Dammit, when I was a kid growing up in the 90s I had thought we had nipped racism in the bud...

[Odin2005]

Yes, naive, I know. I bought all the "we respect people's differences, now, we aren't the same society as in the 1950s" pablum I was taught as a kid in school. It it has made all the racist anti-Obama BS for the past year all the more shocking and disgusting, starting with people at Palin's hate rallies screaming "KILL HIM!" I was totally horrified by how all this hidden racism has popped up into the open now that there is a "scary black man" in the White House.

These crazies are scarring the shit out of me! :scared:

[seabeyond]

1. 2000 took a big step backward, maybe two steps in both racism and sexism. nt

[dkf]

5. What happened in 2000?

[seabeyond]

9. i think it was a handful of things. a perfect storm.

literally.... a number of things. and really dont want to waste time, if really not interested. and probably have to explore bak and forth in fine tuning

some may even be painful for some groups, hence a sensitive person may feel flame bait and that can be time consuming. ect....

[dkf]

23. The only thing I can think of is the attempt to keep AAs from voting in Florida.

Other than that I am completely blank as to the significance of the year 2000.

[Lilyeye]

46. I would love to hear what you have to say.

I made a post months ago asking people "where did we go wrong in this decade?" I never thought that racism was over or dead by a long shot, but I thought we had made progress over the years considering how bad race relations were in the past. So when I started noticing the overt racism and people showing their true colors (within this decade) it really made me think. So I wanted to know if it was just as bad in the 90's or was I just too young to notice. Because I am really believing that it was always there in the 90's, people were just subtle about it. The Bush era and hate radio just gave them confidence to be more open about it.

[angstlessk]

2. heck I thought we fixed it in the late 60's..when I went to my first

income tax provider and there was a pretty white women with a good looking black man to file JOINT RETURNS!! this was in VA, too.....and I was so proud and happy. Of course I couldn't quite looking at them, the way I looked at Arab women who wore the hajib after 9/11..with a bit of wonder and a whole lot of unanswered questions.

[FreakinDJ]

16. Don't leave Black women and White Men out either

that has now come of age as well

[Bluerthanblue]

3. maybe this is the last gasp- the terrible, ugly, no holds barred

battle before the beast is really defeated.

I need to hold onto that hope. If it is, we need to stand firm, and true- no matter what is thrown at us, no matter how discouraging and mind-twisting it seems. People fight change, but change comes, all the same.

You are here for such a time as this- and your support is important!


:hi:

Our children are counting on us-

[Odin2005]

6. I certainly hope so!

:hi:

[seabeyond]

10. i dont think so. i think it cycles. just gets buried and quieted.... then rears head again. nt

[BlooInBloo]

13. Because of so-called "good whites" who passively enable it...

By saying/believing things like "reverse racism", "benefit of the doubt", etc.

As long as we allow it, it will continue.

[jaysunb]

14. Amen !

hammer meet nail :hi:

[treestar]

28. What is benefit of the doubt?

I wouldn't consider someone who whined about reverse racism to be a good white - I usually consider them racists.

[BlooInBloo]

31. A version of "if they didn't say 'nigger', then it's not racism"...

It's a standard that a lot/most of use white folks maintain. Recognizable by such phrases as "I'll wait until all the facts are in", or "I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt", etc. You see it hear on DU all the time.

It's sole purpose is for white folks to convince other white folks that they're ok people, even though they allow racism to continue.

[seabeyond]

34. yes. nt

[1Hippiechick]

38. No offense, but that's got to be one of the most bizarre explanations I have ever heard.

And it's seen in DU all the time? I know I have been away for several months, but....really?

[BlooInBloo]

44. *yawn*

[Lilyeye]

49. Funny you say that. There is someone EXACTLY like this in the scary black man thread lol.

[BlooInBloo]

57. I'm shocked (SHOCKED!)

[1Hippiechick]

37. Right on. n/t

[1Hippiechick]

36. What, pray tell, is a "good white"?

[treestar]

27. Good thought - the racist right wing is desperate this time

Making their last gasp before their way goes down entirely.

[here_is_to_hope]

33. +1

[jaysunb]

4. As a black person,I could have told you different

but even lots of us had been lulled into a false sense of complacency.

But the good news is, there are a lot more people like you, than the ones holding on to white supremacy. (conservatives conserving the only thing they REALLY want to conserve.)

:hi:

[Odin2005]

8. I've read that 97% of people under 30 are OK with interracial marriages.

Compared to only 60-something % for people over 60. We have come a long way.

[jaysunb]

15. That's just the sexual aspect

I'm sure the under thirties also have enough personal experience w/ others that they see the sexual (marriage/dating) more of a welcome variety, than some taboo.
Give it another 50 years and it will change. :shrug:

[dkf]

22. In Hawaii everyone is so mixed now that we have no idea what race a person is anymore.

lol.

[chocolate ink]

32. as a white person..

I agree. I remember a woman who was my boss in the the late 80's telling me that 'racism' was over and I wondered how she could be so naive. ..or wishful thinking on her part I don't know. Especially when several of the men I worked with used the 'N' word pertaining to MLK holiday. I also remember telling said men very politely never ever to use that word in front of me again. Oddly enough the woman who was my boss was irritated with me because she said I embarrassed the guy...and I should have said nothing.

Prejudice against various skin colors truly has to be the most bizarrely stupid and ignorantly damaging thing in the world.

[quiet.american]

7. I hear you. One thing Bush did - ripped the lid off any illusions I had about this country. nt

[BlooInBloo]

11. Why on earth would anyone ever think that?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

12. Where do you live?

[Odin2005]

20. Rural MN, Red River Valley, near Fargo.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

24. How long have you lived there?

[Odin2005]

25. All my life.

[Taitertots]

17. Where is the racism?

They TRIED to kill Clinton. They DID kill JFK.

Violent idiots have been trying to kill our leaders black and white alike.

[Bluerthanblue]

26. did you miss Katrina? this isn't only about President Obama- this

is about the racism in America- which was fed and nurtured under bush, - given an extra bit of fertilizer with Palin, and is running rampant right now- but the deniers are out in force.

And one thing we all should have learned by now- Denial kills- it kills and corrupts.


Pretending it isn't there doesn't make it go away, it just gives it permission to continue, to grow and infect others.

[1Hippiechick]

39. Well said. n/t

[Taitertots]

40. You do know there were white people that lived in New Orleans

America is so racist we elected a black President.

Inventing racism where there is none does far worse.

[Bluerthanblue]

42. lest you forget- the white people gathered food for themselves- the Black's looted

you don't want to acknowledge the parts of yourself that are uncomfortable-

none of us do- but until we do, we suffer from them, and cause others to suffer.

i wish you peace~

[Taitertots]

48. What are you talking about?

Would you at least make some sense in your backhanded attempts at calling me racist.

[Odin2005]

54. I remember that!

:grr:

[Lilyeye]

50. "America is so racist we elected a black President."

Wow, I finally heard it on DU. :eyes:

[Libertas1776]

18. I sympathize

when you're young and in school, you're taught all about the civil rights movement and its effects. Even from an early age, they're given little MLK Jr. coloring books or the like to try and get you to understand the past. We are taught that everyone is equal no matter the color of their skin or their religion, as if to prepare us for the "real world" where such ideals are the rule and not the exception. And then, you grow older, graduate High School and go into that "real world," and see it for what it really is. Everything about civility and respecting one another that we are taught is basically thrown out the window. It was as if it were an effort in futility. Of course, then again, maybe I was only taught such things because I was educated in a Catholic School in the evil elitist Northeast.

Of course, then again, as someone above said, something like 95+% of those under 30 support interracial marriage, while those over 60 it is significantly less. America is graying, with the larger part of the population growing older. Do we honestly expect any progressivism or change to come from them. No, it is to the youth of America that I look forward too. I really hope that this country can be a lot better place as the older generations pass on, taking with them their old racist conservative beliefs.

[chocolate ink]

30. older generation..

Some people seem to forget that it was that 'older generation' who fought for civil rights. Who marched and agitated and spoke out and helped make the whole civil rights movement happen and the anti-war movement and fought for the ERA. What progress you see today happened because of many in that older generation that you wish would pass on.

I get tired of people talking about the 'older generation' as if those of us who are 60 or older are the problem. If anything I'm twice as radical as I was in my younger years.

I live in a very conservative part of California and I can tell you that there are many many young people who are stupid prejudiced. It's like the country takes two steps forward then one step back and for someone my age it can be disheartening.

[Still Blue in PDX]

35. Right on.

I see a lot of racism in my kids' generation, from the skinheads when they were in high school to the stupid racial jokes that seem to be acceptable. If my own kids are racist they hide it well from me, and I hope I raised them better than that, but I'm afraid that my generation (I'm 54) got complacent for a while, thinking we had it licked, and racism came back just as strong as ever but much more subtly. It just makes me ill.

[Libertas1776]

43. I should not have

generalized in the way that I did. Of course, it was part of the older generations that fought for civil rights et al. and I never intended to downplay that. I should have really specified the conservative older generation of people who make up the birthers, and the teabaggers, and the other old bitter racists, the ones who were not out fighting for civil rights. I am certain there are plenty of older Americans like yourself that younger Americans owe a great debt of gratitude to, but there are also a shitload of old, set in their ways, bitter Americans who hold on to the ideals of whitebread, "Leave it to Beaver," "Father Knows Best" America that never actually existed. I know too many, and have come across to many in my time to not underestimate their power.

I honestly believe that the younger generations as a whole are more progressive or at the very least, more tolerant than their ancestors past. My fear is that though they may be more open, they end up being too indifferent to the world around them, with protesting the many wrongs in our country, like so many youth before them, the last thing on their concern list behind buying the newest i-phone, watching American Idol, or Gossip Girl or some other piece of crap brain draining media.

[chocolate ink]

52. Thanks for more nuanced explanation

I basically understood what you meant but still any generalization sets me off usually-I've done it myself although try hard not to.

As for the younger generation, well the ones that are more progressive probably got that way due to or with the help of how older generation worked to change attitudes. The fight goes on to change attitudes and beliefs and anyone who is then raised with more open attitudes just absorbs that to some extent I believe. Like having the show Will and Grace become a hit so by osmosis many younger people just think that was ok and accepted. But that show would have never been on tv if it hadn't been for all the years of fighting and hard work by the gay community and others interested in civil rights.

It is also sad to me that maybe one set of prejudices has been lowered, accepting black people but then there is prejudice against gay people by younger people I know or vice versa..or any minority group.

There are days when I read something good and feel real progress has been made and then other days we see something like those t-shirts that said 'Islam is the Devil'...or whatever the hell it said and I just get discouraged.

[Lilyeye]

55. You're right about this.

"My fear is that though they may be more open, they end up being too indifferent to the world around them, with protesting the many wrongs in our country, like so many youth before them, the last thing on their concern list behind buying the newest i-phone, watching American Idol, or Gossip Girl or some other piece of crap brain draining media."

I am 22 and I can tell you that this is happening now.

[Lilyeye]

53. You're very right. I am 22 and see racist shit in my generation.

It's my generation that really opened my eyes to how bad racism still is in this country. I too, passed it off as an "old people" thing. Not anymore.

[chocolate ink]

56. young and old..

That's why I don't like generalizations because they usually end up not being true. No need for a blame game of older vs younger because the unfortunate fact of human nature means that prejudice will probably never go away. What we can hope for is that the prejudiced become a small minority that does little harm.

[XemaSab]

19. I would like to believe

that it's mostly the older generation that thinks it's acceptable to be racist.

Yeah, I know there are racist young people, but racism among the young seems to be the small minority, and not a large percent of the population. :shrug:

[Odin2005]

21. That's why the GOP is screwed in the long run.

They lost the younger voters decisively starting in 2004.

[treestar]

29. Amazing to me is how it goes all the way to the top

You can become President of the U.S. and it will still be there! You give a speech to schoolchildren and it's attacked in a way it wasn't for white Presidents!

You are FLOTUS and you wear something normal like a pair of shorts and it actually gets media attention from idiots calling it inappropriate! And we all know if a white FLOTUS had done it, it would not have been made into a big deal. Not even mentioned.

[DFW]

41. If only it were that easy to cure

As long as there are races, there will be racism. It's a never-ending fight of enlightenment against darkness,
and there will always be darkness somewhere.

[Libertas1776]

45. I just hope

we all keep screwing each other until we're all the same color. That's my philosophy.

[DFW]

47. Give humanity about ten thousand more years

And if we haven't blown ourselves up before then, we might get there.

Of course, then they'll just find something else. People who chop wood
left-handed, or some such. It seems people always find a reason that
someone else is different enough to want to do them harm. I don't get it either.

[Igel]

51. I look at it this way.

You know the town hall meetings with the screaming RWers?

Well, in hindsight the story is that the media took a few snippets, isolated instances, and magnified it. It helped stoke outrage, it was sensationalist. That served their interests. A minority of voices--regardless of what the majority wanted, regardless of whether they were pro or con the current health-care/insurance reform proposals--got all the press.

Why do we think that this is the only case where the voices of a few drown out the voices of the many?