Is Racism Really a Problem?

[RJ 17]

So I get to work today and log onto my computer, the homepage is set to MSN. There's a story today about how 3 men who burned down a predominantly black church the night Obama was elected were sentenced today. Clearly such an act - even if it wasn't obviously racially motivated - is absolutely dispicable and horrible (just so you know, the church was under construction and no one was inside when it burned down, thoughh apparently a number of fire fighters wwere injured while battling the blaze).

But then I go to the comment section for the article which, of course, is filled with people saying that America is full of racists and, in particular, the majority of people who don't like President Obama don't like him purely because he's black. And that's what I take issue with. If you want to delude yourself into believing that all white people in America are just a bunch of racists, that's fine. That's your own opinion and if you really believe that, whatever. But isn't saying that "the majority of people who oppose Obama are a bunch of racists" actually an obscenely racist comment in itself? Are you not making a broad generalization about a group of people - who are implied to be white - based on the actions of a few morons from said group?

Is it not possible to disagree with President Obama without being racist? Are you saying that people such as myself can't disagree with him based on our views of what's good for the country? I don't believe that Obama is deliberately trying to destroy America, I just think that we have vastly different views on what's best for the nation. I really can't help but notice that the majority of the time, the people who cry out "racism!" for any given situation or topic are, themselves, the first ones to bring race into the situation or topic.

Now I'm not saying that true racism doesn't exist in America. As the article I mentioned points out: there clearly are people out there who still hate others based purely on the color of their skin. Yes, I know the US has a history of slavery. Absolutely no pun intended: that was a dark time in the US's history and unspeakable things were done with the belief that one group of people was just naturally inferior to another. But it seems to me that the vast majority of the US has moved on from those times with the Civil Rights movement and such and since they've moved on, they're extremely eager to do anything they can to prove that they're NOT racists.

So if it's true that people only disagree with Obama because he's black and therefor any opposition is based on racism, what about all the white people who only voted for Obama because he's black? Are they not just as racist? They feel some kind of guilt of the past and want to make themselves feel all warm and fuzzy by saying "I'm not a racist, I voted for Obama!"

In short: is it not an obscenely racist for a black person to go on a rant about how racist and evil and bigoted white people are? Does the color of their skin give them a pass on being racist just because a great injustice was done to them in the past? By that logic, is it safe to assume that everyone in Germany is still a Nazi?

This is why racism has been reduced to a "card" that is played for political gain. The sooner America as a nation moves on from its past, the sooner everyone can start living happily together. It just seems to me that those who are stuck in the past and see racism everywhere are, themselves, the biggest racists of all.

Or am I wrong? Is America indeed just a horrible, racist country filled with bigoted rednecks who believe that whites are superior to all others? Is there REALLY a racism problem (on a large, nation-wide scale) in America?

 

[Berithil]

In my opinion, nowadays, racism is not a big issue. Yes, there are still racist bigots out there, but there are not many. The racist issue is mostly used by far left liberals to get a leg up against conservatives. REPUBLICANS ARE NOT RACIST. Yes, there may be some who are truly racist, but it doesn't have anything to do with the political views. They're just bigots. Im a conservative (not necessarly a republican) and I don't like Obama. I'm not racist. I just disagree with his politics.

There may be some racially motivated crimes, but they are few and far between, and many of those are not white against minority, but the other way around.

And, of topic, this would probably be more suited for R&P, due to the debate it might spark

 

[Unesh52]

I agree that it's an asinine double standard that some black people (indeed, there are people like this in all non-white demographics) feel they are justified in going around conflating all white people with racists. I also think that some groups, particularly among the poor and young (in my experience, they are my peer group after all)have a weird persecution complex despite never having been actually oppressed in their life. This causes them to jump too hastily to a conclusion of racism whenever anything involving race comes up. Which explains this story from a nearby county in my state:

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/new...troversial-Homework-Assignment-20120109-pm-pk

Some teachers created a test that had questions like "If Tom picks 4 bails of cotton today and 5 tomorrow, how many has he picked?" Parents complained of racism - but it's not racism. It's akin to writing questions about how many people died in a car accident, or how many babies a serial murder ate alive. The problem is that it treats serious subject matter with undue flippancy. Nonetheless, because it involved slavery and the subjugation of black people, people automatically assume racism. It's like people don't even know what the term means, and take it as "anything that I don't like" as long it can be tenuously related to someone's race.

Now then, we don't have too many problems with people running around burning crosses in black people's front yards (at least not here in Atlanta, where more than half the population is black), but that's not to say race isn't an issue. It's not that whites are actively endorsing prejudiced world-views, it's that they're subject to subconscious and unintentional prejudices. They might be intimidated by blacks more than whites, and thus preferentially employ whites, even though they harbor no conscious ill-will towards blacks. And that's even harder to work out than the overt racism was, partly because people are so unwilling to admit that it happens.

 

[Lionsfan]

It really depends on the city. In Detroit race is still an issue, and somewhat the same for areas like Atlanta and Chicago. Nothing really bad enough like Rioting, but yes race is still a big issue in the US today, whether or not people realize it

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

As long as there are people out there who will do things such as elect the leader of a nation based on the color of their skin (and whether it's a lot of people or not, they are out there), something that hasn't a damn thing to do with one's ability to lead, then yes, racism is still a problem.

 

[LetalisK]

My feeling is that racism is still a problem and is still something that needs to be dealt with. I also feel we have made significant steps in the right direction and media whores like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton don't help the situation at all.

 

[lord.jeff]

It's still an issue just no where near as big an issue as a number of people make it out to be.

 

[peruvianskys]

I don't think that most racist incidents in the country are caused by pure hatred or intentional bigotry, but instead the fact that a lot of white people, most of whom would not consider themselves racist at all, simply don't understand their racial privilege. With that said, it is silly to deny that minorities, especially Hispanic and Arab immigrants, are not at a huge disadvantage when it comes to succeeding in business, getting reasonable police protection, pursuing relationships with predominantly white communities, getting fair representation in court, and in general being treated with respect. I feel like the majority of those who would say that racism isn't a problem don't live in the areas where it is, or, more likely, live in areas that are so deeply entrenched in racism that it isn't readily apparent.

 

[Johanthemonster666]

It really depends on the city. In Detroit race is still an issue, and somewhat the same for areas like Atlanta and Chicago. Nothing really bad enough like Rioting, but yes race is still a big issue in the US today, whether or not people realize it

This.

Also there are "accepted" situations where the privledged party in a conversation is allowed to express their bigotry (usually around family or someone friend of their own skin color) either using economic status "blacks and latinos in the inner cities are all on welfare" or some skewed socio-political angle like how my parents tend to frame things "back in the 50s things were fine, and though racism was bad all those liberals messed things up for everyone" followe by "Martin Luther king was a republican,so he would agree with me by default"

 

[Johanthemonster666]

I think we're all tempted by bigotry, some people just acknowledge it in their own thinking and know it's wrong. Others, they rationalize this becaue they confuse it with a "gut feeling" = "it must be fact".

I don't like admitting my mom is kind of a nut, but she is and I can't discuss politics with her because she's a stereotypical American 'conservative'.

 

[Astoria]

I truely believe that racism is not as bad as people think it is. Part of the reason it won't go is because of people like you mentioned to see racism in everything and think that just because a few white people are racist then they all are. To use your example some people just can't seem to get that you dislike his policies and not him a person, because he's black you must hate him on that alone.

 

[WeAreStevo]

OP: Are you white? I'm just curious, because I'd actually be completely shocked if you were not.

Racism is very much still an issue. I think it will only NOT become an issue when there ceases to be hate crimes and differential treatment based off of race.

And whereas I do agree (with regards to Obama) that you are not racist for disagreeing with his policies, what people forget is that a large swath of people who dislike him also spread around pictures of African Witch doctors that read "Obamacare" and pictures of Chimpanzees that have Obama Photoshopped into it. If that isn't racist, I'd love to hear why.

Point is: Race is clearly still an issue. Otherwise there would not be so many hate groups still operating, pictures like those I mentioned wouldn't be created, and things like the torching of an predominantly black church on the day Obama was elected wouldn't happen.

 

[Sean951]

When it comes to racism, the US has less than most countries, but it is clearly still a problem.

 

[HArlack]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-40-absolutely-worst-people-in-america

 

[Thaluikhain]

The sooner America as a nation moves on from its past, the sooner everyone can start living happily together. It just seems to me that those who are stuck in the past and see racism everywhere are, themselves, the biggest racists of all.

The problem with this (and it's a common attitude) is that it's based on the asusmption that racism is confined to dry, dusty history volumes.

If that was true, than yes, everything else follows logically.

However, it's not. It's really, really not. Racism remains a massive problem today. White people, as a rule, are very good at being oblivious to racism.

[small]That's not intended as an attack, it's a statement of fact. I am 100% sure that if the situation were reversed, black people would quietly ignore or dismiss the problem rather than be forced to confront it. Priviliged groups always deny they are, that's an important part of how it works. Similarly, the problems facing black women tend to be ignored by black right's advocates or feminists in the exact same way (rightfully) complain their problems are ignored by white people or men respectively. I'd be willing to bet you'd find black women's groups excluding black lesbians, who'd tell disabled black lesbians to stick to the important issues.[/small]

Getting past one's own priviliges and prejudices isn't easy, not very long ago at all I'd get pissed off by a 30 second reminder of the traditional owners of the land before speeches and seminars and the like, because why should I have to put up with anything just because my coutry has lots of racism?

Now, it is, of course, wrong to say that all white people are racist. However, regardless of how many white people are actively racist, the majority or close to it choose to remain silent about it, which can appear to be much the same thing.