Our latest entry in “I say racist things but I’m not a racist” comes from ex-fire chief Paul Smith, who said “I am not the racist the media portrays me as” after this making this comment on facebook:
Maybe it’s just me, but saying things like that cause me to infer that the person is racist. However, it seems like the person saying it will never admit that he’s racist. I can’t recall anyone ever saying that they are actually racist after doing something racist. They always have some justification like “I’m not racist. I just think the races should stay pure.” or “I’m just stating a fact that <racial-slur>s have a natural tendency to do <negative-thing>.”
So what do people like Paul Smith think makes someone racist? If using the above racial slur isn’t sufficient, then what would be necessary for someone like him to say “Doing <x> would make me a racist.”?
I can’t think myself into the mind of someone who insists on identifying people and their behaviour with their “otherness”, then denies that that they pay any attention to it - and gets all huffy if someone points out the hypocrisy.
But some racists do indeed glory in their racism, and those we normally call Nazis.
Usually the key phrase to look out for is “race realist”. As in “Yes, I’m making statements that treat members of another race as if they are all intrinsically inferior but that’s only because they are intrinsically inferior and I’m just being realistic about it, unlike those namby-pamby liberals who deny that reality.”
We’ve had a few of those here, usually endlessly linking to the same small grouping of methodologically-dubious studies.
What makes me mad, and sad, is I thought there weren’t as many racist assholes as there were in the past. I see all the improvements in race relations, and think, “maybe the world is getting better.”
Nope - they were all just driven underground. The election of the cheeto in chief has instead given approval to all those racists to come back into the light. It’s like the cockroaches have invaded the kitchen again, and we gotta stomp them all over again.
They think that, because they like the ‘good’ ones, it’s cool. They don’t hate the whole race. Kenny at the job is cool. He’s never talking that BLM junk. He has a wife. Paul would gladly invite him onto his front porch. Paul’s definitely not racist.
Right. I’ve noticed a common belief among some older white Americans that if one doesn’t literally want to either murder or enslave an entire race, then one can’t be racist. Which allows lots and lots of racism that they deny is racism.
Nobody thinks they’re bigoted (racist, sexist, homophobic, whatever). They believe their attitudes are fully justified by empiric reality, and therefore it is mean and unfair to call them bad names for their perfectly rational opinions that any person who isn’t a lefty communist SJW libtard can clearly see are factually correct.
I think that bigoted people are often fine with the “others” in THEIR lives. The gays they know are fine, the blacks they know are fine, the latinos they know are fine. Because not only are those people actually fine but being friendly/pleasant/ok with them is a positive to the bigot’s life. Those people are helping the bigots live their life in some way. They even like so-and-so entertainer or so-and-so athlete because those people are a positive in their lives.
But all those “other others” who don’t cross their path or don’t impact their lives in some way or they just don’t know? The hypothetical “others” or the ones they see speaking out? Fuck 'em. All thugs and fags and illegals.
That’s the kind of racism I am seeing today. And **JAQ **is right, they are not new they are just speaking out more now. Again.
I guess the only “good” thing here is that the bigots are speaking out more because the oppressed and their allies are speaking out more, too.
I’ve met several racists who admit they are racist. They weren’t particularly bright people either.
The question is who do they admit their racism to? They won’t have any trouble admitting it to other racists. Usually they’ll feel out a person for their reaction before saying anything. But there are drunken loudmouths who don’t have a problem letting their real feelings be known. Give them a point for honesty at least.
I know several who do. But while they’re perfectly happy to state that their first reaction to people from X place or with Z skintone is negative or that they’re wary of women/men in certain situations, they tend to be too professional and well-raised to let it show whenever they meet such a person.
Compare them with those people who claim they’re not bigoted but who miss no chance to insult or put obstacles in the way of those they see as Other and I prefer the first group.
All of us have prejudices. Being conscious of them is a first step towards keeping those prejudices from having a negative effect in your life and those of the people around you.
Generally, racists fall into two categories: Those who deny being racist, and those who will say, “Yes, I’m racist, but that’s a good thing.”
That being said, there are indeed instances where people will be accused of being racist when they are in fact simply stating an unpleasant truth. In such circumstances, the fault lies more with the audience than the accused racist.
I would also like to see society think of racism as being racism whenever people of any skin color are prejudiced against people of any other skin color, not just a matter of whites against minorities. Minorities can certainly be prejudiced against each other (there’s a great deal of prejudice by Asians against blacks, for instance.) And then you also have ludicrous claims like this: Why Black People Can’t Be Racist.