# Is Jeff Sessions a racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 5, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948 "2016-12-05T17:58:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/141 "2016-12-07T22:44:44Z")
I have abelist privilege. When the disabled talk about wanting equal accommodations, I have to fight the kneejerk thought that they are only trying to play on everyone’s pity so they can get extra stuff (like spacious restroom stalls and fast passes at Disney World). I have thin privilege. When I hear the words “fat shaming”, I inwardly groan and think to myself, “Anyone who drinks a Big Gulp for breakfast SHOULD be ashamed.” I know this is wrong, but I still think it. In some contexts, I have female privilege. I don’t feel pressure by society to repress my emotions or act more aggressive than I am naturally inclined. No one has ever called me a “loser” for not having a lot of money or driving a fancy car. I never have to worry about someone accusing me of being a pedophile or a rapist. So when I hear guys complaining about these things, my tendency is to say “SHUT UP, YOU WHINY CRYBABY.” I have class privilege. The public transit system wants to raise the fare by fifty cents? Sounds good to me! The city wants to increase my water bill by 10% to deal with stormwater system upgrades? I’m a fan since I care about pollution issues. The grocery store in my neighborhood refuses to kowtow to demands to accept WIC and foodstamps? Doesn’t upset me none. So when I hear poor people complaining about these things, I want to tell them to sit their broke-asses down somewhere and STFU so we can get out of the city council meeting sometime before midnight. Their issues rarely emotionally connect with me, so I automatically think they’re stupid (until I actually listen to what’s being said). However, I am also not privileged in some aspects. I know that if I were to start complaining about my experiences as a black person to an audience that resembles the general population, I am much more likely to hear in response something like “You’ve got a big chip on your shoulder” or “You’re a big fat liar” than “Your feelings are completely understandable, and it’s messed up that you deal with that shit.” As a non-Christian, I am expected to put up with a lot more bullshit from believers–however well-intentioned they may be–than I ever had to deal with when I was a Christian. My feelings get dinged sometimes in the context of gender (“You throw like a girl”, “Your hormones are making you shrill and hysterical”, “You’re a bitch for not appreciating my sexual advances”, “You’re intelligence is intimidating”, “You’re invisible to me because you’re not hawt enough.”) And I don’t have the most conventional lifestyle, so I am conditioned to take the backseat when folks in the room are talking about their personal lives. Because I know that their _reflex_ will be to roll their eyes if I should deign to elevate my cat’s funny antics to the same level as their child’s. And I suspect many of them don’t care all that much about how “family-friendly” work policies affect people like me. When you are in the majority, you can afford not to care. To me, that’s what “privilege” boils too. You’re privileged if you don’t have to care about something because it doesn’t affect you…even though it affects other people who just happen to be the minority in the general population. Being privileged robs you of empathy and makes you kind of an uncaring jerk–at least in your internal thought processes. However, you can be a 100% great person–totally non-racist and a friend to everyone–and still enjoy a shitload of privilege. I really don’t know why this is so hard for people to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/142 "2016-12-07T23:15:17Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > **Kimstu** suggested “… Bricker, honey, you racist as hell…” for failing to acknowledge the white privilege that supposedly permeated my (or Sessions’, I guess) life. :dubious: That is a seriously disingenuous misrepresentation of what I said. I said that you would qualify as racist _ **IF** _ complacency about racial privilege and resentment about being expected to be aware of racial privilege is considered a form of racism in itself. That conditional is a rather important qualification of the truncated bit that you quoted. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/143 "2016-12-07T23:39:05Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Damn it **Bricker** , it’s 2 i’s, then andy, then 4 i’s. Just think of me as putting on my glasses (2 eyes to 4). 😉 Sorry. I was averaging the i load. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/144 "2016-12-07T23:39:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **HurricaneDitka** : > > Seems like an awfully broad definition for “racist”. The Confederate battle flag, as a symbol, was created to have a very specific meaning. That meaning was “I am so committed to the ideal that humans can own other humans as property that I am willing to commit treason and to go to war against my own nation to defend that ideal”. Anyone flying the flag is either deliberately expressing that message, or is ignorant that that is the message. The first is racist under absolutely any definition, no matter how narrow, and the second requires such gross ignorance of history, in an environment that makes it so easy to learn that history, that it requires idiocy. Thus, anyone who flies the Confederate battle flag is either a racist or an idiot, like I said. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/145 "2016-12-07T23:44:06Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Depends. Do people perceive you as white? > > I mean, Marco Rubio is technically hispanic. Same with Ted Cruz. But _nobody_ is going to talk about “That lazy wetback spic Cruz”. Because just about everyone _perceives_ these people as white. Why is it unreasonable for Rachael Dolezal to call herself “black”? Because the people who see a black person and immediately clutch their purses a little tighter will not react that way towards her. > > It’s almost entirely about how society perceives you. So you tell me - do you face racial violence or discrimination based on your skin color or heritage? Seems to me you asked two questions. Do people perceive me as white? Answer: no. Do I face racial violence or discrimination based on my skin color or heritage? Answer: no. Almost never. I can think of several instances when I was young, and poor, that probably arose in part from being dark-complected, but even those were more about class than race (in my opinion). And never violence. Since **elucidator** wants to wait for my best-selling biography, I’ll refrain from details, unless anyone cares. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/146 "2016-12-07T23:48:53Z")
> [@CatandMouse](#): > > I think you’re reading into more than what was actually there. For example, if you had asked, "“In what possible way do I have black privilege?” I would have assumed you were black. > > In addition to iiandyiiii’s definition to white privilege, I would also add that White privilege is a systemic cultural reality that one can either choose to ignore, or choose to acknowledge. So… it wasn’t reading my prose here and seeing correct punctuation and grammar, and a vocabulary range that suggests post-high-school education (or possibly sententious twithood) and knowing my occupation and political leanings that created a Bricker-is-White _gestalt_? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/147 "2016-12-07T23:52:09Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > :dubious: That is a seriously disingenuous misrepresentation of what I said. I said that you would qualify as racist _ **IF** _ complacency about racial privilege and resentment about being expected to be aware of racial privilege is considered a form of racism in itself. That conditional is a rather important qualification of the truncated bit that you quoted. Er… I’m sorry, but it was a clear inference to me that the conditional was accurate and on display in this very thread! That is, what we’re discussing is the assumption that Sessions’ complacency about racial privilege and resentment about being expected to be aware of racial privilege is a form of racism. Am i wrong about that? Honey? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/148 "2016-12-07T23:53:30Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > **Bricker:** > As fascinating as your story is to its narrator, shouldn’t you be preserving all this for your biographers? And what do I reply to people who ask specific questions? “Sorry, friend; **elucidator** has declared that off-limits?” ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/149 "2016-12-08T00:08:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Er… I’m sorry, but it was a clear inference to me that the conditional was accurate and on display in this very thread! That is, what we’re discussing is the assumption that Sessions’ complacency about racial privilege and resentment about being expected to be aware of racial privilege is a form of racism. > > Am i wrong about that? I thought it was this coupled with the other things that make him a suspected racist. The weight of all the evidence suggests he’s a racist. But it becomes easier to handwave if one chooses to focus on singular details. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/150 "2016-12-08T00:09:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The Confederate battle flag, as a symbol, was created to have a very specific meaning. That meaning was “I am so committed to the ideal that humans can own other humans as property that I am willing to commit treason and to go to war against my own nation to defend that ideal”. Anyone flying the flag is either deliberately expressing that message, or is ignorant that that is the message. The first is racist under absolutely any definition, no matter how narrow, and the second requires such gross ignorance of history, in an environment that makes it so easy to learn that history, that it requires idiocy. Thus, anyone who flies the Confederate battle flag is either a racist or an idiot, like I said. Even if I accept that the flag was created for that narrow message, I don’t agree that displaying it now automatically means an endorsement of that message. It is possible, albeit insensitive, to valorize the battle acumen of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and James Longstreet and intend the flag to memoralize their deeds. I agree there are better ways of expressing that admiration, and that a prudent person will take care to separate his appreciation for the planning and execution Longstreet showed at Chickamauga with the political goals for which he fought, but I think it’s not factually correct to declare that no options exist beyond racism and idiocy. Although I will admit that I also appreciate Rommel’s brilliance at Sollum and Halfaya Pass but certainly would never express that with a Nazi flag. But I think the two cases are distinct for other reasons; Rommel was not a Nazi and ultimately met his end by forced suicide as a result of his role in planning an assassination of Hitler. Anyway, my point is: I agree it’s unwise; I don’t agree it’s idiocy or racism as a matter of certainty. Unless you’re using “idiocy” in a hyperbolic way that amounts to “unwise.” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/151 "2016-12-08T00:12:34Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I thought it was this coupled with the other things that make him a suspected racist. > > The weight of all the evidence suggests he’s a racist. But it becomes easier to handwave if one chooses to focus on singular details. The problem here is it then boils down to a more vague “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” accusation where each point has a reasonable explanation but the argument becomes, “Well, there’s gotta be something here anyway.” How would one rebut the accusation, other than by rebutting each particular element? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/152 "2016-12-08T00:13:22Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Even if I accept that the flag was created for that narrow message, I don’t agree that displaying it now automatically means an endorsement of that message. It is possible, albeit insensitive, to valorize the battle acumen of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and James Longstreet and intend the flag to memoralize their deeds. > > I agree there are better ways of expressing that admiration, and that a prudent person will take care to separate his appreciation for the planning and execution Longstreet showed at Chickamauga with the political goals for which he fought, but I think it’s not factually correct to declare that no options exist beyond racism and idiocy. > > Although I will admit that I also appreciate Rommel’s brilliance at Sollum and Halfaya Pass but certainly would never express that with a Nazi flag. But I think the two cases are distinct for other reasons; Rommel was not a Nazi and ultimately met his end by forced suicide as a result of his role in planning an assassination of Hitler. > > Anyway, my point is: I agree it’s unwise; I don’t agree it’s idiocy or racism as a matter of certainty. Unless you’re using “idiocy” in a hyperbolic way that amounts to “unwise.” I think it’s, at best, extremely obnoxious – as obnoxious as flying a swastika where Jews might see it. Politeness has been a (supposed) hallmark of Southern culture, but flying something that so many Americans reasonably see as a symbol of white supremacism is incredibly discourteous in the worst way possible. Decent Southerners (I’m a Southerner, by the way – I was born in Georgia and grew up in Louisiana and Arkansas) really ought to speak up, IMO, and tell other Southerners they see how terribly rude and unkind this is to millions of our fellow Southerners. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/153 "2016-12-08T00:14:58Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The problem here is it then boils down to a more vague “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” accusation where each point has a reasonable explanation but the argument becomes, “Well, there’s gotta be something here anyway.” > > How would one rebut the accusation, other than by rebutting each particular element? I think something like this would go a long, long way: > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > A real, serious repudiation and apology would be something like the following: > > “In the past, I’ve said many racially insensitive things, including advocating for a symbol that many Americans reasonably see as a symbol of white supremacism. At the time I thought that these were not racist things to say and do, and that racially insensitive jokes were okay and no big deal, but I was wrong, and I deeply apologize. Going forward I resolve to oppose symbols of bigotry like the confederate flag, which only became prominent again in recent history as a symbol of opposition to civil rights, and to call out insensitive and racist jokes and other statements by others around me. Again, I have said racist things, I’m very sorry for it, and I apologize and want to make things better, any way I can.” > > Such a thing is very rare in politics, of course, but whenever such an apology and repudiation of past mistakes occurs, it’s worth noting and praising. And it’s worth noting and criticizing when it fails to happen. ---
**Author:** ![CatandMouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@CatandMouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatandMouse)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/154 "2016-12-08T00:24:02Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > So… it wasn’t reading my prose here and seeing correct punctuation and grammar, and a vocabulary range that suggests post-high-school education (or possibly sententious twithood) and knowing my occupation and political leanings that created a Bricker-is-White _gestalt_? That sounds an awful lot like psychological projection, especially considering the fact that I don’t know your occupation or your political leanings. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/155 "2016-12-08T00:29:02Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think it’s, at best, extremely obnoxious – as obnoxious as flying a swastika where Jews might see it. How do you square not flying a flag where someone might be offended with freedom of expression? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/156 "2016-12-08T00:32:29Z")
> [@CatandMouse](#): > > That sounds an awful lot like psychological projection, especially considering the fact that I don’t know your occupation or your political leanings. Maybe it was. I was just asking. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/157 "2016-12-08T00:38:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The problem here is it then boils down to a more vague “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” accusation where each point has a reasonable explanation but the argument becomes, “Well, there’s gotta be something here anyway.” > > How would one rebut the accusation, other than by rebutting each particular element? I don’t know why anyone should feel compelled to rebut it. It’s funny to me, how painstakingly careful everyone is when it comes to labeling people as “racist”. Most folks seem okay with acknowledging that racism was the default setting of most Americans up to (let’s say), 1968. But for some reason, it is a taboo word nowadays. Like calling someone a bad word. And it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a man who was an adult back in the “bad ole days” of government-sanctioned racial violence and disenfranchisement. We’re supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he’s risen above how he was raised and socialized. And then ignored the things he’s been accused of saying, by people who have no reason to lie or exaggerate. Sorry, that’s too much for me. I don’t understand why we should waste time splitting hairs. It doesn’t matter if he’s a Racist (card-carrying member of the KKK), racist (like most people of his demographic who were inculcated by the oppressive society known as Alabama and who knowingly acts in accordance with that inculcation (the expressed lack of compassion for the problems of minorities), or “just a little bit racist” like everyone else. His actions and inactions with respect to civil rights are disturbing enough to make him not a guy who should be the country’s top lawyer. Everything else is just pointless navel-gazing, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/158 "2016-12-08T00:41:43Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > How do you square not flying a flag where someone might be offended with freedom of expression? Are you serious? Of course every individual has the right to fly any flag they want on their property. And everyone has the right to criticize them harshly for it. I’m saying “don’t be an asshole”, not “let’s pass a law to outlaw this asshole-ish behavior”. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/159 "2016-12-08T00:48:32Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I’m saying “don’t be an asshole”, not “let’s pass a law to outlaw this asshole-ish behavior”. I didn’t say anything about passing a law. But, your comment about not flying a flag where Jewish people (or any other group) could SEE it is over the top, IMHO. It’s PC run amok. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948/160 "2016-12-08T00:49:27Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > I didn’t say anything about passing a law. But, your comment about not flying a flag where Jewish people (or any other group) could SEE it is over the top, IMHO. > > It’s PC run amok. Really? It’s PC run amok to say that it’s obnoxious to fly a swastika where Jews might see it? Is it PC run amok to say that it’s obnoxious to yell racial slurs in public? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-jeff-sessions-a-racist/773948.md?page=9)