GOP ready to exploit racist sentiment?

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by Ma'ake

Unraveling racism (literally & figuratively) is elusive. What is real, what is not?

For example, I have zero doubt that the good members of this board have not a shred of racism in their thoughts & views. Honestly. This is a credit to you guys.

At the same time, I know that many others have an engrained type of racism, either overtly or covertly, conciously or subconciously. Their "public" stance is vigorously non-racist - as it is very unfashionable - but underneath the facade are some hardened views. I know it because I've felt it, caught the stares & expressions of digust from some of the white folks in my wife's home town in Kentucky when they figure out who I'm married to. When I first experienced it, I laughed, thought it was absurdly silly.

And, honestly, there are a lot of black folks who "play the part" in adhering to all the negative stereotypes. There are areas of our country that are really, fundamentally dysfunctional. You can see the legacy of slavery & racism in the people.

I should point out that many white folks in these areas I believe are honestly trying to shed their views. Positive examples of upstanding, good black people help the cause, definitely. I want to believe racism is diminishing. Time heals, more slowly than we want.

My experience has been that racism (both ways) is much stronger east of about Denver, folks in the west just don't care about race as much, the issue is not a "part of our DNA". (When 70,000 while people show up to see Obama in Oregon, it's not due to guilt... they genuinely see the guy as a hope for a better future. 70,000 white people back east showing up for Obama would cause a stir, IMO.)

One thing I know very strongly... the political football of race (both ways) is something the good folks on this board can't really know or feel, very strongly. We just can't really relate. We're up in the grandstands, rooting for one team or the other, we see the political connection & interests in postures around the issue, but we have no real idea what it's like in the trenches. When black people claim racism, I honestly believe they see it, feel it, even sometimes where it doesn't exist. (That's a really shitty existence, when you think about it.)

I'm going to (try to) ignore the racism issue in politics. It's noise we just can't relate to.

A couple of thoughts...
I grew up in Utah, in predominantly white suburban neighborhood. I had very little exposure to black people, and nearly all of these encounters were favorable. It was very easy to eschew any racist attitudes that I would encounter.
I then left Utah for school, and while I encountered more black people, interactions continued to be favorable, and I remained comfortably non-racist. I think this is probably the extent of the exposure of most New Englanders.

Then I came to the Detroit area. I worked in the ER with predominantly poor black patients. These people were driving Navigators, getting hair extensions, expensive nail jobs, sleeping with everyone, and doing it all on Medicaid. And with it was the attitude that the world owed them a living and they "weren't gonna get no job at McDonald's". Our black mayor was extremely corrupt and everyone knew it. In short, all of the negative stereotypes about race were ringing true. It would literally be shocking--worth mentioning to colleagues--if we encountered a two-parent family. There were obviously exceptions, but I would find myself groaning inside when I'd pick up a chart with a "black" name. It was this guttoral subconscious reaction--not something I had any control over--and it was troubling. I literally felt myself becoming racist, and I didn't like it.

However, even after I've developed some of these racist reactions, I would be thrilled to vote for someone like Obama, because he's proof that a black guy can make it. He's proof that staying married and true to your kids can work out. He's evidence that America is willing to put forward a black candidate, even elect him president, and that takes away a whole lot of excuses. He's proving that a man can remain true to his heritage while "acting white".

Against all that, however, is the problem that I don't like his ideas. I don't think we can afford them. I think there's nothing new about them, despite the rhetoric. As much as I would love to see an intelligent, articulate president (which he obviously is), I'm worried for what he'll do to the country. And my concerns are despite his race, not because of it.

[BYU71]

Bottom line for me is I don't like Obama's views. He is a democrat. Not only is he a democrat, he is a liberal democrat. I also don't like some of the ideology of some of the people he has been close to in the past. Quite frankly, I don't trust him.

I find myself wishing he had the views of J.C. Watts, Steele or some of the other black leaders in the Republican party. I would love to vote for a black man for President of the United States. I don't think America is a racist nation, I think we have racists in the nation, but we aren't a racist nation.

Having a black President would help silence those who live off of still calling us a racist nation. However, my desire for that doesn't overcome my desire to not have this nation move toward a socialist agenda and move toward becoming European.

[BYU71]

Originally Posted by ERCougar

A couple of thoughts...
I grew up in Utah, in predominantly white suburban neighborhood. I had very little exposure to black people, and nearly all of these encounters were favorable. It was very easy to eschew any racist attitudes that I would encounter.
I then left Utah for school, and while I encountered more black people, interactions continued to be favorable, and I remained comfortably non-racist. I think this is probably the extent of the exposure of most New Englanders.

Then I came to the Detroit area. I worked in the ER with predominantly poor black patients. These people were driving Navigators, getting hair extensions, expensive nail jobs, sleeping with everyone, and doing it all on Medicaid. And with it was the attitude that the world owed them a living and they "weren't gonna get no job at McDonald's". Our black mayor was extremely corrupt and everyone knew it. In short, all of the negative stereotypes about race were ringing true. It would literally be shocking--worth mentioning to colleagues--if we encountered a two-parent family. There were obviously exceptions, but I would find myself groaning inside when I'd pick up a chart with a "black" name. It was this guttoral subconscious reaction--not something I had any control over--and it was troubling. I literally felt myself becoming racist, and I didn't like it.

However, even after I've developed some of these racist reactions, I would be thrilled to vote for someone like Obama, because he's proof that a black guy can make it. He's proof that staying married and true to your kids can work out. He's evidence that America is willing to put forward a black candidate, even elect him president, and that takes away a whole lot of excuses. He's proving that a man can remain true to his heritage while "acting white".

Against all that, however, is the problem that I don't like his ideas. I don't think we can afford them. I think there's nothing new about them, despite the rhetoric. As much as I would love to see an intelligent, articulate president (which he obviously is), I'm worried for what he'll do to the country. And my concerns are despite his race, not because of it.

I developed a prejudice, I don't think it was racist, but it was definitely a prejudiced attitude toward blacks while on my mission. I grew up in lilly white Utah and knew only one black kid. I got along very well with him.

I went to Michigan and Ohio on my mission. I was there during the race riots. In Detroit, I like you drove down poverty laden streets, but each drive way had a new Buick Riviera convertible in it.

I actually thought I was going to die in Cinn. when confronted by some black youth during the riots in Cinncinnati. At the same time as a missionary, we were instructed not to solicit blacks to teach.

I don't know if when I came back I was a racist, but I damn well came back a very prejudiced person. My father was quite the opposite and we would argue many times about the plight of the blacks in America.

Fortunately time and maturity have changed my attitude. What changed it. Not Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton and their balling and whining, but my interaction with blacks and the positive experiences I have had.

[Archaea]

Without knowing it, my life experience taught me to be mostly color blind. Part of it was by design, good parents with forward thinking views, and part was by geographical accident, living in a part where race history really didn't exist. Both of these aspects of life inoculated me against the tendency to be racist. That doesn't make me a good person, but a fortunate one with good upbringing and good circumstances.

Ma'ake makes what appears to be an astute observation, westerners have no history of race relations being bad. Now there are few isolated incidents in SoCal and long ago in Las Vegas, but for the most part, race relations played no or little part of daily life. We are not necessarily better, but we were removed from the circumstances that contributed to it. My family's history, a father who always fought for the underdog, including in terms of race, before it was popular, taught me to fight for the underdog, because nobody else will. And in most instances, I rarely saw disparate treatment on the basis of race, so much so, I believed much of the claims were exaggerated or made up.

With that said, I doubt not that some "Southern Strategy" might not be used, but those who advocate using it, should avoid it because it might backfire royally. It would be better leaving the issue alone, because those that will vote against Obama on the basis of race won't need any reminders as Obama is doing a nice job himself making race an issue. Leaving it alone lets one take the high road while those for whom it works will vote against him, without any sub rose Southern Strategy.

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by BYU71

I developed a prejudice, I don't think it was racist, but it was definitely a prejudiced attitude toward blacks while on my mission. I grew up in lilly white Utah and knew only one black kid. I got along very well with him.

I went to Michigan and Ohio on my mission. I was there during the race riots. In Detroit, I like you drove down poverty laden streets, but each drive way had a new Buick Riviera convertible in it.

I actually thought I was going to die in Cinn. when confronted by some black youth during the riots in Cinncinnati. At the same time as a missionary, we were instructed not to solicit blacks to teach.

I don't know if when I came back I was a racist, but I damn well came back a very prejudiced person. My father was quite the opposite and we would argue many times about the plight of the blacks in America.

Fortunately time and maturity have changed my attitude. What changed it. Not Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton and their balling and whining, but my interaction with blacks and the positive experiences I have had.

I think this is right--it's the nature of your interactions that form your views. Is it fair to tie your interaction to skin color? No, but I think it's hard-wired pretty deeply. We're constantly trying to frame the world, make predictions and judgments based on what we observe, and it's difficult to counteract natural tendencies. I'm not excusing any of my racist tendencies--they were troubling and it's my duty to make a conscious effort to fight them. I actually think the more insidious form of racism is among those who don't think they're racist.

[exUte]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Hell, dems are coming out in droves against him because of racism.

Where have all the Dem's on the board been the past few months. Talk about racism, just look at their own Dem campaign.

SeattleUte, Cali have been living in a deep, dark hole.