# help explain: intense racism AND hatred of Nazi's **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605 "2012-06-19T02:41:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/21 "2012-06-19T14:53:45Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Oh fer chrissakes, I wish people would stop spouting that nonsense. My parents were both born in 1921 and neither were racist, both were gay-friendly. Hell, my grandmother (born in 1898) was not racist, and she was a lesbian! People are not perfect little stereotypical time capsules. Yes but plenty of people become regressive as they get older, other older people are suffering from dementia and their personality can literally become that of their younger self, or they no longer stay polite and spout whatever they think. My mom told me when she was in school in the late 40’s a teacher told her whole class openly that black people came from white women who were raped by gorillas, as if it was a fact. I could easily see kids being influenced by that. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/22 "2012-06-19T15:05:01Z")
One of Jon Haidt’s moral touchstones is loyalty to ones “own kind”. If the man in a white non-nazi, then both people of color and nazi’s are “the other”. It is a case of “My \_\_\_\_\_\_, right or wrong!” This point of morality is one (just one) of the big differences between liberals and conservatives. Loyalty is far more important to Conservatives. It is one of the reasons that it is hard to get liberals to present unified opposition to conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/23 "2012-06-19T15:13:08Z")
Damn nazi’s. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/24 "2012-06-19T15:29:25Z")
Just because two groups agree on one thing, doesn’t mean they have to like each other. You can hate Nazis without being opposed to everything Nazis believe. You can agree with a group’s goals, but not with the methods they use or advocate to achieve those goals. You can even hate the group, if you think their methods are particularly heinous. For example, I think it would be good to reduce the number of homeless dogs and cats. That doesn’t mean I would necessarily like a group that advocates putting poison out to kill feral cats. Racial and group hatred is often not rational. If it’s not rational, why _should_ you expect it to be logically consistent? It’s like expecting a basketball game to follow the rules of golf. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/25 "2012-06-19T16:07:05Z")
It is also a misconception, almost a mythology, that surviving the Holocaust (or any vast and devastating tragedy) makes you into a person with a lot of insight into the human condition. I suppose that’s a natural assumption if you don’t know a lot of survivors personally, since certain extremely famous writers have reflected deeply on their Holocaust experiences (Primo Levi, etc). However, there is a certain element of luck involved in surviving. The survivors are a cross section of everyone. A good bit of the time, it just makes you a person with extremely profound and painful unexplored issues. Depression, and anxiety are common even in elderly Holocaust survivors. [This study](http://www.claimscon.org/forms/Holocaust_Survivors_Israel-jdc.pdf) reports that _Some survivors experience the move into an old age home as a repetition of their experiences of deportation and imprisonment_. People protecting their own wounds can say a lot of vile shit about others without giving it a second thought. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/26 "2012-06-19T16:12:44Z")
Maybe he’s angry the Nazis made racism look so terrible by taking it to its logical conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/27 "2012-06-19T17:40:54Z")
It’s possible for a garden-variety racist to be OK with a specific minority, if they had positive interactions with them in the past. Did he ever date or love or marry a Jewish woman? Did he have a Jewish nanny or babysitter or family friend who was a really good person? That could explain why Nazism bothers him so much, but he’s still very racist wrt people of non-Jewish ethnicities. But also, the dementia thing brought up earlier could be a major factor. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/28 "2012-06-19T20:19:19Z")
I doubt its dementia. He’s always been like this. everytime I visit, he cries over some patriotic purpose; and simultaneously lambasts non-europeans with sickening vitriol. He’s been like this as long as I’ve known him ~30 years. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/29 "2012-06-20T17:46:03Z")
I don’t see the irrationality. The Nazis are much more racist than he is. He’s okay with his level of racism, but not the level where you start putting them in extermination camps. Is it really news that not all racists are okay with genocide? Just because many of us want to get rid of all racism doesn’t mean that all racism is equal. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/30 "2012-06-20T19:58:45Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I recognize there was more to Nazism than racism. But I’m confident that it is probably the biggest identifying feature of the philosophy. > > I had the experience recently of having to converse with an 85 year old man who: > > 1. became emotional and cried about having Nazis in America and > 2. is the absolute worst racist I have ever met, to the point of suggesting decapitation for interacial couples. > > Other than being sick to my stomach; I just don’t understand what appears to me two opposing viewpoints held by the same individual. > > Can someone help me understand how a person can hold both points of view? His problem isn’t with ‘racism’; his problem is with Nazis. And, he has another problem with interracial couples. He didn’t fight, (if he was in the war) against the racists: he fought against the German political system of the time, which was Nazis. Any man who cries about this stuff is pretty strange to begin with, however, so you may want to plan accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/31 "2012-06-20T20:00:28Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Oh fer chrissakes, I wish people would stop spouting that nonsense. My parents were both born in 1921 and neither were racist, both were gay-friendly. Hell, my grandmother (born in 1898) was not racist, and she was a lesbian! People are not perfect little stereotypical time capsules. Hey, everybody, **Eve’s** in denial! Just joking. Hey, everybody,\*\* Eve’s\*\* not in denial! ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/32 "2012-06-20T20:42:37Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Any man who cries about this stuff is pretty strange to begin with, however, so you may want to plan accordingly. Maybe he saw [**this stuff**](http://www.glogster.com/media/2/11/54/21/11542125.jpg) first-hand. Or maybe not first-hand; the pictures and movies can be enough. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2012, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605/33 "2012-06-21T10:38:51Z")
It’s called a “Russian” \<-- Racist and anti-Nazi, a country full of them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-explain-intense-racism-and-hatred-of-nazis/625605.md?page=1)