeling quite free to express their racism openly, and then act stunned if anyone actually points that out to them.

[Hannah Bell]

34. i think that's it, too. media is covering what they say as though it were"normal", or at least up

for debate.

it's not an accident or random evolution, either, imo.

[Hydra]

70. If you wanted the answer on why they have a seat at the table

It's the same as it was back then. The "Tea Party" could just as easily be called "The Committee to elect Republican Candidates."

It's a sponsored movement that would be laughed at had it been done without such support.

[JerseygirlCT]

5. I'm afraid that's just it

Hard as it is to wrap my brain around that, I do think you're correct. It also explains the depth of the fear and loathing these people have for Obama - and the twisted way they see him: socialist, destroyer of the Constitution (hellooo? Where were these people for the Bush years?), racist...

All of that ugly can only come from someplace in the lizard brain - someplace touched by something purely emotional.

[TheDebbieDee]

26. This has been going on since before the 2008 Election..........

bigotry began becoming socially acceptable again shortly after * was appointed to the White House.

I sincerely believe that Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice (and the highly placed * staffer that resigned after he was caught shop-lifting, as well as the unfortunate-looking, cross-eyed Cheney aide, Ron Christie) were prominently displayed to allay charges that the Neocons were racists!

[Obamanaut]

41. I don't think we can gloss over something like Ms Rice's doctorate

when we think of reasons she was where she was. Mr Powell had also made quite a splash. To say they were in the positions they held simply because of race tends to negate their hard work.

Or, is it because of their party affiliation? Pres Carter appointed Andrew Young as UN representative IIRC. Was this 'tokenism' also, or did Mr Young deserve it.

[TheDebbieDee]

81. Ms. Rice was a willing "Christian" lapdog for the compassionate conservatives!

I believed Colin Powell really wanted to make a difference in American politics by standing out in the Republican party instead of disappearing into the ocean of African-American Democrats.

I think that when he realized that the neocons wanted him to "heel" to their needs rather be a Secretary of State that served the greater needs of the country, Colin Powell bailed on the * admin but by then, the real damage had been done.

[GoCubsGo]

67. It goes way beyond that.

It's not really "racism" that has increased. It's xenophobia, and as was pointed out elsewhere in this thread, it's been going on since well before 2008. See: French-bashing after 9/11, hysteria over "European-style socialism" and Europe-bashing in general, gay-bashing, liberal-bashing, feminist-bashing, academic-bashing... It's been this way for a long time. They're just getting more media attention now.

[Fuzz]

91. 9/11 changed everything?

[EFerrari]

3. The Tea Party insulted the NAACP in the most racist terms possible.

What else need be said.

[Enthusiast]

37. +1. It couldn't have more clear. nt

[blondeatlast]

61. Indeed--and the media snored. nt

[MellowDem]

6. Just you I'm guessing?

The Tea Party is a fringe group. I can honestly see the Tea Party being more acceptable in the past than today.

[tblue37]

10. No--today the Tea Party, as extreme and

"lunatic fringe" as it is, is being treated respectfully by the MSM and by mainstream politicians in the Republican Party. In the past they would not have gotten such friendly coverage, and they would not have had so many supposedly "respectable" members of a major party treating them as though they are acceptable political "partners."

[MellowDem]

54. Sure they would...

in fact, it wasn't too long ago at all that the Democratic Party itself had bigots and racists as its mainstream Party candidates. And the Democratic Party was treated as mainstream and casual bigotry and racism as quite normal.

The Tea Party has not gotten "friendly" coverage except on one news channel, the same news channel that practically helped to start the movement in the first place, and which isn't really a "news" channel at all. So I don't really see where any real news channel is covering the Tea Party as mainstream. I will say that there has been a movement in the media to be "fair and balanced" by giving equal coverage to opposing views, no matter how batshit crazy the other side may be. That way they think they're avoiding bias. While this is a dumbass policy, it's not about making racism more acceptable, its about fear of accusations of bias. It's why opponents of Global Warming get so much time and equal consideration, and that has nothing to do with race.

[blondeatlast]

62. On the contrary--a so-called "woman's magazine" that comes to my address (I didn't subscribe)

lauded a local Tea Party founder in glowing terms.

Since I didn'[t subscribe, I can't cancel--but I damn well would have for that.

[MellowDem]

85. One woman's magazine is not 'the media'...

nor necessarily mainstream.

[EstimatedProphet]

66. Wow, you really think that?

[MellowDem]

88. Oh yeah...

for sure. Racists were much more mainstream in the past. I don't even think it's an argument worth having. Now racists are associated with movements that are deemed less "mainstream", like the Tea Party. The mainstream Republican Party's greatest fear is having the hardcore conservatives, the racists and bigots and tea partiers, take over their party. And they are succeeding to some extent. And it will have real, incredibly negative consequences for the Republican Party if it continues.

The demographics are part of it, but so is just the changing mindset of all Americans. It may seem like they have momentum in mid-terms, but that's only because they can organize their hard-core supporters, who, by the way, vote in much greater percentages than their Democratic counterparts, especially in mid-terms. But their main group of support are on the older side and not getting any younger.

Perhaps Barack Obama's election has driven the far-right to get involved sooner than they would have with a conservative president like McCain, but I remember the Clinton years and the far-right went crazy back then, and really has only consolidated its substantial hold on the Republican Party much more than in the Clinton years.

[EstimatedProphet]

103. OK, why I disagree

For a time - not a long time, but a time - it seemed we had actually made some progress against racism to me, back in the '70s. Of course, that went away with Reagan, but to a large part it went underground. So, I'm not disagreeing that racism was more open in the past at all; I am disappointed though that we were starting to put some of it away, and now it's back and bigger than ever.

Also, I certainly disagree that the tea party has only gotten negative coverage except from Fox. I've seen too many "maybe they have a point" stories all over the place since they started this crap. That's more what I was responding to at first, but I realize I didn't make that very clear.

[MellowDem]

110. RE "Maybe they have a point"...

is just the media trying to avoid points of bias. So they cover them equally, since they are a conservative political group, and give creedance to their unbiased baloney. And of course what they ALL say, when it comes to whether they have a point, is that people are angry, and that the Tea Party is a reflection of that. And they are angry over the bank bailouts. Well, even we on here can understand that to an extent. But of course it's how they direct their anger ultimately and the insane ignorance not to mention the bigotry and identity politics that come along with it that we notice.

And it has been pointed out by the mainstream media as well, just not maybe as much as we would like it to, thanks to stupid ideas of "bias" and concern for ratings, not to mention the fact that most news channel watchers are much older, and therefore, much more conservative as a group. But there has been some pretty scathing critiques of the Tea Party. Of course, it's hard for us to take them seriously at all, whereas the media feels they have to take them somewhat seriously.

I certainly think we have made some progress against racism. I don't think a Barack Obama would have been elected back in the 70s.

[rucky]

12. But they weren't around in the past.

And they are now.

I went through the '90s and the '00's thinking we've evolved past (at least) the overt displays of racism.

The Tea People get a hell of a lot of press for a fringe group. Maybe they are fringe, but there's some big, influential voices propping them up, so I guess you gotta count the mainstream media as part of the fringe, too.

[EFerrari]

29. The right wing media's championing of the tea klan

is the best evidence that they do not reflect the American people.

[MellowDem]

55. Yeah they were...

and they were much more mainstream then, to the point that they were mainstream members of both parties. The only media propping them up is Fox News, hardly a real news channel, and that is more for profit and ratings among their conservative fans than anything else. I think it's great that they now have to seperate themselves even from the Republican Party now and make themselves all that much more obvious.

They get so much coverage partly because of how the news media wants to avoid accusations of bias by giving all points of view equal coverage. And also because it's a confrontational thing that gets them ratings. But really, there hasn't been much coverage of the Tea Party at all lately. You can chalk up their massive coverage earlier to the fact that it is a "movement" funded by big corporations and media in the name of big corporations and media. And when hasn't big business not been able to get their message out?

[hfojvt]

100. the 1990s?

I think you are forgetting something.
http://gbgm-umc.org/advance/church-burnings/bguide.html#firefact

"June 19, 1996

Nearly 40 fires of suspicious origin at black churches in the last 18 months, including the January 1, 1995, fire at the Bluff Road United Methodist Church in Columbia, S. C., on Wednesday, June 12."

and another something

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Byrd,_Jr.

"James Byrd, Jr. (May 2, 1949 – June 7, 1998) was an African-American who was murdered in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998."

googling "racism 1990s" brought up this, as well
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080302180458AA712NE

[LostinVA]

39. I agree -- The Klan literally ran Indiana and parts of the Mid West

"Sun Down Town,s" mayors, etc., and they were all proudly out as Klansmen. The same for Birchers. I agree with you.

[spanone]

8. there was a time when america would have been ashamed of a ru$h limbaugh

not anymore

[tblue37]

9. Remember when even Limbaugh was dropped from his

job on Monday Night Football for racist remarks of a sort that were downright tame compared to the sort of thing he and Beck regularly say these days?

I bet that if he were on MNF these days and said such things he would probably get away with doing so.

[panader0]

11. Besides the obvious stupidity of racism (judging a book by it's cover)

the reality is: In the past 50 years races have been merging at an ever increasing rate. In the not too far future there will be no one of a pure race (if there ever was). Is there anyone here at DU who doesn't have a mixed background? Irish, English and American Indian here. We're all on this bus together. I'm happy, still, that we have a president of mixed racial background. If, for no other accomplishment by Obama, we must remember the national acceptance of race that led to his election. Those who promote racism will be rebuffed in the polls by Americans, we are the melting pot.
My kids mom (my ex) is half Hispanic. So my kids are one quarter Hispanic, about half white, part Crow, etc. Isn't everyone that way?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

13. It's always been socially acceptable in rural Texas, from what I could tell.

Native Texan here, lived here all my life.

Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, pretty much not acceptable, at least not in blatant form.


East Texas, no problem among the white folks. I know when I was a kid that a lot of lifelong Democrats voted for George Wallace for President. They would be polite to black people to their faces, at least the better ones, and call them "nigras", but behind their backs would insult them. BARF! PUKE!!!!

That's why my friends are apolitical or Obama supporters. I know we have at least 30 Democrats in my county - I saw them at a meeting.

There may be 40 or 50 in the next county north, where the county seat has all of 20K people. That's where that billboard I posted about is, that some people don't like. On Highway 287 which is the man drag to get there.

[w8liftinglady]

25. here in Ellis County-VERY acceptable

I have several newish docs..they put up with hell when they moved here...

[MadMaddie]

14. 30 years of Rush and others of his ilk pushing the

line, lying about how morally upstanding they are and the public accepting it and this is what we get.

It always start with attacking one group, everyone else kind of ignores it because it's not them. Then it spreads....

It's not just racism, it's homophobia, it's anti-Jewish, it's anti-woman, it's anti-left.....it's very dangerous.

[WillyT]

15. I Remember Years Ago, When Jimmy Carter Was Being Interviewed...

many years after he left office about how he felt about the Reagan Administration...

He didn't attack Reagan or his lackeys...

Instead, he said something to the effect that... he regretted the fact that the American people had been allowed to feel comfortable with their prejudices once again.

I thought the critique very interesting.

:shrug:

[JerseygirlCT]

21. Oh yes.

That puts it perfectly!

[AnArmyVeteran]

32. Jimmy Carter was probably the most honest presidents we ever had.

[blondeatlast]

63. Very good response. "Comfortable" is the key word, too. nt

[Behind the Aegis]

16. All sorts of bigotry have become more socially acceptable.

It just depends on how it is delivered. Over-the-top comments will still raise eyebrows for the most part, but a more cloaked, but still recognizable bigotry is becoming more and more acceptable.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

30. Indeed, and its not just whites that are being quite blatant

[Behind the Aegis]

72. Also very true.

[FooshIt]

18. Racism has always been socially acceptable

it is our society that is unnacceptable

[niyad]

22. welcome to DU--think you have put it quite correctly

[seabeyond]

20. i started hearing it in bush's first term. i started hearing people declaring their RIGHT to be

racist.

yes

it is becoming more acceptable to be racist and certainly sexist. there is no apology to sexism at all.

[niyad]

23. it isn't just you--the kind of blatant bigotry and outright hatred we are seeing is becoming

increasingly prevalent. I remember being horrified years ago to see a kkk headquarters blatantly labeled when I was in texas--sadly, today it wouldn't surprise (although it would sicken) me to see it in this very red county in which I currently live.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

24. Therein lies the struggle

We know racism cannot be legislated out of existence, we also know it is learned behavior.
But to overcome the more blatant practices of racism we have passed laws. But no matter how many laws are passed, until people stop teaching racism it will always exist.
:shrug:

[Nye Bevan]

27. Even here on DU, Robert Byrd was given more of a pass than I would expect for his Klan past.

Yes, he renounced the Klan and became a respected Democrat, but there was more gushing than I would have expected over the Exalted Cyclops who may or may not have been involved in lynching young blacks.

[EFerrari]

28. It must suck not to understand redemption. And your "example"

is the polar opposite of this thread topic.

[blondeatlast]

64. +1. nt

[Odin2005]

31. the crazies are comming out from under their rocks because a "N***er" is President.

They are so frightened that they can't control themselves.

[gateley]

33. That's been the most chilling thing I've observed of this entire movement -

that it's become okay to be a racist. I've mentioned it before -- always knew there was more racism that I could "see", but I got the feeling people knew it was wrong and kept it hidden. Now they seem to wear it as a badge of honor. Right along with their Christianity.

[DonCoquixote]

35. Racism

Sorry to say, this trend has been cooking for years, ever since Raygun, but sadly, many people on both left and right are dipping their fingers into the cookie jar to see if they get caught. The right is more obvious, as they are outright making excuses for racism. Sadly though, I do see some of it on the left, as Muslims and Hispanics do get their fair share of demon-izing. The Muslims all hate women, the Hispanics are taking our jobs, etc.

[Hansel]

87. Yep. Welfare queens wearing furs and driving Cadilacs

that Raygun and co. lied about in order to get the "hard working Americans" vote was all about using racism to gin up votes. It was basically the same socialism meme about whites working hard and then having to hand their hard earned money over to those 'lazy Black people'" that they are still using.

They are just being more blatant about it because there is now a Black man in the WH and they are more desperate because they think his agenda is to get reparations. Socialism = reparations. Just ask Glenn Beck. They've had this crap spoon fed to them since Ronnie's time and now they are terrified the "Black man's" going to take all of their money.

Back then it was Paul Harvey spewing this crap.

Stinks of pure unadulterated guilt to me.

[Number23]

111. Absolutely right. That card is played by both sides

The right is just much more blatant about it.

[Enthusiast]

36. The GOP is seeking to normalize

racism just as they did with torture. It worked with torture. And now it is working with racism.

[LostinVA]

38. No, it's no different than it ever was

Their use of "code words" and the words themselves is a bit more blatant, but it's no more acceptable to most people than it ever was. The people who DO find it acceptable just feel more emboldened, because of people like Jan Brewer, etc. I've had people like this in my extended family for forever.

Most people aren't like this.

[Hansel]

89. +1 And most I know who are like this are serious losers in some way or another. nt

[LostinVA]

95. Yup n/t

[MajorChode]

40. You don't have to be a racist fuckstick to be a teabagger

But it's a great start.

[JonLP24]

42. I don't think it is becoming

I believe its pretty much always been somewhat socially acceptable. However I see your point and agree with it. K&R.

[whogasa736]

43. Free Speech

You do not want to lose it. You are going to hear and read things you do not like or agree with. In many countries ,say something the boss or his buddies do not like or agree with, Bang!, and your family gets charged for the bullet.

[seabeyond]

44. no one is challenging free speech. people are challenging the increased racism... sexism...

and homophobia in this country which again, is part of free speech.

at least with the bigots and hate mongers voicing their opinion, it allows us to know what kind of people they are. but the problem with is is the conditioning of people that hate is ok and good when they otherwise would not have been led in that direction. hence, our right to call people on the hate.

the bushco and repug party used said free speech to rally hate. the teaparty and mouth pieces on radio use free speech to stimulate and escalate the hate.

that is what is being talked about.

[JerseygirlCT]

51. I'm not talking about free speech - but I am talking about

what gets coverage and what people feel free to say.

Free speech never comes without consequences - I'm not talking about arresting people who are bigots. But those consequences seem to be lighter now. They ought to include societal disdain and shame.

[fishwax]

97. what does that have to do with the OP?

[marmar]

107. Non sequitur supreme

:wtf:

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

45. We're going through the DT period

I think America as a whole is getting there(getting better), but you have a loud minority who has the "shakes" and wants to give it to the rest of us. Hence why they feel free to blurt out racist shit right now.

[GTurck]

46. It is scaring...

the hell out of me to see the rise of so much overt racism. I see an awful lot in people who have no living memory of it or have never suffered from it. Back in the bad old days before all the isms were split into pieces I saw an awful lot in both my home city of Chicago, where it was covert; and in the South where my father was raised. Intolerance anywhere has always been the worst aspect of humanity and I once thought; at least Americans had learned that and wanted to move on. I thought the fright of the Nazi death camps had awakened us to what intolerance led too.
Wrong!
The racists, just like the conservatives, just went underground until the climate got better for their hate and they passed it on to their innocent children who now, of course, are corrupted without their understanding of it. They have been taught to hate and diminish anyone not in their "tribe".
I don't think this country can survive if we don't confront and de-fang this beast.

[stray cat]

47. Racism didn't disappear but think back 20 years - it is not more acceptable now

[lunatica]

48. This has been growing with hate radio since the early 1990s

It didn't just happen. Racism and hate have been primed to perfection for over a decade. Then the Sarah Palin box was opened and out came all the stuff we've been dealing with since the first time she opened her mouth in public.

and just like with Pandora's box, there's no stuffing the genie back into the bottle. Sorry for the mixed metaphors!

[JerseygirlCT]

52. No, I see exactly what you're saying. nt

[EFerrari]

58. Raygun was a racist @sshole. He set the tone for the contemporary Republican party. n/t

[Hansel]

92. Don't forget Paul Harvey.

He was really good at speaking in racist code. He pushed the whole welfare women wearing furs and driving Cadillacs to the nth degree, which was code for "vote for Reagan and he will stop the Black from taking your hard earned money and giving it to those lazy Blacks."

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

49. It doesn't help when you have a media outlet like FOX, watched by millions, who are

pounding the drumbeat day and night trying to fan race fears and tension with the "New Black Panther" nonstory coverage.

[Raineyb]

50. When did racism stop being somewhat socially acceptable? n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

53. Well that's just it -

I thought it was completely unacceptable.

But it seems more and more Teabaggers seem to feel otherwise. And it seems our media outlets are covering their racism as if it's just another acceptable part of our political discourse. Giving these people anything but the heaping amounts of shame they deserve is shocking to me - yet there it is, all over the airwaves, in Congress, at political events, etc.

[Raineyb]

68. I suppose it depends on whether or not you're likely to end up on the receiving

end of racist sentiments. A good many people point out racism when they see it only to be pooh-poohed for daring to bring it up. Today it's worse to call someone a racist than to actually BE a racist.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

80. Great point. I don't think racism has gone up so much as the fear of pointing it out .

[kgnu_fan]

56. Racism has been here with us all along ...

There is no mystery. Racism has been the central culture of the USA. You may have been recently awaken to the reality....

[branders seine]

57. If it is, it's because they asked for it.

("they" can be whomever you want.)

[madmom]

59. Maybe we should start..

calling all repugs crackers...

...slaver foremen in the antebellum South used bullwhips to discipline African slaves, with such use of the whip being described as 'cracking the whip'. In this folk etymology the white foremen who cracked these whips were thus known as 'crackers..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracker_%28pejorative%29

[blondeatlast]

60. The "political correctness" meme was retooled for just this purpose. It's definitely not just you.

The whole point of the SHAM PC argument is that "I can say whatever offensive thing I care to--and you can't call me on it."

Don't believe it for a moment--call 'em out.

[EstimatedProphet]

65. Acceptable? In some quarters it's mandatory.

Ever since September 11 support for anything Muslim from any quarter has been decried as treason.

[JerseygirlCT]

75. Oh yes

look at all the people freaking out that a moderate Muslim congregation in NYC wants to build a community center near ground zero.

Stunning.

[EstimatedProphet]

104. Less that a week after September 11, a Sikh in the DC area was killed

Hate crime, based on the fact that they thought he was "a Ayrab". It's been going downhill since then.

[JerseygirlCT]

108. I remember that

Shameful, ignorant and hate-filled.

[Scurrilous]

69. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Demeter]

71. Fascism in All Its Forms Is Now Socially Acceptable

and pretty soon, I expect it will be mandatory.

[NoGOPZone]

73. In general, or here on DU? nt

[JerseygirlCT]

76. No in general

I was watching coverage of the latest back and forth with the Tea Party and the NAACP, and especially that virulently racist letter... and it just really took me aback that this was being covered as if these clowns ought to be treated as another equal voice in our political discourse, not the racist loonies they are.

[NoGOPZone]

86. What's happening is that it's becoming hard to classify racisim for what it is

The phrase 'playing the race card' has become a card in itself. 'It's not because he's black' when directing criticism as Obama is gaining the same status.

[blondeatlast]

77. If there's racism at DU, I'd appreciate a link. The OP is talking about in general. nt

[NoGOPZone]

84. Who said there was?

I would have appreciated it if you had left out the first part of your post.

[SargeUNN]

74. I haven't seen such overt racism since Jim Crow

and I was around for Jim Crow in Mississippi. Meanwhile, I heard an Arizona Democratic Party representative on the radio yesterday say we have to be careful and not be too loud about this new law because we are in the minority. Right just be quiet and let it grow, now there is a recipe for failure if I ever heard one.

[JerseygirlCT]

78. Yes, that's some brave leadership for you.

Why exactly is this person involved in politics again?

[SargeUNN]

82. yeah really angered me that is why

I decided to do a live show tonight because even if I have a small listening audience, at least I am doing what I can. I started a thread on it but here is the show information.

Starts at 5 pm Pacific 8 pm Eastern and can be streamed on http://thedavidlinkshow.com or http://wxbh.org the show name is Reflections. I will be taking calls as well.

[Subdivisions]

79. Sometimes it seems that people can't fathom the idea that there can be

seismic shifts in the socio-economic and cultural paradigm in the U.S. Some cannot imagine anything other than the steady-growth, politically/morally-correct status quo.

The fact is, the right in this country is determined to make it alright to openly express their racism. That is one paradigm shift. Another is the current depression.

[KamaAina]

83. "These people are Vietnamese, so I know I'm not gonna get my money back"

this from a Dem woman of color I know, who rails against racism when it's targeted at her!! :wtf:

[underpants]

90. That is the point of the Rush/Beck flooding the airwaves with it

they are just honing down the rough edges.

[entanglement]

93. Ruling classes actively promote racism and xenophobia during tough economic times

Works like a charm, too. In France, Sarkozy and his friends are trying to divert working people's anger by promoting racism and xenophobia (hence the "burka bans", railing against migrants etc.) while slashing wages, benefits, jobs and passing the burden for misdeeds of financial criminals on to the backs of ordinary people.

[hfojvt]

94. unrec

you do not make more than a cursory attempt to validate or demonstrate your thesis (what are you talking about, for example, in regard to the "latest Tea Party insanity"?)

But as a group we seem to have a sixth sense "I see racist people" "All the time."

Just insert the word racist in place of 'dead' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GldaunhaG-U&feature=related

[Atticus]

98. Damn! I'm sure glad you're "on the job" again!

I was just like those other 93 posters before you. I thought the post was perfectly clear and made a valid observation about wingnut racism. UNTIL, that is, your superior analysis and super-cool link to Bruce Willis movie!

Thanks, man! Oops---I already recced it.

Never mind.

[hfojvt]

101. apparently you did not read post #6 and the rest of that subthread

What is clear to you, may not be clear to everyone else. Maybe you know what the "latest insanity" is, but that does not mean everyone knows it.

[Atticus]

102. Oh, I read that sub-thread. It featured a respectful and intelligent discussion;

not a concescending "drive-by" with an unrec.

[hfojvt]

112. what the heck is a drive by?

I didn't drive anywhere. I am still here, waiting for some of that respectful discussion.

I can't help you with the intelligent part.

So I was negative. I thought people didn't like the cowards who unrecced without ever explaining why. So I explained why. That I would like to know what the heck a person is talking about instead of having it be assumed that we are all watching the same shows on cable TV, which I don't get, by the way, or reading the same threads on DU, this being only the second or third thread I read since coming back from a long road trip.

I think a thesis should be backed up with some examples, that examples make for a more powerful message, one that deserves 30+ recs. One of the main things I have seen on the news lately has not been about the racism of the tea party, but about the NAACP convention in Kansas City. That the local media is broadcasting the NAACP's condemnation of racism in the tea party, does not lead me to think that racism is more tolerated in the USA.

[CTyankee]

96. Oh, I have heard whiffs of this for some time. Just recently, I heard this one:

refusing to be "politically correct."

You know and I know what THAT means. And sure enough, it was cover for anti-black and particularl anti-immigrant folks...

then they say, "Oh I'm not a racist."

Un-huh, right!

[JerseygirlCT]

106. Some of my best friends are < insert here >

yeah. I have seen a bit of that. Usually not for long, because either I stop it immediately with a remark, or I leave.

[Generic Other]

99. In some quarters it has never gone out of fashion

Being bi-racial myself, you would think people wouldn't share their racist attitudes with me, but they do. I have heard it all my life. Snide comments, coded language, jokes, etc. Of course, polite people prefaced their racist comments by issuing strange disclaimers stating that they knew something was a racist thing to say, then said it anyway! The crude ones never held back. I never really detected much of a sense of shame in the behavior in either case.

These days, the charge of reverse racism being leveled against people of color is constant it seems. The era of white victimhood is in full swing.

One thing that I have found to be encouraging is that younger people seem somewhat less inclined to act this way which gives me hope that the racist attitudes will die out eventually.

[SoCalDem]

105. Racism by proxy is what they are doing & have been doing since the '08 campaign

Palin rolled it out with her "rallies" & no one raised much of a ruckus, so they just kept pushing it further & further.. These people hear the "dog-whistle" from their leaders.. They know the candidate cannot really "go there" in a big way, so the footsoldiers of the teabag brigade are picking up the slack..:(

[laylah]

109. I was raised in the '50's...

racism is alive and "well". It only went underground for all of these years. "They" now have permission to be asshole, racist, dumbass, ignorant because the MEDIA allows it. I am of the time of Huntley and Brinkley/Cronkite and so many others of the "Golden Age of Journalism".

Sadly, there are no longer the "Great Giants" of journalism. I hang my hopes on Rachel and Keith...am I a fool?

jenn

[AspenRose]

114. Definitely, the media allows it

which is why, for example, Pat Buchanan still has a job.

[spin]

113. Racism is NEVER acceptable ...

That includes ALL racism. I don't care if it's racism by whites directed at blacks or racism by blacks directed at whites. Or for that matter any racism involving orientals, Aborigines, American Indians, Hispanics, etc.

I want to see our government finally come up with a rational policy involving immigration from Mexico and see an end to the oppression of Mexicans by big corporations for their profit.

I've held these views since I grew up in the 50's. I taught my only child not to be racist and I am pleased that she has taught the same message to my grandsons. I am white and have had many black friends and often experienced hatred for it from other whites. My daughter also had close black friendships as did my ex-wife and currently my grandsons.

It drives me crazy when I see some white racist fool make hateful statements, just as it does when I see a tape of a New Black Panther talking about killing white babies.

Once at a class for diversity training at the company I retired from, the black instructor made a statement that sticks with me to this day.

He said, "We are all in the same boat. If we row together we will reach the other shore. If half of us row and half don't and some drill holes in the bottom of the boat, the best we can hope for is to go in circles."