A life-long buddy sent me this crap...How do I respond to stupidity?

[rustydog]

Why are only Whites racist lament:

"...Michael Richards better known as Kramer from TVs Seinfeld does make a good point.
This was his defense speech in court after making racial comments in his comedy act. He makes some very interesting points...
Someone finally said it. How many are actually paying attention to this? There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, etc.
And then there are just Americans. You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction. You call me 'White boy,' 'Cracker,' 'Honkey,' 'Whitey,' 'Caveman'... and that's OK.."
It goes on and on inanely bitching about the poor white man in America but I can't finish reading this tripe...How can someone perpetuate this crap?
How do I respond to this forwarded hate-mail? Do I just ignore it and and the sender?

[virgogal]

1. Ignore it !

[lamp_shade]

Ditto.

[cherokeeprogressive]

18. +1

[BlooInBloo]

2. I generally just tell bigots to fuck off.

[HughMoran]

I tend to give one last "This is my last discussion with your bigoted self" email

If you don't tell people when they're over the line, perhaps they'll think they "made their point" and "shut you up." Fuck that.

[Morning Dew]

3. Send him to snopes. It's bullshit.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/proudwhite.asp

[Kajsa]

10. Thank you!

A lot of RW crap can be debunked on Snopes.

[imdjh]

24. first two sentences are inarguably bullshit, not to mention British, Canadian, or Australian.

"..... This was his defence....."

[Swamp Rat]

4. I G N O R E

[orpupilofnature57]

Show him the White men who ruin his life ,show him the percentage of

White men in the 'Good ole boy network ' ask him what the biggest percentage of the 12% Enslaving us are ,tell him to smarten up.

[VenusRising]

5. Snopes.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/proudwhite.asp

It's false. Richards never had to appear in court over his incident at the comedy club. It's a bunch of racist BS that puts their feelings into other people's mouths so they can feel good not being the one that actually said it, even though they agree and forward it on.

[Bigmack]

25. The real test is whether the snopes...

debunking causes an abject apology from the guy. A lot of people just send shit on, not having thought about it very much. If he says something like... "Yeah, well, he may not have said it, but there's still a lot of truth in it."

Buh-Bye.....

I sent snopes stuff to people and have had them tell me they don't believe snopes. They really want to believe that shit.

[Kajsa]

6. Epithets are epithets, period.

No rationalization changes that fact.

Ignore the damn thing.

[Journeyman]

7. Sorry, rustydog, but I can't help you with that. . .

You're going to have to figure out for yourself how much you value the friendship, whether your friend can be taught or if it's a lost cause, and most importantly, how you should approach this with your friend.

Unfortunately, I don't feel qualified to answer any of those questions for you. I know how I'd approach it were it a friend of mine (I've dealt with similar situations in the past), but what I did may not be the best solution for you.

Best of luck. Lousy situation in which to be. Hope you can resolve it to your ultimate satisfaction, and that the choices you make are choices with which you can live in peace with yourself.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. If you feel the need to respond,

tell him that white Americans are sometimes called WASPS, or Italian-Americans, Irish-Americans, etc. Tell him ALL of us are simply "Americans" thank you, and this person with WASP roots has NEVER heard anyone call her any of the names quoted. People from Europe have been the ruling powers here for about 400 years. The use of derogatory speech by them was backed up by force in times past, and use of it now is a reminder of that force--and a threat of it occurring again. That's why we don't use such words.

[leftstreet]

9. "If we can't solve our differences, how will we treat Aliens when they arrive?"

Type that up and send that puppy back

[pocoloco]

11. Send him this.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGz_xSSgjY0

[handmade34]

17. excellent

[imdjh]

12. Noblesse oblige.

[rustydog]

13. I decided to send this:

Sorry my friend, I don't buy into this white supremist lament.

There are racists in every "race" in the world. Whites occupied the "white house' for over 200 years in a home build by slaves.

Whites hung blacks for simply looking at our white women..they were beaten for being on the wrong side of town...and were murdered for wanting to ride at the front of a city bus...Sorry, I can't buy into this neo-nazi rant about the poor white man in America

[WillieW]

21. Now you lost your friend?

[handmade34]

14. Native Americans, Irish Americans...

Redneck Americans, Polish Americans... the "poor white man" has an ethnic and cultural background and it is used when needed to discuss some pertinent issue. Usually that "poor white man" is lacking a sense of history and social science, is uneducated and is content to dismiss history and truths about our society. You cannot talk reason with ignorant and irrational people

[lunatica]

15. Tell him why you're going to ignore him from now on

You can just say you think this is bigoted and racist thinking (you thereby don't actually call him a racist or a bigot which gives him an out if he chooses it) and that you don't want to be part of it, and to please not forward anything like that to you again.

Or you can say simply that if someone calls him names and he thinks that is bad then he needs to grow a thicker skin. Because he belongs to the race that has not only called others racist names but has actively oppressed, suppressed, murdered and lynched and physically abused them. That his race is the one that used slavery and who kept women as property until both fought back. That it was his race who passed the Jim Crow laws that effectively destroyed the former slaves from being able to get ahead. His race was the one that lynched and persecuted and terrorized blacks, even to this day if they can do it.

Tell him to grow a little thickness over mere name calling. He's not the victim of even a fraction of the crimes his race has committed against other races.

[kevinbgoode]

16. You might just get sarcastic here. . .

and suggest that ALL the people should be allowed to vote on the rights of the white male - for a change. After all, aren't they the only minority that gave themselves full rights while carefully creating a caste system for everyone else?

[ddeclue]

19. Find a better class of friends...

I stopped talking to a long time friend of mine after the wife taunted me after the Kerry loss in 2004. That was enough. I moved on.

[Vinnie From Indy]

20. I usually try to give good, old friends a way out as a first chance

For example, you could reply that you are deeply concerned that someone is sending some white supremacist propaganda from his email address. Tell him you are concerned that people might actually believe that he is a ignorant, racist asshole because of this security breach.

Draw him out and engage him if he is worth the effort. If not, tell him to quit sending racist shit to your email and that you are ashamed for him.

[CrispyQ]

22. He mentions every kind of American but the Native Americans.

Ask him about that.



Then delete his contact info.

[Mr Generic Other]

23. since he is a life-long buddy, i think you owe it to him to tell him

what you believe to be the truth about race issues and power in america.
one approach would be to refute each charge leveled in the e-mail. another would be to explain in a short paragraph how you see the whole situation described by the e-mail.
i would be polite and ask that he consider what you say and what the message in the e-mail said.
your buddy (and probably all americans) is frightened and uncertain how to best prepare for the future.
he has seen the economy (americans have a religious respect for capitalism) fail, again, he has witnessed the exposure of his government as a corrupt entity as opposed to a force for good (our jingoistic self-image). he is experiencing cognitive dissonance.
most people, when faced with information that refutes the foundations of their beliefs and security, will ignore the information that proves their earlier held beliefs to be false, and cling more vehemently to the original notions.
the people, who are most invested in beliefs, as a primary form of self-identification, are the least able to accept information that questions their beliefs. for these americans the world has turned on its head. its the end times. the worst of the bunch have given up the semblance of sanity and are headed for the mountains to await the rapture.
mr obama's ethnicity is one more bit of proof to these types that the world is out of order. how can it be that obama was chosen to lead us out of the wilderness and into the light?
your friend, and many others, don't know who to blame for the world falling apart.
its too bad that rush, sean, glen and their ilk, are the ones explaining social and economic dynamics to those with underdeveloped critical thinking skills.
rather than cutting your old buddy off, you should try to offer him a guiding hand as he adjusts to the new reality.

edited: to delete extra word

[SoCalDem]

26. email back to them:.."Stop sending me this racist crap!"

the block email from them..or auto-delete

[noiretextatique]

27. tell him to show you the equivalent of the KKK, Aryan Nations, Skinheads, etc

the black panthers don't count. but ask him: where are the organized anti-white hate groups?

[Doctor_J]

28. Get a new buddy