Kids are naturally horrible to each other, but having their parents, teachers, peers or media sources encourage them to be horrible on particular grounds (e.g. race, sex, athletic ability) only makes it worse. I say it’s important for kids to have to come up with their own reasons for being horrible to each other, or they’ll just grow up lazy.
Are you asking if this is the fault of the black kids?
Urbanredneck would never do such a thing.
It’s a music class. Teach them “You’ve Got to be Taught”.
I have not observed racial stratification among the students. The various social groups seem to have representation from the ethnic groups present in the school. Ethnic minorities do tend to come from the poorer parts of town. We have a number of multi-ethnic students. In fact, this is a trend that appears to me to be increasing.
Having said all that, this is a very conservative, deep red, community. A recent legislative election had three candidates – two white Republicans and one black Democrat. The Republicans out-polled the Democrat 4 to 1. It is unclear at this time what role race played in that.
We have one eighth grade white male student who regularly wears “I’m with Trump” T-shirts. He likes to wear his red MAGA hat. His T-shirts bear the InfoWars logo. As far as I know, he is of no relation to the “vote for me 'cause I’m not black” kid. I have not seen the MAGA 8th grader be disrespectful to any ethnic minority classmate. I do not engage him in his politics because it would be inappropriate for me to go there with him. He’s actually a pretty great kid. It’s a shame he proudly wears the logo of a hate group.
Or it could be a clever move by the opposition, who have learned the fake news technique of Karl Rove & co.
Why are you blaming Trump?
If somebody told a kid he could throw rocks at my car, I’d be pissed at both the kid and the guy who ‘gave him permission’.
When did Trump give people permission (or metaphorically) to be racist?
Well, there was his characterization of most Mexican immigrants to the US as criminals and rapists (although some of them, he assumed, are good people).
There was the refusal to unequivocally condemn the alt-right/racist crowds that had gathered in Charlottesville last year.
And there’s the ongoing effort to block everyone from certain countries (which happen to be majority muslim) from entering the US, no matter how much it screws up people’s lives.
His policies and conduct set the tone, basically declaring to the nation “racism will be tolerated, even encouraged.”
Hate groups in the U.S. remain on the rise, according to new study
Religion is not race. The stated reason was terrorism, not race or religion.
A racist was elected to the highest position in the country. This is more of a game of ‘follow the leader’.
Seriously, you can’t see that this would and has influenced people?
I blame the Russians.
Regards,
Shodan
That’s racist against Russians. (I hope you detect my sarcasm: nationality is not race.)
Correct! Don’t blame this on Trump. He’s clearly NOT racist, he’s overly Pro-America if anything. Put the blame on the parents of the kid. Done.
This middle-schooler must not be as nuanced as you in that he is failing to see the distinction between racism and other forms of bigotry. For him, it appears to all be just one monolithic attitude about “those people”.
Hey fine, if you want to shitpick, I guess “Mexican” isn’t a race either. Clearly you’ve blown my entire argument out of the water. Bravo. :rolleyes:
The stated reason for the travel ban was indeed terrorism, but his willingness to inflict dehumanizing restrictions on an entire demographic group is an example of the kind of thinking that legitimizes outgroup hostility by able-bodied Christian white men. In the short time that Trump has been on the national political scene, we’ve seen him make fun of a disabled guy, learned of his abiding disrespect for the agency of women, seen him ban LGBTQ people from serving in the military, try very hard to keep muslim people from entering the US, slander pretty much every Mexican seeking entry into the US, and refuse to condemn white supremacists.
Are you really arguing that any one of these things doesn’t promote outgroup hostility - of which racism is one type? Do you seriously believe there is no crossover - that is, that promoting prejudice toward one nationality or religious group doesn’t create an environment in which people - especially impressionable teens - also think it’s OK to be hostile toward people because of their race?
Title aside, I think the topic as phrased is best suited for the Pit. Thread relocated from IMHO.
A nationalistic president, even if not racist, probably does appeal to racists. Does that mean nationalism is never the right course under some circumstances?