# The Great Pit Debate ("Racism!") **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 1, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128 "2010-11-01T21:07:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128/21 "2010-11-02T15:29:53Z")
> [@palindromemordnilap](#): > > You don’t have to preach hate to be against social justice. And yet so, so many of them do. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128/22 "2010-11-02T15:52:46Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > What, a troll poll? No, a poll tax. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128/23 "2010-11-02T16:35:49Z")
I sympathize, to a degree. Members of the Right are caught so frequently in blatant contradiction and public hypocrisy that it’s only natural they’d seek out some “gotchas” of their own. Sadly, most the time they end up with something limp and pathetic in their hands. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128/24 "2010-11-02T17:30:12Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > “Just as bad”… no. I’ll accept that we have alot more “racists” on our side than you. > > What we do reject is the effort to tar the entire group based on the actions of a small percentage. > > …and what we like to point out is how certain things get overlooked when your side does them. Only racists spell “a lot” as “alot.” ---
**Author:** ![Alienhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Alienhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alienhand)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128/25 "2010-11-02T17:44:07Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Only racists spell “a lot” as “alot.” That’s something a Nazi would say. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128/26 "2010-11-02T17:53:19Z")
> [@Alienhand](#): > > That’s something a Nazi would say. That’s something a Liberal would say. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128/27 "2010-11-02T18:02:33Z")
You guys are completely missing the point, which is that an absense of black faces in a rally does not ipso-facto mean that the rally or its attendees are racist. In other words, you can’t point to a Tea Party rally with few black faces and say “Aha, this proves Tea Partiers are racists!” while at the same time claiming that the lack of black faces at Jon Stewart’s rally (because let’s face it, that’s what it was) does not. The fact of the matter is that the lack of black faces at either rally means nothing. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128/28 "2010-11-02T18:38:25Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You guys are completely missing the point, which is that an absense of black faces in a rally does not ipso-facto mean that the rally or its attendees are racist. > > In other words, you can’t point to a Tea Party rally with few black faces and say “Aha, this proves Tea Partiers are racists!” while at the same time claiming that the lack of black faces at Jon Stewart’s rally (because let’s face it, that’s what it was) does not. > > The fact of the matter is that the lack of black faces at either rally means nothing. You’re as dumb as **Shodan** was when he got embarrassed in the death penalty thread. The argument doesn’t go - “Teabaggers are racist because no black people go to their rallies.” Instead it is: “Teabaggers are racist.” “No they aren’t, there are black teabaggers.” “Bollocks there are, look at their rallies, they are exclusively white.” See the difference? It ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128/29 "2010-11-02T18:55:14Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > “Just as bad”… no. I’ll accept that we have alot more “racists” on our side than you. > > What we do reject is the effort to tar the entire group based on the actions of a small percentage. Not a “small percentage”; racists are a major portion of the Republican base; I suspect they are the majority. The Republican Party is the White Racist Party, dedicated to pushing the white racist agenda and putting them in power. > [@What\_the](#): > > …and what we like to point out is how certain things get overlooked when your side does them. Such as? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128/30 "2010-11-02T19:02:13Z")
> [@villa](#): > > You’re as dumb as Shodan… I’ll take that as a compliment. Thanks. > [@villa](#): > > The argument doesn’t go - “Teabaggers are racist because no black people go to their rallies.” > > Instead it is: > > “Teabaggers are racist.” > > “No they aren’t, there are black teabaggers.” > > “Bollocks there are, look at their rallies, they are exclusively white.” > > See the difference? I’m afraid not. You’re still claiming that an absence of blacks at a Tea Party rally proves Tea Party racism. And besides, there can perfectly well be black Tea Partiers without their necessarily having attended rallies. I imagine most white Tea Partiers don’t attend the rallies either. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128/31 "2010-11-02T19:15:00Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I’ll take that as a compliment. Thanks. > > I’m afraid not. You’re still claiming that an absence of blacks at a Tea Party rally proves Tea Party racism. > > And besides, there can perfectly well be black Tea Partiers without their necessarily having attended rallies. I imagine most white Tea Partiers don’t attend the rallies either. You aren’t very smart at all are you. The absence of black faces at tea bagger rallies (except on the placards that is) isn’t proof of the racism - it is evidence against the claim there are black tea baggers. It is clowns like you who are trying to claim that existance of black tea baggers indicates the tea baggers aren’t racist. Which is incorrect of course - the existence of Jewish Neo-Nazis in no way disproves the anti-semitism of Neo-Nazis. And yes, there can be black tea baggers who don’t show up to the rallies. But when the proportion of non-white faces at a tea bagger rally, including ones in areas with extremely high African American populations, is so low, then it is evidence (though admittedly not conclusive evidence) that the number of African American tea baggers is extremely low. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-pit-debate-racism/559128.md?page=1)