This is a silly statement. I realize that you have a need to say this stuff so that you can keep harping on your “Republicans are evil” mantra, but this statement is nothing more than your uninformed opinion.
Currently, there are black Republicans in hundreds elected offices across the country. They did not get there by being appointed by sinister agents of the various state executive offices.
There are also Republicans who have announced that they intend to vote for Barack Obama.
The Southern Strategy was (and probably remains) a real part of Republican politics, but it is ludicrous to infer from that that every single Republican is racist. Much of the Southern Strategy had more to do with ignoring blacks while appealing to economic or security interests of non-black voters than it did with seeking to suppress blacks. It is certainly not true that every single Democrat is free of racism. Blanket statements about any group that results in a conclusion that all members of that group are either good or evil do nothing to actually inform the discussion and are pretty good signs that ignorance plays a large part of the opinion.
What is it with you guys? It’s like someone has declared a free for all wrt offensive racial or sexual terms on this board. Why is it ok to say ‘nigger’…because you think the other side is saying it so that somehow makes it ok? According to Chris Rock there are only very special and narrowly defined instances when white folks can use that term…and this ain’t one of them. Why is it cool to call a woman a ‘cunt’ or ‘bitch’ on this board…because you don’t agree with her politics?
Why the fuck isn’t this thread in the Pit?? What’s the debate here exactly? You folks seriously need to get a grip.
Yes, Tomndebb, but your approach destroys the ability to think usefully about groupos and what they might or might do. If even one member of a group runs counter to your notions about that group means that you can’t make statements about the group as a whole, you essentially cannot make any statement about any groupo with more than a couple dozen members, because there are always gonna be mavericks, loose cannons and iconoclasts in any group.
Yeah, it’s true, not every single Saudi Arabian Muslim is a sexist, but Jeebus, enough of them are to make the statement that the society is generally sexist by US standards a true one. In the same light, not every Republican is racist, but the open pursuit of the Southern Strategy for so many years leaves the party as a whole open to charges of being by nature a racist party.
:dubious: No, it is not. The offensiveness has a definite point in this discussion, and you know damned fucking well what that point is. So does everybody who has even glanced at the thread title.
That is also silly. One can still make observations about the group’s actions as a group. Der Trihs is specifically claiming that all Republicans are evil (for a myriad of reasons) and that this evil results in them being unable to support any black candidate. The observation is nonsense from any perspective outside the Der Trihs world view and the conclusion can be disproved simply by noting that there are quite a few elected black Republicans.
But neither of your examples match the statement to which I responded. Noting that the Republican party has engaged in arguably racist behavior or that Saudi Arabia has a racist culture is a different statement than that every Saudi is a sexist pig or that every Republican is a black-hating racist.
As to the ability to talk about groups: I suspect that that is overrated; too many comments about groups are simply displays of xenophobia or butt sniffing, anyway. However, I made no claim that one could not talk about the actions, beliefs, or motivations of a group. I simply noted that making the statement in such a way that one had to accept that every member was either good or evil was flawed. I suppose that if one has a desperate need to portray everyone with whom one disagrees as evil, that sort of comment is useful (although it identifies the speaker as one who lives in a self-defined binary world). However, the real world is not binary and harboring such odd beliefs simply indicates that one refuses to take the time or energy to discover the real world. It is both lazy and counter-productive to both fighting ignorance and to working with one’s opponents to resolve problems.
Exactly. It’s point is to scurriously paint Republicans/conservatives with the racist brush and to imply that the vast majority of us think of that word when we think of Obama.
It’s utter bullshit, and anyone with a hint of intellectual honesty would agree.
You are putting words in my mouth. I claimed that racism was pervasive in the Republican Party, and that it went to the top.
So ? What can be done in somewhat less racist localities can’t be done nationally. The Republicans have spent decades appealing to the racists and recruiting them; it’s foolish to just handwave that away.
No, the racism doesn’t go to the top. You honestly think George Bush looks down on the negroes? Or that Dick Cheney hates homosexuals?
The overwhelming majority of the leadership of the Republican party is not racist. They don’t give a flying fuck about keeping the darkies in their place, they’ve got more important things to do.
Actually, I found it refreshing for the topic to be expressed so bluntly.
Funny how I haven’t heard any black people in my area express their voting choice as “not voting for a cracker”, but I have heard people of other groups (not just white) very clearly state they are not voting for Obama in a phrase utilizing the “n-word” that you find so distasteful.
I would submit that our society needs to confront some issues head on, and those that we are uncomfortable discussing in plain terms head the list.
I would judge it by the criterion of whether it would work the other way: Democrats beam with pride as a nigger gets closer to being POTUS. I don’t think it would.
I’d say that the media hasn’t yet understood the value of having a left handed president. Consider that Reagan, Bush 41, Ford, and Clinton were all left handed. YMMV but all four did a reasonable job as president.
If we consider Carter, Nixon and Bush 43, they both right handed.
Do you get my inference ?
Considering that lefties including me make up ten % of a population, this fact it appears to be a pre requisite for a reasonable administration is truly remarkable.
Obama meets the test.
To continue with the racial theme, don’t you think if the best four of the last seven presidents were black and the disaster presidents were white, that we might lean toward hoping for a black president?
Well, sir, the fact that there is such a difference of opinion is why we have a debate, is it not?
I don’t think it’s a situation where you can really turn the matter around. It is foolish, given the history and present of the US, to pretend that that level of racism doesn’t exist in some voters is ridiculous. It is also equally ridiculous to think that ALL voters are voting on racist ground. I’m trying to figure out just how big a factor race is, not whether or not it exists as a factor.
Well, then I’m a liar. I live in a city with the most prominent Muslim population in America. Some of the hardest workers that I see coming into my office are Muslims. You’re wrong on so many different levels. At least you’re honest: we know you’re a racist.