I’m OK with individual guilt, too.
That’s not much of a defence of your thesis there. If more White people shut up out of guilt than fear, then alleviating fear is not the main thing for anti-racists to concern ourselves with.
IME most people are racist, there’s very few good people at all, of any race. Not complicated at all.
How do you know there are more guilty than fearful?
And when did I say there were more fearful than guilty?
And more important, how do you tell the difference, and what if you fail?
But you’re one of the rare good ones. You must be proud of yourself.
Yeah, nice and simple. Don’t concern yourself with complexities.
I don’t know, that’s why I couched it as I did.
Didn’t say you did. But it’s the logical inference of you citing “millions”, that you think numbers matter.
My arm hurts from patting my back, I can tell you that. :rolleyes:
Not when the supposed complexity is a smokescreen against rightful action, I don’t.
Cool.
My beliefs and concerns are legitimate, thoughtful and honest. Please don’t question my motives. That is not your place. If you think I’m wrong about the facts, say so.
Once again, the attitude I’m talking about rears its ugly head. I am not secretly trying to excuse racism. I am trying to fight it. It is not an easy task, it is…complex.
I apologize - “smokescreen” implies intent, that wasn’t what I meant - “fog” or “cloud” would work just as well. The complexity is not a real blocker, but you act as though it is.
I do think you’re wrong, I think the chilling effect has had more of an impact on petty racists keeping their moths shut than non-racists being afraid.
It really, really isn’t.
Well, we’re down to you saying it’s not and me saying it is. Not much more to talk about. All I can say is if it’s simple, why is this thread so long and complicated? Is it all a smokescreen? Am I and everyone else a racist just trying to muddle things for the cause?
I said it was simple, I didn’t say it was easy.
No, I just think people overthink things.
Not that I’ve seen. But you’re not actually helping, either.
Emphasis added.
You seem to be really caught up with the label. “A racist.” No one is calling you “a racist.”
I *am *racist. I fight it. We all are. We should fight it.
But being racist, at certain times, in certain ways, does not make me a racist.
You get that point, right?
This is so…complicated.
Please see my comment above about how I see the term “racist” and “a racist.” Thanks.
That sounds complicated.
And sometimes they underthink things. I know which I fear more.
I think I am.
No. Hard =/= complicated. Rolling a rock uphill is hard, but it’s not complicated.
From the people on my side, I prefer underthinking. Underthinkers can sometimes be told better, overthinkers, not so much
I disagree.
It really isn’t.
No one is calling you a racist.
Do you not realize what you just did? You said bad stuff about an entire race based on the actions of some of them. That’s racism.
You then said that that an entire race deserves to be bitten because of the above. That’s even more racism.
You just announced that you use the word for racist reasons.
lance: wanting to hold on to your language just shouldn’t be more important than not disparaging people of a certain race. Thug has become a code word for “nigger,” so it’s time to move on. You can’t reclaim it when the original meaning would also still be used against some black people.
In general, when you use a term and then are told it is offensive, the correct thing to do is apologize. Then go see if a lot of people agree it is offensive. What people say a word means is what it means, so if they do, it’s offensive. And, from then on, unless you want to be offensive in the way that word is offensive, then you shouldn’t use that word.
The only way to reclaim a word is for it to be a term that would previously be used against you, and you use it positively instead of negatively. That’s just not an option with “thug.” The best chance at getting it back is what I said in my first post. Make it to where this type of racism is such a distant memory that no one takes the term seriously anymore.
Unfortunately, this probably won’t happen in your lifetime. Thug started out as a slur, and then became a racist slur. The only reclaiming is by the hip hop community, but they have a long, long ways to go.
I wish to unsubscribe to your newsletter.
It’s meant to be offensive. Thugs are bad people. Being accurately labeled a thug should hurt your feelings and cause you to reconsider your lifestyle. But no, the problem is with people who accurately observe reality. And that’s the real issue. By limiting language you limit thought. By demonizing language instead of the behavior that provokes the language you shift the debate from those who act thuggish to those who use an apparently non-PC word. It’s a lot like illegal immigrant being replaced by future Democrat voter, I mean undocumented.
Orwellian tactics are shameful.
What are you talking about?
But there are so many problems with just giving in.
So Obama used a code word for “nigger” when describing black rioters?
See how there are problems with just giving in?
What about “niggardly?”
http://www.cnn.com/US/9902/04/dc.word.flap/
What do you think of this incident? He was told it was a slur, so it’s a slur, right?
I can simply use it and tell people I don’t consider it a slur.
I didn’t say they were.
But yet, people keep saying that “everyone is racist,” so there’s that. But that’s not my point.