# The Baggage of Bigotry **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 9, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216 "2005-02-09T16:28:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/1 "2005-02-09T16:28:38Z")
Bush has come out with the amazingly controversial stance that bigotry is BAD! [http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/09/bush.blackhistory.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/09/bush.blackhistory.ap/index.html) Oh, unless of course, the person you’re discriminating against is gay. In which case… FLAME ON! (sorry, couldn’t resist) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/2 "2005-02-09T16:37:32Z")
But – but – but Bush is just protecting marriage! He’s not bigoted against gays. :wally ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/3 "2005-02-09T16:39:46Z")
Hopefully, forty years from now, another president will talk about the shameful parts of our history where we didn’t let gay people marry and you could discriminate against someone just because they were gay. ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/4 "2005-02-09T17:17:59Z")
But …don’t you see? Those poor Negros can’t help being born black…but them there gays choose to be that way![/sarcasm\*] \*Please note the sarcasm, I do not subscribe to the above statement in any way, shape, or form…including the part where I said the word “Negros”. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/5 "2005-02-09T17:37:46Z")
What else do you expect him to say during Black History Month? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/6 "2005-02-09T17:38:49Z")
> [@ArrMatey!](#): > > Bush has come out with the amazingly controversial stance that bigotry is BAD! > > [http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/09/bush.blackhistory.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/09/bush.blackhistory.ap/index.html) > > Oh, unless of course, the person you’re discriminating against is gay. In which case… FLAME ON! > > (sorry, couldn’t resist) I’m not disagreeing with you about the bigotry. But do we not have to reconcile that charge with the fact that a majority of Black protestants oppose gay marriage? According to the Washington Post, it’s 60%. Blacks in Congress are doing their best to split the issue away from being a civil rights issue. And Black clergy organizations like the Black Ministerial Alliance, the Boston Ten Point Coalition, and the Cambridge Black Pastors Conference have issued statements opposing gay marriage. Are there really that many bigots in the African-American community? [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17057-2004Nov1.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17057-2004Nov1.html) > **[Black caucus resists comparison of gay ‘marriage’ to civil rights](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/mar/15/20040315-122503-3346r/)** > > Congressional black Democrats said comparisons shouldn’t be made between the struggle by homosexuals to legalize same-sex “marriage” and the civil rights movement of the 1960s. > **[Black clergy rejection stirs gay marriage backers](http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/02/10/black_clergy_rejection_stirs_gay_marriage_backers/)** > > The three major associations of Greater Boston's black clergy, exercising their considerable influence within the minority community and asserting moral authority on civil rights matters, have shaken up the debate over same-sex marriage with their... ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/7 "2005-02-09T17:41:48Z")
Black people (or, for that matter, gay people) have no special shield against bigoted against other groups. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/8 "2005-02-09T18:05:07Z")
I always pictured Bigotry Baggage as old, mildewy suitacases with broken handles held together with duct tape. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/9 "2005-02-09T18:06:07Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Black people (or, for that matter, gay people) have no special shield against bigoted against other groups. True enough. Thanks for responding, Matt. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/10 "2005-02-09T18:29:10Z")
So disagreeing with another’s way of life means I am must be a bigot? That’s an awfully wide net. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/11 "2005-02-09T18:42:34Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > So disagreeing with another’s way of life means I am must be a bigot? That’s an awfully wide net. Where did this red herring come from. I have seen no posts complaining that anyone was being criticized for disagreeing with a “way of life.” ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/12 "2005-02-09T18:43:35Z")
No, wanting to abridge the rights of others because you disagree with them would make you a bigot. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/13 "2005-02-09T18:46:47Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > So disagreeing with another’s way of life means I am must be a bigot? That’s an awfully wide net. Fine by me. I’d probably dislike the way you dress if we met. We all have things about one another that we don’t like. BUT. . . . Attempting to take away my civil rights on that basis and writing discriminatory laws to enact your personal biases into the civil framework of our society is bigotry. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/14 "2005-02-09T18:49:44Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > So disagreeing with another’s way of life means I am must be a bigot? That’s an awfully wide net. A wider one than has been cast by anyone posting to this thread, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/15 "2005-02-09T18:50:45Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Attempting to take away my civil rights on that basis and writing discriminatory laws to enact your personal biases into the civil framework of our society is bigotry. I think it might be more precise to call that tyranny. But certainly it is often motivated by bigotry. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/16 "2005-02-09T18:57:46Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Are there really that many bigots in the African-American community? Well, duh. For every one person who raises a principled objection against the laws being unfair, there are a dozen who merely want them changed to be unfair in their favor. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/17 "2005-02-09T19:32:27Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > So disagreeing with another’s way of life means I am must be a bigot? That’s an awfully wide net. Disagreeing, no. But disagreeing to the point of intolerance of other “ways of life” is exactly what the word “bigot” means. Hate to break it to you, but there’s language for you. You want to disagree with what you perceive is the gay “way of life,” you go right ahead. I’m pretty confident that you know fuck all about what my “way of life” is and why anybody else has any business at all disagreeing with it or in fact having any opinion about it one way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/18 "2005-02-09T19:41:31Z")
You’re bigoted if you are are prejudiced against MY group. I am just upholding proper values and decency if I am prejudiced against YOUR group. (What? Isn’t that the way it works?) ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/19 "2005-02-09T19:54:18Z")
Bush lacks support among blacks. From a purely political perspective, championing the cause of “defending marriage” makes a lot of sense. It gives him a chance to split off one group against another–“You don’t like gay marriage, I don’t like gay marriage; we’re the same–vote Republican.” Demonizing one group as a way of enticing another has historically been quite an effective tool. The sad part is that because this is the popular mainstream opinion, the Democrats can’t take the ball and run the other way, because they’d be alienating a big part of their base. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216/20 "2005-02-10T02:07:55Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > Disagreeing, no. But disagreeing to the point of intolerance of other “ways of life” is exactly what the word “bigot” means. Hate to break it to you, but there’s language for you. Why is “disagreeing” with the gay “way of life” not bigotry? I could decide that I “disagree” with the black “way of life” - and no one would be there to defend me against charges of bigotry. Such a mindset would make just about the same amount of sense as disagreeing with the gay “way of life”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baggage-of-bigotry/289216.md?page=2)