Yeah, pulling the race card is definitely lazy. You have to get beneath the topic and explore the cultural and political reasons why such perceptions exist. The Republican Party consists of many political strands from conservatives, centrist Republicans, Gay republicans, Black Republicans, etc, each of which are Republicans for varying reasons - mostly having to do with fiscal spending, strong national defense, and/or social traditionalism. Its far too easy to "other" Republicans to score cheap debating points by pulling the race card, but in truth, this just exacerbates the political dichotomy between liberals and conservatives in the US, rather than bring the issues to the center of the political spectrum. The US needs less of this and more people who adopt a pragmatic discourse that allows Americans to debate sensibly rather than getting into the usual, tedious food fight over race, which both sides are guilty of.
US Presidential Election: Tuesday November 6th, 2012
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Yeah, pulling the race card is definitely lazy. You have to get beneath the topic and explore the cultural and political reasons why such perceptions exist. The Republican Party consists of many political strands from conservatives, centrist Republicans, Gay republicans, Black Republicans, etc, each of which are Republicans for varying reasons - mostly having to do with fiscal spending, strong national defense, and/or social traditionalism. Its far too easy to "other" Republicans to score cheap debating points by pulling the race card, but in truth, this just exacerbates the political dichotomy between liberals and conservatives in the US, rather than bring the issues to the center of the political spectrum. The US needs less of this and more people who adopt a pragmatic discourse that allows Americans to debate sensibly rather than getting into the usual, tedious food fight over race, which both sides are guilty of.
as for the blacks like West...who say the most racist stuff...
all that proves is these people are willing to be tools to be used so they can get some of that 'gravy'.
They remind me of the Jews who helped the Nazis kill their own kind...for the opportunity to live a little longer.
the first step in stopping the food fight is to not tolerate the racist code words.
..and I never said all republicans are racists. But if a party puts up with such tactics.. they just need to live with the accusation.
Another racial reference ? FFS.
The party doesn't put up with it. Individual members have the right to speak their minds, and pay the price if they make silly statements.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/26/poll-less-half-voters-think-obama-is-christian/
About one in six voters still thinks President Obama is Muslim while only half identify him as a Christian, according to a new national poll released Thursday.
Just 49 percent of voters surveyed by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life said the president is Christian, while 17 percent said he is Muslim and 31 percent did not know his religion.
The percentage who think Mr. Obama is Muslim has actually increased by 5 percentage points since he was elected in 2008, although it has decreased 2 percentage points since an August 2010 poll.
About one in six voters still thinks President Obama is Muslim while only half identify him as a Christian, according to a new national poll released Thursday.
Just 49 percent of voters surveyed by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life said the president is Christian, while 17 percent said he is Muslim and 31 percent did not know his religion.
The percentage who think Mr. Obama is Muslim has actually increased by 5 percentage points since he was elected in 2008, although it has decreased 2 percentage points since an August 2010 poll.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/26/poll-less-half-voters-think-obama-is-christian/
About one in six voters still thinks President Obama is Muslim while only half identify him as a Christian, according to a new national poll released Thursday.
Just 49 percent of voters surveyed by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life said the president is Christian, while 17 percent said he is Muslim and 31 percent did not know his religion.
The percentage who think Mr. Obama is Muslim has actually increased by 5 percentage points since he was elected in 2008, although it has decreased 2 percentage points since an August 2010 poll.
There's clearly a problem with gullibility and misinformation among the talk radio GOP crowd.
Obama is an atheist though. I'm sure of it.
Racism is ignorance.
I think he is as well. The religion stuff is just to cover his tracks since the US voting public isn't quite ready for a non-religious leader.
It is, but ignorance isn't necessarily always racism.
I think that too. It's fecking nuts that you have to pretend to believe in the sky daddy to get elected.
Same here.
Yep. And I hope he comes out and says so, but only if he gets re-elected and his second term is highly successful. Otherwise it might do more harm than good. After all, atheists are the most distrusted people in the US, strangely enough.
There are degrees of racism, it's not an all-encompassing trait. I have some racism based on my upbringing that I have to guard against, but nowhere near as severe as some people over here.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/26/poll-less-half-voters-think-obama-is-christian/
About one in six voters still thinks President Obama is Muslim while only half identify him as a Christian, according to a new national poll released Thursday.
Just 49 percent of voters surveyed by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life said the president is Christian, while 17 percent said he is Muslim and 31 percent did not know his religion.
The percentage who think Mr. Obama is Muslim has actually increased by 5 percentage points since he was elected in 2008, although it has decreased 2 percentage points since an August 2010 poll.
On the plus side 81% are not troubled by his religious beliefs no matter what they think they are.
Oh man that would be amazing. The rightie christian's heads would explode.
Day one "Right, I'm not wasting any more of my time in church. I don't believe in any of it, that goes for Allah too".
Ok, I would agree with you on the race card can be very lazy, but recognizing the insipid racism all over the Republican party and their followers and supporters is very relevant and far from lazy. And I repeat, lazy and disingenuous not to recognize it.
As far as fiscal conservatives . . . what a load of bollocks. They're fiscally conservative for social sending (which carries racist overtones), but for the war machine, homeland security, jailing, handing out public funds to their cronies, they are anything but fiscal conservatives. I wish democrats would start calling them on their bullshit. Next time you hear "strong on defense" people should start screaming "big spenders." as with Bush and Reagan, they're worse spenders than anyone, it's just what they choose to spend it on. Remember Dick Cheney . . . deficits don't matter. It's extremely lazy not to recognize this republican bs. It was a democrat Bill Clinton who balanced the budget. The big difference is Republicans don't want to pay for the big spending with taxes, unless of course it's for their almighty, inauditable military complex. Life is so sacred for them in the abortion question, but they have no problem with bombing Vietnam and Cambodia back into the stone ages. Republican hypocrisy knows no limits. Carpet bombing villages and urban areas. Just remember, next time you hear "strong on defense," replace it with massive massive spending on the military industrial complex and more prisons and homeland security.
Old conservative values are when blacks knew their place.
But yes, I will grant you the race card can be extremely lazy and tedious.
CNN pointing out that Obama also made a tit of himself on a trip to London. It seems its a prerequisite for Americans leaders abroad.
there should be zero tolerance...simple.
that kind of stuff belongs with the KKK..not with a major political party.
if there is to be an honest debate between the parties, it should be about policies. I hope the presidential debates will sharpen the differences.
yeah.. that religious freedom bollox has got me pissed with my church.
I normally give for the annual archdiocese requests. This time I did not...they called of course.
I told the caller I am unhappy with these political issues cropping up in the homilies.
waiting to be excommunicated
Mind you I gave the money I would have to another prgram that works with very poor children all over the world.
well, good for you for standing up to them. I hope you don't get any backlash over a political disagreement. Especially well done for giving the money to a worthy cause too.
Unfortunately it often takes financial or institutional pressure for churches to become more open and tolerant.
If it was upto some people we'd still believe that the earth was the centre of the universe and the stars are travelling at trillions of times the speed of light around us.
I had a discussion with my cousin...an argument would be more accurate about the current state of the Catholic church. They are all gung ho about being anti-abortion, the marriage question and such. so what are they actually doing about child abuse in the church or about helping the poor...and I dont mean lip service btw.
was talking to a fellow church goer..and he said the 'politics' has stopped his daughters coming to church. My kids are totally suspicious of organized religion. My daughter comes with me sometimes.. but I suspect it is just cause I ask her.
If the church was actually out there working with the poor instead of preaching 'republican' talking points...perhaps these youngsters would be coming back...
racism is different from prejudice. I think you are talking about prejudice mate. We all have that to a greater or lesser extent.
The key is to recognize that and not allow such feelings to influence what we do.
here is an excellent definition of teh difference.
http://nicholaspayton.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/on-the-difference-between-prejudice-and-racism/
The argument that a group is innately racist because it controls the power structures of society isn't going to wash with most people. Exclusionary practices based on skin color is what most people associate with racism.
Yes, there's a difference between institutional racism and your run-of-the-mill racism.
the fact they may not accept the difference does not mean the difference does not exist.
so how do the non-white races control what happens to whites.
In response to that article, I'm pretty sure there are black people in the world who think that their culture and society is better those of white people. Probably a lot of them are not in America, maybe he's forgetting the rest of the world. But also in America I can easily find you black and white people that think there are better cultures in areas that are primarily populated by black people. Unsurprisingly many find the culture of white people to be boring as hell.
My understanding of the foundation of racism is that it's a belief in the inherent superiority of one race. So that the poorest, ugliest racist white man feels superior to the richest, most successful and intelligent person in China, regardless of any comparison one could make.
You can't expect to redefine what racism is in order to stack the odds in your favor, irrespective of the fact that the masses associate it with people not liking others based on skin color.
You can't expect to redefine what racism is in order to stack the odds in your favor, irrespective of the fact that the masses associate it with people not liking others based on skin color.
sorry.I'm not redefining anything. racism is different from prejudice. that's it. when such accusations are thrown about as if both 'sides' are just as guilty, the difference needs to be explained. To accept they are the same is to play into a narrative that is being spun.
Feelings such as what you describe about what blacks or other cultures feel are just that. They are in no way a threat to other cultures.
Here is what he says in that blog
"The root of racism is fear of White genetic annihilation, not money.
Again, money is not the root of racism.
First of all, money is not about money, it’s about power.
Racism is based in White people maintaining a position of power.
Why?
Because if they don’t, White people could very well disappear altogether.
It’s basic survival instinct.
Since being White, from a scientific standpoint, is a genetically recessive trait, it is very possible for there to be a total annihilation of White people via the colored population of this world.
This is the root of racism; White survival instinct.
Therefore, it is not possible for Black people to be racist."
Yes only White people can be racist, there were never any racial issues anyplace else in the world, at all before white people came along.
On a slightly different note, watching through some Anthony Weiner videos on youtube, how sad that this guy managed to feck up so bad. Brilliant politician, hopefully he'll return to the scene in the not-so-distant future.
Of course blacks can be racists, and some are. The massive difference is . . . it's fookin' understandable, man. Don't you think, considering the United States' history? The miracle is, is that so many aren't. Step inside their shoes. It's what empathy is all about, and is what's lacking inside the republican character. Being "republican" is so much more about (cnuty) character, and less about economics. There are loads of outstanding entrepreneurs and keen businessman and 1%ers that are liberal democrats. And look at all those rich fecks in Hollywood.
Marion Barry made a comeback as Mayor of DC, so a comeback could happen.
He did? Don't remember that, and he's fairly adored over here.
I'm not sure you can do what he did, while also being called Weiner, and come back from that.
As the dictionary says, racism is a belief, not a fact or a theory. There is no science of racism, 'white' is not something you can scientifically separate from other groups, there are no boundaries you can draw between them. So this is all about how people 'feel' about what race they are in, if they even think there are races. Not to mention that the standards of which race you are in based on how you look change depending on where you are in the world.
Do many people in the world live in fear of the threat of some vague group of 'white people' and thus live in racial subjugation, knowing they are inferior and being unable to conceive they are equal or superior themselves? Why should 'threat' be the defining factor?
The war of cultures takes place in more arenas than military and economic, in fact they start out very small, like the various Christian cultures, ideas cannot be stopped with weapons, laws, or anything else, I think history has proven. Later in its history Christian cultures would fight with weapons and economics, but it started without any of than and was able to eventually overcome the dominant cultures in their midst simply by appealing to the mind.
I don't think he can draw that conclusion from that information.
He seems to be saying that what matters most is that when white people and black or asian or any other group have kids they don't look white. White people noticed this and decided they wanted to remain white looking and decided to attack, demean and segregate people who look different so that only white people would mate with other white people, so there would be white people.
It's a weird idea, and I'm not sure groups make decisions like that. Cultures are self maintaining, parents want their kids to mate with people of a similar culture, the tribes of ancient Gaul preferred other Gauls, Romans preferred Romans, they look down on the tribes of Britain. Were they racist then because they were a threat, and white people weren't racist as they weren't? Or were Romans not racist because they don't have to protect their recessive white skin?
Personally my study of the subject has lead me to believe the real issue is culture. People of who identify as different races in the same country tend to relate much better with each other than people who identify as being in the same race but from vastly different parts of the world.
This argument also seems to suggest there are no places in the world run by people of any group other than white people. There is no question that there are many Japanese people who think Japanese culture is the best, there are people in India who feel the same, people tend to prefer the culture they are in to one which they are unfamiliar with. These people might concede that the average American white person has a higher standard of living, that the American government and industry has more influence around the world, but again I don't see why the 'threat' this posses to other cultures is the main factor one should use in determining what racism is.
Some interesting new research on the effect of Obama's race on the popularity of his policies.
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