# Just when you think that people are decent... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 26, 2011, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167 "2011-08-26T12:26:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [August 28, 2011, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/121 "2011-08-28T09:21:53Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I’m totally on board with the OP, except for this part: This is bizarre. It’s like saying “I thought it would be unacceptable to jill people and eat them, but Dahmer did that, so it must be acceptable.” Just because someone does something doesn’t mean that everyone else thinks it’s OK for them to do that. > > This kind of reaching to argue that there’s still rampant racism really bugs me. Just get mad at this guy for being a turkey–you don’t need to try to shoehorn his actions into some lame argument that racism is still rampant eberywhere. No it’s not. The analogy would only work if Dahmer did that in public and no one bothered to stop him. That’s what the OP is decrying: the fact that this guy is racist in public, and other people, who all know he is racist, are not doing anything about it. They are, in effect, condoning his racism. Furthermore, the OP was under a probably false assumption that this high quality sticker meant that it was mass produced. This would mean that a lot of people had these stickers on their car, and few enough were doing something about it that it was still profitable to sell them. This raises the problem from just being the people who have contact with this one asshole to people all over the country. Sure, you have some people that would be too afraid to do anything about it, but surely in a large enough sample size, there’d be a large campaign dealing with it. Granted, what you can do about a cannibalistic murderer is different from what you can do about a racist person. They aren’t the same, and the correct response is different. But both are undesirable, and both are something you would expect a decent person to do something about. You would not expect them to give tacit approval by remaining silent. ---
**Author:** ![Naxos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Naxos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Naxos)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/122 "2011-08-28T09:41:18Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > … But that won’t change the fundamental issue, and I doubt anything will. It won’t, as long as people keep voting for Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/123 "2011-08-28T12:17:40Z")
My jaw is literally dropping at the acceptance of casual racism in this thread. I had no idea this was normal. Racism is not a neutral political position. Racism hurts. It hurts people, and it hurts society. Imagine the people who see these stickers- the elementary school kid who is struggling to fit in, the valedictorian who is about to set off to college for the first time, the mother nursing dreams for her children, the old man reflecting on a lifetime…bullshit like this hurts them. And it hurts all of us by, in ways subtle and overt, hinders people from their quest to reach their full human potential. It creates inefficiencies in the market of dreams. It brings us all down. In any case, can you imagine the outrage people would have about a sticker saying “California for the Raza! Keep the gringos out of office!” or “Honk if you hate honkeys!.” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/124 "2011-08-28T12:27:07Z")
“Honk if you hate honkeys” would be dangerous because I’d be laughing too hard to concentrate on driving. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Doughnut\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Doughnut\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Doughnut_Thief)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/125 "2011-08-28T12:49:54Z")
And boom goes the [Dynamite](http://www.stumpysstickers.com/) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/126 "2011-08-28T13:49:41Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Someone doesn’t live in the Redneck South, where “No Bitch, No Bama” bumper stickers grace all sorts of vehicles. And by all sorts I mean pretty much pickup trucks. > > -Joe I drive a pickup. You have a problem with that ? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/127 "2011-08-28T13:58:25Z")
Why are we horrified by references to “nigger” and through out terms like “redneck”? How less insulting is “redneck”, 10, 25, 50%? Ia there a numerical value on this sort of thing? ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/128 "2011-08-28T14:40:57Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/594656/9): > > I would say that the bumper sticker is clever and conveys its point succinctly. Says a lot about you. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/129 "2011-08-28T14:42:06Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/594656/9): > > I would say that the bumper sticker is clever and conveys its point succinctly. For an ignorant peckerwood’s definition of “clever,” maybe. Take your racist assholery to some other board. ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/130 "2011-08-28T14:50:37Z")
I find some of the comments in this thread rather bizzarre. Someone can use their free speech to communicate “hate speech”, but somehow I’m “abusing” my right of free speech to explain to the owner of the property and business why I’m choosing not to patronize their establishment? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/131 "2011-08-28T15:08:09Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/594656/9): > > How untolerant of you to refer to my thoughts as “rightard”. > > It is sad how few people in here truly believe in free speech. > > I would say that the bumper sticker is clever and conveys its point succinctly. Freedom of speech ain’t got nothing to do with it. Everybody’s free to say how they feel and everyone else is free to tell them to go away. Go away. We don’t want racists here. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/132 "2011-08-28T15:24:20Z")
Actually, I like it better when assholes advertise flat out that they are assholes, and save me the bother of having to screen them. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/133 "2011-08-28T15:24:23Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/594656/10): > > Wow. FOUR personal insults in one post. Ironically, I’m sure you consider yourself to be tolerant. Nope, not at all. I am very **intolerant** of racist scumbags. My Southern roots don’t stretch deep enough to accept such foolishness. BTW, who looked up the definition of “irony” for you? ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/134 "2011-08-28T15:42:38Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > What, no “well-spoken”? You misspelled articulate. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/135 "2011-08-28T16:29:19Z")
I’ve mentioned this before on the boards, but I had a similar train of thought as the OP with the following bumper sticker (seen somewhere in central Illinois): “If we knew it’d be this much trouble, we’d have picked the damned cotton ourselves.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/136 "2011-08-28T16:50:36Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/594656/10): > > Wow. FOUR personal insults in one post. Ironically, I’m sure you consider yourself to be tolerant. You’re not getting it. We don’t tolerate racism. We never claimed to tolerate racism. We have no principle that says we need to tolerate racism. We hate racism. A racist claiming that we should tolerate his views is a fool. More of a fool, because being a racist already made him a fool. He’s like an idiot who says, “You tolerate that other guy being a Dallas Cowboys fan. So you have to tolerate me being a pedophile.” No, we don’t. There are some things, like what sports teams you like, where people are expected to tolerate different opinions. But there are other things, like pedophilia, that are wrong and nobody has to tolerate them. Racism is wrong and we don’t have to tolerate it. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/137 "2011-08-28T17:05:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But there are other things, like pedophilia, that are wrong and nobody has to tolerate them. Picking the Dallas Cowboys here makes this point much more debatable. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/138 "2011-08-28T18:07:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So you’re arguing it’s okay to call somebody a nigger but it’s wrong to insult somebody by calling them a name? Was this to me? No, I think it’s wrong to call somebody a nigger under any circumstances. I was addressing the question of whether it is _right_ to respond with violence. > [@even\_sven](#): > > My jaw is literally dropping at the acceptance of casual racism in this thread. I had no idea this was normal. > > Racism is not a neutral political position. There is, by definition, no such thing as a neutral political position. > [@even\_sven](#): > > Racism hurts. It hurts people, and it hurts society. Imagine the people who see these stickers- the elementary school kid who is struggling to fit in, the valedictorian who is about to set off to college for the first time, the mother nursing dreams for her children, the old man reflecting on a lifetime…bullshit like this hurts them. And it hurts all of us by, in ways subtle and overt, hinders people from their quest to reach their full human potential. It creates inefficiencies in the market of dreams. It brings us all down. I agree. Racism is hateful, corrosive to its practitioners, its targets, and society as a whole. Nevertheless, the _peaceful expression_ of hateful ideas is rightly protected in this society, because the alternative is worse still. That doesn’t mean _accepting_ those ideas. No, challenge them, by all means! But meet them with _better ideas_, not with vigilantism. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/139 "2011-08-28T18:34:47Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > That doesn’t mean _accepting_ those ideas. No, challenge them, by all means! But meet them with _better ideas_, not with vigilantism. Ever come across a Hammerskin? I’d be entertained to see you sit down and have a rational discussion with him about his ideology. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167/140 "2011-08-28T18:39:34Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Why are we horrified by references to “nigger” and through out terms like “redneck”? > How less insulting is “redneck”, 10, 25, 50%? Ia there a numerical value on this sort of thing? 100%. “Redneck” isn’t a racist term. Offensive, maybe, but not because of racism. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-when-you-think-that-people-are-decent/594167.md?page=8)