On racism in America

[mudesi]

Take a look at the president-elect.

It couldn't have happened without white support.

I have said it before and I'll say it again: The vast, vast majority of the American people are not racist. There were people who said it could never happen. They were even here, on DU, expressing just how impossible it was. "Americans are too racist", is what they said.

I am not denying racism in America. I am stating the (now proven) fact that most (not all) Americans are not racist. And I'm willing to bet that a good percentage of those who voted for John McCain are not racist either.

They're dying out, ladies and gentlemen. And they're taking their racism to the grave. It took way too long, but it's happening.

[Terran]

1. Sorry, voting for Barack Obama is not proof

that one is not racist. My mother is proof of that. She has always taken perfectly well to individual people of color who she's known and likes, but get her talking about whole groups of people, and that's another matter. And she did vote for Barack.

I agree, racism may be dying out with the older generations, but 50 years from now there will still be racism.

[Hanse]

2. John McCain got 46% of the vote.

So I wouldn't say anything about "vast majorities."

And I wouldn't assume that everybody who wasn't a racist.

[Captain Hilts]

3. Most who voted for McCain aren't racists.

In fact, conservatives - such as the military, police, professional athletes - are more accustomed to black authority figures than liberals are.

[kdmorris]

4. Are you seriously saying that there are more black authority

figures in the fooking Military than white authority figures? Um... no.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

5. That's not what Mookie is saying

The majority of authority figures in the military, law enforcement, and other government organizations may be white but there are more black people in leadership positions than you will find in the private sector.

[Captain Hilts]

6. Thanks!

[StreetKnowledge]

7. Yep.

There are lots of black cops and military personnel. At one point, remember, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe was a black man.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. Sorry, don't share your optimism.

Racism and other forms of bigotry are not "dying out." If anything, IMO, in some cases it is getting worse (Gays, Latinos/Hispanics, Muslims) or has been historically the same (Jews and women). How one voted doesn't prove s/he is racist or not; that is a false conclusion. I live in a racially and religiously mixed city (New Orleans) and the amount of 'casual' racism here is enough to make your jaw drop, and it isn't just "old people," (another stereotype).