Is racism on the rise?

[Brewbrother]

I am surprised that anyone even associates or identifies with the Democratic party given their history of racism and genocide. They perpetuated slavery, instituted Jim Crow laws, poll tax, the KKK and literacy tests. Previous democratic presidents have participated in the genocide of native americans.
Given the despicable history of the democratic party anyone of color associating with them is equal to Jews belonging to the Nazi Party. They should be renamed the party of slavery, segregation and genocide.

Not to mention that Andrew Jackson FOUNDED the democratic party....

Ah what a trail of tears he started.

Nothing to be proud of thats for sure.

 

[ClosedCaption]

Minorities shouldn't be proud of their race because they had no control over who they were being born too, but we all should be proud to be Americans because you say so...

Makes total sense

 

[Ovenbrown]

Racism is the gift that keeps on giving. It started here with the inception of this country and the Founding Fathers. The fact that they condoned slavery and believed that blacks were inferior had affected the development or lack thereof of race relations throughout the history of this country. In fact, as egalitarian as some republicans and conservatives would have you believe this country is and was, for 80% of its history it has been legal to discriminate against blacks. You do not erase the effects of that, both psychological and real, in a few decades. People have been taught to believe in race. Whites are smarter. Blacks can jump higher. On and on.

 

[katsteve2012]

Seems that instead of it lessening, its getting stronger. I thought Obama being the first black (half black) president would be encouragement for the races to "settle in" and it not be as bad. And although I know its still rampant in this country, it seemed to be lightening up a smidge and folks were more tolerant...or trying to be, anyway. But to me, since Obama got in office, it is rising to higher pitch.
Or is it just me?

The election of Obama brought out many different aspects within the racial dynamic.

There were probably some whites who actually thought voting for him was in some way an atonement for past racism.

There were probably also some blacks who believed that his being elected was a sign that racism as we knew it was fading into history and that this country was truly entering a new "post racial" era.

And then there was the segment that was whipped into a hysterical frenzy of outrage that "a ******" was now actually the President and would occupy The "White House".
And proceeeded to do everything possible to obstruct any action taken by him..even at the risk of harming the country and it's citizens.

The most important segment IMO, were the unexpected voters, namely the Latinos. Their presence in the 2012 election proved that this is not a "black and white" country anymore, and also proved that an election cannot be won without pursuing and earning their votes.

It is is projected that in the next few decades this will be a predominately "brown" nation.

 

[Katzndogz]

Racism is obviously not on the rise. The definition of racism has changed making it appear that racism is on the rise.

 

[Meathead]

There hasn't been much change in racism since Obama was elected. What there has been is a publically-educated, thn skinned generation coming of age. Indoctrinated in political correctness, they freely and often mindlessly bandy about charges of racism. To address, or even to mention the disparities between races has become taboo, especially when the shortcomings or performance of minorities are apparent.

I agree with Katzndogs.

 

[Foxfyre]

Racism will remain alive and well until people are allowed to be colorblind and see the color of a person's skin as of no more significance than hair color, eye color, height, weight, etc.

Currently we live in a culture in which it is advantageous to be a 'person of color' and advantageous to various groups to promote at least the illusion of favoring certain groups. Results and effect of such favor don't matter. The illusion is sufficient.

So we are expected to see people of color--meaning they aren't 'white'--differently and we are supposed to be sensitive to those differences in our language, deference, history, and funding. And most important of all, we are not allowed to treat a person of color like everybody else or we are immediately branded racist.

Hell, all you have to do is criticize a person of color to be branded racist on this board.

 

[yidnar]

Seems that instead of it lessening, its getting stronger. I thought Obama being the first black (half black) president would be encouragement for the races to "settle in" and it not be as bad. And although I know its still rampant in this country, it seemed to be lightening up a smidge and folks were more tolerant...or trying to be, anyway. But to me, since Obama got in office, it is rising to higher pitch.
Or is it just me?

yes the assault on white christians that cling to their guns and religion is getting worse.

 

[katsteve2012]

Seems that instead of it lessening, its getting stronger. I thought Obama being the first black (half black) president would be encouragement for the races to "settle in" and it not be as bad. And although I know its still rampant in this country, it seemed to be lightening up a smidge and folks were more tolerant...or trying to be, anyway. But to me, since Obama got in office, it is rising to higher pitch.
Or is it just me?

yes the assault on white christians that cling to their guns and religion is getting worse.

If you are referring to the type that justify their bigotry with their bible thumping, and then after shooting innocent people say "God told me to do it", there should absolutely be an all out assault on wackos like them.

 

[Rozman]

Whatever amount of racism that's out there will never die because the left doesn't want it to.
That bunch over at MSNBC led by Chris Mathews stirs the pot over what in my opinion was not a
racist action.

 

[Rozman]

I think Chris Mathews has taken it upon himself to protect Obama's legacy.
Mathews feels the reason the republicans will not work with the President is not because of Obama's
position on the issues but because of race.

So now history looks at Obama as the greatest President ever but he doesn't get that acknowledgement because of a racist opposition.

There you have it Obama is protected by his personal little thrill up his leg dragon slayer.

 

[Foxfyre]

Whatever amount of racism that's out there will never die because the left doesn't want it to.
That bunch over at MSNBC led by Chris Mathews stirs the pot over what in my opinion was not a
racist action.

MSNBC is so leftwing they are willing to be completely dishonest in their advocacy as opposed to say PBS that also tilts left but at least tries to get it right.

As far as racism goes, keeping that alive and well is the political left's stock in trade. It is how they get a substantial percentage of their votes. It is an important component of talking points to demonize the opposition. It is an important component in how they justify pushing a leftist agenda. Take racism out of the equation and they are left with a big hole in their overall strategy.

And here on USMB, it is an effective tool for the trolls to use to stir the pot. They can derail almost any thread by turning the focus to racism. Of course racism isn't on the rise. But it is kept alive and well for definite reasons.

 

[Foxfyre]

In retrospect, I am already rethinking my last post. It could be that due to the left's so pointed politicizing racism, that it is creating racism where none would have existed before. So it is possible that racism is on the rise where none would have existed without that politicizing.

Going on four decades after Affirmative Action accomplished what it was intended to do, keeping that alive does not allow many minorities, especially black people, to be seen as successful on their own merit. And that almost certainly generates more consciousness of race and resentment re 'special privileges' that does not serve the black community well.

The faux outrage over perceived 'racist remarks' that are labeled 'racist' is another component that keeps racism alive and well In the last campaign Romney used the word 'lazy' that was immediately jumped on as a 'racist term'. Think about that. If we can't call a lazy black person 'lazy' without being racist, there is no way that we will ever allow our culture to become color blind and treat everybody alike.

The unintended consequences of Johnson's Great Societies, amended and expanded over the decades, has been a decimation of the black family with the result of a much higher school dropout rate, trouble with the law, often fatal social breakdown, and high unemployment among young black people. The left largely refuses to acknowledge this because it would be acknowledgment that their agenda has been detrimental to black people and they wouldn't be able to accuse rightwing racism as the reason black people don't succeed.

All this is probably creating race consciousness, which of course is what racism is, that wouldn't otherwise exist.

 

[alextenenbaum]

Yes - see the Obama posts on here.

 

[Foxfyre]

Yes - see the Obama posts on here.

Yes. Some think Obama's term of office would have been glorious if those nasty mean racist Republicans hadn't blocked him at every turn - because he is black of course.

Of course it was different when they were giving George Bush grief over just about everything and accusing him of everything from religious fanatic to Nazi. That was different. Why? Because George W. Bush wasn't black.

And so it goes.

 

[Swagger]

Racism isn't "on the rise." And there's no effectives means by which to gauge how widespread this taboo is. Be under no illusions, despite mainstream leaders and the press insisting otherwise, racism and suspicions based on race will always (always) exist. But now America's seen the election of a black Prseident, who leads a white majority, and racial dialogue is becoming louder. When all is said and done humans are still tribal. And in the event of someone coming to such exceptional power in a country where they don't look like the majority, there's going to be tension.

 

[Foxfyre]

Racism isn't "on the rise." And there's no effectives means by which to gauge how widespread this taboo is. Be under no illusions, despite mainstream leaders and the press insisting otherwise, racism and suspicions based on race will always (always) exist. But now America's seen the election of a black Prseident, who leads a white majority, and racial dialogue is becoming louder. When all is said and done humans are still tribal. And in the event of someone coming to such exceptional power in a country where they don't look like the majority, there's going to be tension.

I guess I am not as pessimistic as you, my friend. I watch too many little kids at play with black, brown, white, and yellow all interacting absolutely normally with no effort whatsoever to be politically correct or tribal. I note no tendency to naturally separate themselves into racial groups and you would think if that was inate, that would happen. It doesn't. It is only later, when they are taught racial euphemisms and poltical correctness that they begin developing race consciousness.

And I honestly don't think Obama's skin color has anything at all to do with the dynamics of criticism etc. among those who are not already racist. For sure there are some dedicated racists who really do believe black people are inferior. They start threads on message boards to 'prove' it. But I think the vast majority of people who criticize Obama would criticize ANYBODY for the same reasons, and perhaps do develop resentment when they are constantly accused of 'hating' him because he is black.

But I said during the 2008 campaign that I would vote for a candidate who happened to be black person in a heartbeat if he shared most of my most important values and point of view. But I didn't want a BLACK president, i.e. one who we would constantly have to be conscious of as BLACK and would not be able to talk about or treat as any other President. There is a difference between these two things.

 

[RightNorLeft]

Obama didnt win twice because hes black thats a given. He shouldve never won if racism was still so strong in the USA that it could overide the rich and corporatists in this countries assault on everyone that works for a living and on down.
I dont believe Obama won because theres less whites then there was...I believe he won because the teaparty far right scared the living shit out of Govt and public workers and working people around the country that were inclined to vote republican and seniors that had been republican voters and turned and voted for Obama.
Obama won because working middleclass america disliked the teaparty far right agenda more.

 

[Meathead]

Obama didnt win twice because hes black thats a given. He shouldve never won if racism was still so strong in the USA that it could overide the rich and corporatists in this countries assault on everyone that works for a living and on down.
I dont believe Obama won because theres less whites then there was...I believe he won because the teaparty far right scared the living shit out of Govt and public workers and working people around the country that were inclined to vote republican and seniors that had been republican voters and turned and voted for Obama.
Obama won because working middleclass america disliked the teaparty far right agenda more.

Why did whites and the middle class then vote against Obama? Was it their fear of the left-wing agenda?

 

[Foxfyre]

Obama didnt win twice because hes black thats a given. He shouldve never won if racism was still so strong in the USA that it could overide the rich and corporatists in this countries assault on everyone that works for a living and on down.
I dont believe Obama won because theres less whites then there was...I believe he won because the teaparty far right scared the living shit out of Govt and public workers and working people around the country that were inclined to vote republican and seniors that had been republican voters and turned and voted for Obama.
Obama won because working middleclass america disliked the teaparty far right agenda more.

The Tea Party wasn't even on the radar during trhe last months of the campaign. Romney was certainly no Tea Party darling and did not rise to political prominance as a Tea Party candidate.

Obama won because, unlike Romney, he was not proposing rolling back any spending that might cost more than 50% of the population a bit in their pocket books, and the left was successful in painting Romney as an out-of-touch clueless rich guy.

That's it in a nutshell.

In the end, promotion of racism and class envy works in many sub cultures in our population, and the unwillingness to give up a single freebie for the good of the country takes care of enough of the rest.

And. . just to stay on topic. . . .mixed in there somewhere is the fact that Obama is black. It is fashionable to vote for somebody who is black to prove how un-racist you are. And there is no way that I believe that more than 90% of black Americans voted for Obama because they shared his point of view or even know what it is.

We still aren't allowed, by some, to see black people as just people like all other people. We are required, by some, to always be conscious that they are black.