How Do You Know?
So, for years in conversations with conservatives, when discussing the topic of race…conservatives have asked how you know someone is racist. Accusations of racism are the most heinous of accusations one can make in the eyes of many conservatives. But what always fascinates me is the demand for proof…mainly, because the expectation is that you provide an example of someone pretty much calling themselves racists, or at least saying they consider themselves superior to other people based on race.
There seems to be this belief racists know they are racists and openly declare themselves as such. And since not many people are so bold, the issues of racism are pretty much over. If someone claims to not be a racist, that should be all that is needed to dispute any suggestions of racism. But the thing is…if you listen to white supremacists and the Klan…they do not see themselves as racist. They saw themselves as the good guys. The heroes who are right-no matter how repugnant others perceive their views to be. In their minds, people who find their views wrong are ignoring truth. They don’t thin they are racists unless you really push-and even then it is more like, “Fine, I mean, if you are going to call it racists, I guess I am a racist.” They feel you are missing the point. They are the heroes in their story and anyone who is in disagreement is, at best, lying to themselves to ignore the Truth spoken by the heroes.
So, this got me wondering…since most of the time, a racist is unlikely to walk around declaring themselves racists (and probably thinks they are not a racist)… what are the signs you see? How do you determine a person is a racist or a bigot?
Posted in: Politics, Social Issues
In One Ear... 
it’s an impossible standard. you cal someone on racist BEHAVIOR. calling someone racist will almost make someone defensive.
If only we had Energy Analyzers like Rom, Spaceknight used to have. Smaller and less clunky, of course.
That is a really good point. Though, I often find, for many discussion, moments that clearly have a racial component-even fairly clear ones, such as Newt commenting about what he would tell the NAACP, conservatives will twist pretzels to show that there was nothing actually even questionable about his point. Even if you are not claiming Newt to be racist. Any mention of dog whistles and the like is met with the accusation of playing the race card.
It makes me sad we have yet to perfect the technology of ROM, Space Knight.