Reaction to racism?

[caketastydelish]

It's funny until you realize idiots have power and that power is used to disenfranchise voters, and in a related matter, continue to deny civil rights in law.

I was not aware of this. What exactly are you referring to?

 

[emzie]

I was not aware of this. What exactly are you referring to?

Ways to strike minorities from voter rolls (same name as a felon? no voting for you!) or requiring voter ID that disproportionally keeps poor, Spanish-speaking Americans from voting (I don't really care about requiring ID to vote, but these laws aren't written in response to fraud).

In a similar manner, denying civil rights to gays is akin to racial discrimination though the two don't have completely over-lapping populations.

 

[caketastydelish]

Ways to strike minorities from voter rolls (same name as a felon? no voting for you!) or requiring voter ID that disproportionally keeps poor, Spanish-speaking Americans from voting (I don't really care about requiring ID to vote, but these laws aren't written in response to fraud).

In a similar manner, denying civil rights to gays is akin to racial discrimination though the two don't have completely over-lapping populations.

"poor spanish-speaking Americans" and "illegal immigrants" do not mean the same thing. Not sure if that was your implication.

And felons can't vote regardless of race, even if the number is higher in percentage for minorities.

I do agree that gays don't have the same civil rights as everyone else in a lot of states though.

edit: I personally think America should increase the amount of (legal) immigrants that are allowed into the country each year though. We should do that while simultaneously make it harder for illegals to come in. But if you're referring to people that actually have citizenship, then yes I would agree that it's racist.

 

[Tani Coyote]

I always found racist remarks funny in the sense that they betray foolish biases. You should judge individuals on their merits, not where they were born, what religion they practice, etc.

Let us consider that tolerant societies tend to be very successful, and reflect on why racism is something that should be ridiculed. (Heck, according to my textbook I'm reading at the moment, racism was considered a psychological disorder after World War II)

 

[caketastydelish]

(Heck, according to my textbook I'm reading at the moment, racism was considered a psychological disorder after World War II)

This is very interesting, and I'd like to learn more about it.

 

[emzie]

"poor spanish-speaking Americans" and "illegal immigrants" do not mean the same thing. Not sure if that was your implication.

And felons can't vote regardless of race, even if the number is higher in percentage for minorities.

I do agree that gays don't have the same civil rights as everyone else in a lot of states though.

edit: I personally think America should increase the amount of (legal) immigrants that are allowed into the country each year though. We should do that while simultaneously make it harder for illegals to come in. But if you're referring to people that actually have citizenship, then yes I would agree that it's racist.

You missed the point on both things I brought up. It's not an issue of not allowing felons to vote, but in removing felons from voter rolls, non-felons who share or have similar names are also being removed -- people legally allowed to vote who are removed from registration for sharing the name with a felon. Take a guess who this impacts the most.

The voter ID laws have jack-all to do with illegal immigration. Laws being written requiring voter ID are not being written in the face of voter fraud. In fact, aside from a stunt pulled in New Hampshire recently, people writing voter ID laws couldn't point to any cases of actual fraud. What these laws do have a good effect on is keeping people legally allowed to vote from voting, since they lack the proper ID. Who lacks these forms of ID? Poor minorities.

 

[Tani Coyote]

This is very interesting, and I'd like to learn more about it.

The Book is "Give Me Liberty" by Eric Foner. I'm not sure how reputable his work is but I assume a college campus would use it as its official book for good reason.

Basically it sounds like the Nazi practices in Europe with regards to race discredited eugenics and racism for some time, after people had heard of the horrors the regime had committed.

A bit comparable to how the Communist Party in the USA lost the bulk of its membership once they found out exactly what Stalin was doing while in power.

 

[caketastydelish]

The issue isn't allowing felons to vote, it is striking the names of people from voter rolls that are not felons because they share a name with a felon. Or in other words, striking non-felons from voter rolls.

That's pathetic. I can't believe this hasn't been fixed.

The Book is "Give Me Liberty" by Eric Foner. I'm not sure how reputable his work is but I assume a college campus would use it as its official book for good reason.

Basically it sounds like the Nazi practices in Europe with regards to race discredited eugenics and racism for some time, after people had heard of the horrors the regime had committed.

A bit comparable to how the Communist Party in the USA lost the bulk of its membership once they found out exactly what Stalin was doing while in power.

I'll have to look into this, thank you. Obviously I am against racism, but I never knew it was classified as a mental disorder. Fascinating stuff.

 

[Quintillus]

When people post racist rants on this forum, I usually subscribe to the thread because I find racism funny. I mean I use to get very offended when I see someone post something racist, but now I just laugh.

I usually take it as a cue that the thread is going somewhere not worth reading and go up a level in the forum structure. It's the sort of rubbish I don't fancy reading.

Going by the title of this thread, I figured you meant more in-real-life. Clearly, it varies, and I don't encounter it that often, but the most recent time I did the reaction was, "Did he really say what I thought I heard?" It was a situation analogous to if your dentist said something racist when he was poking around in your mouth, though - not an advantageous time to point it out. Sometimes it causes me to think, as when I recently read a Facebook status by someone who I like as a person that was somewhat racist against my race, not too long after followed by defending a symbol that traditionally is seen as being against his race. Things aren't always clear-cut.

And things aren't always super-serious, either. I don't have a problem when a friend teases a German-American friend of mine for being megalomaniacal in Civilization or something like that (the old WWII Germans taking over the world thing), and I've never seen one them take it non-positively. Although even then, I suspect German Germans would on average be more sensitive about that. It was definitely kind of awkward when Nazis happened to come up unexpectedly in the book I was reading in a train on Germany. Didn't really want someone to glance over my shoulder at that point.

 

[Antilogic]

Actual racism isn't funny. The intricate web of logical fallacies and ignorance racists employ to justify their racism often is. Other times it's just sad.

I figured I should clarify my prior comments with regards to this: I don't laugh with the racists, I laugh at them. Really directly and obviously. Nothing quite shatters their "logic" like being equated with banal humor, especially when it's one of those "whitey to whitey" moments where they think I should share their hatred and yet I don't.

 

[Formaldehyde]

A bit comparable to how the Communist Party in the USA lost the bulk of its membership once they found out exactly what Stalin was doing while in power.

That is also overlooking the effects of McCarthyism and the second Red Scare.

The Communist Party has never been very large in the US.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

The Communist Party has never been very large in the US.

And with good reason.

But back to the subject:
I don't usually find racism very funny. When someone tries to justify slavery or segregation or opposition to race-mixing on the internet, it's kind of funny because it's usually a troll. In real life I do not find it funny at all (especially when people use racial slurs). I used to tell people in my classes to stop saying the n-word (they think it makes them cool), but now I've just stopped trying.
(Just so you know, most people a my school aren't racist, I live in the good part of Kentucky)

 

[Hehehe]

I used to dismiss racists as idiots and instill myself with a sense of superiority for not being racist. But nowadays I realize my attitude probably was not helping in any way. Instead, if someone on the internet starts to make racist rants, I either ignore them or maybe reason with them if they can be reasoned with (though I almost never do this as a lot of them are either trolls or cannot be reasoned with). I doubt simply calling racists stupid is going to fix the problem.

 

[warpus]

I saw a post from a user several years ago that denied the extent of the holocaust

Not that I agree with that point of view, but that by itself is not racist.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

I used to dismiss racists as idiots and instill myself with a sense of superiority for not being racist. But nowadays I realize my attitude probably was not helping in any way. Instead, if someone on the internet starts to make racist rants, I either ignore them or maybe reason with them if they can be reasoned with (though I almost never do this as a lot of them are either trolls or cannot be reasoned with). I doubt simply calling racists stupid is going to fix the problem.

agree 100% here calling someone an idiot never helps anyone.

 

[bombshoo]

Most open racism makes me very uncomfortable. The only kind I can tolerate is the standard "old people racism", which still makes me uncomfortable, but it doesn't destroy the image of the person saying the remarks in my mind. Old people racism is almost an entirely different phenomenon.

 

[Glassfan]

In addition to finding racist rants funny I also find ultra-right wing rants in general funny.

Ultra-left wing rants too!

But yeah, racism in this day and age is ignorant and ironic. While I don't break out laughing, I do smile and snicker that someone can be so obtuse and uninformed.

 

[mayor]

Let us consider that tolerant societies tend to be very successful, and reflect on why racism is something that should be ridiculed. (Heck, according to my textbook I'm reading at the moment, racism was considered a psychological disorder after World War II)

That reminds me of conversation I had in chat a few days back

but on the issue: If I hear about a racist statement that was made in public I usually laugh I have to reactions. If I find it truly idiotic I just shake my head in unbelieve, if it is more a 'how can you come up with that?'-statement I laugh, in unbelieve.

If it is more in a personal circle that someone makes a racist comment it is mostly meant as a joke which I find funny, if it is not meant as a joke I start a discussion with the perpetrator.

 

[Yeekim]

Ways to strike minorities from voter rolls (same name as a felon? no voting for you!) or requiring voter ID that disproportionally keeps poor, Spanish-speaking Americans from voting.

You do realize that requiring voter ID is the one and only way to solve your first complaint?

 

[kochman]

Racist jokes are funny...