The Death Spasms of American Racism (American Muslim)

[struggle4progress]

by Sheila Musaji

... We saw and heard the racial, ethnic, and religious slurs before the election, and these still continue, but the response is different today than it was in the past. Jon Stewart in a segment of The Daily Show called Obama and Hitler commenting on Congressman Paul Broun’s comparison of Obama to Hitler gave such racist ramblings exactly what they deserve - scorn and ridicule.

Racists, anti-Semites, Islamophobes, xenophobes, homophobes - still exist, and the death of racism and the other forms of prejudice is still not (and may never be) a “done deal”. It is now however a reasonable hope that all of these forms of prejudice can be so marginalized that they lose their ability to have any meaningful influence on America. If we unite as AMERICANS in a concerted effort to consign any sort of prejudice to the dust bin of history, we can eradicate it from our society just as we eradicated smallpox. Prejudice is a disease of the mind. If we see the last pockets of prejudice and racism in America as a disease that requires us to act in order to eradicate them, we can succeed. YES, WE CAN! If we take a stand when we hear ethnic jokes, or innuendos, or outright demeaning words or slander directed towards any particular group (because of their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual-orientation, etc.) WE CAN move forward ...

I think that the following list of shameful racist incidents during and after the election process are important to look at and analyze. My personal take on this is that what we are seeing is the “darkness before the dawn”, the dying gasp of racism among a minority of Americans who simply haven’t realized, or had it made clear to them that their world view is no longer relevant. The racists, fewer and further between, are lashing out in desperation, exhibiting the death spasms of their culture. The racists are the past, and those who celebrate our wonderful variety as Americans are the future. We can’t ignore these racist incidents because they show that racism is still an issue and will remain an issue until WE, each and every one of us stands up and defies the racists. They have no power unless we give it to them. We don’t need to fear the guys in the white robes and pointy hats, or any other racists, we need to shine a light on them.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which monitors and exposes extremist activity and rhetoric, said anger among white supremacists and other right-wing extremists in response to Obama’s victory resulted in an avalanche of vitriolic postings on racist Web sites. This is one example of the “lashing out” of racists in their cultural death spasm ...

http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/the_death_spasms_of_american_racism/0016937

[Karenina]

1. . .

[RedLetterRev]

2. I've been watching the SPLC web site over the last

few years since * got in. Since the * administration got control, membership in hate-groups has exploded. It's going to take generations to rid ourselves of this cancer. The GOP actively encouraged and courted them for reliable GOP votes. The result may have the GOP currently in disarray, but the groups that comprised it are as strong and dangerous as ever.

Death throes? Make no such mistake. Ammo and guns have been flying off the shelves since October. As much of an optimist as I generally am, as much as I tend to believe in the better part of human nature, reality indicates something quite different is happening. They are not going to give up easily, nor will they change their ways without a bitter fight. The "culture war" the GOP started, the ones of which they are still fanning and throwing gasoline on the flames, is long from over.

Just like "gayness" doesn't show, neither do racism and irrational bigotries. These hate-groups have infected churches, co-opting and twisting religion to suit their vile world-views. They're walking around among decent, peace-loving, law-abiding people with no visible mark upon them; yet they're ready to do damage to decent society at the drop of a hat.

I refuse to walk in fear, but I remain very, vary wary of them.

Good read. I wish I shared the author's optimism, but my diminished optimism isn't going to stop me from working as hard as ever, even harder than ever, to push back against racism and bigotries of all kinds.

Recommended.