From: Rahul Dave (rahul@reno.cis.upenn.edu)
Date: Mon Nov 27 2000 - 11:11:21 PST
>
> Well, I have to speak up here, not just about above comment, but about the
> general tone of discussion amongst my liberal friends, not just on Fork.
> But first let's look at the comment above. Its probable that Rahul did not
> mean to imply widespread racism among conservatives, but there are many
Definitely. I do not imply widespread racism amongst conservatives. Infact
I do not even imply racism. But yes, this is asserted a lot.
What I did mean to imply that given a supporter of discrimination
against groups (racist is too strong a word), the odds of him or her voting
republican are higher than democrat. I say this as I believe conservative(and
I mean social and religious, not fiscal) thinking does not subject itself
to self-censuring and doubt, it seems to be based on a religious precept,
or a societal norm, or similar.
Furthermore, the philosophies of militaries and
polices do not lend themselves to doubt and self criticism; it is not surprising
that minorities all over the world(for eg in India, where Muslims trust the
police less..). trust majority dominated authority aorganizations less than
they trust the majority dominated societies.
Each one of us is shaped by societal and ethnic identities, all carrying
some or the other perjorative philosophies. A "Live and Let Live" philosophy
is an attempt to suppress ones perjorations, which is a hard and courageous
thing to do, as it involves self-criticism and doubt, and accepting that.
> people who do assert that very thing. This is less of a response to the
> comment above than it is a general rant. The notion that Republicans are
> somehow intrinsically racist is pure fiction. You say that there is a
This I wholeheartedly agree with.
> history of voting against civil rights. Well no party or ideology had a
> monopoly on stupidity.
There has been shifting ground in the past 100 years. Very emphatically,
the republican's held the torch for putting an end to slavery and making
other progress at the end of the last century. It is fascinating that the
public perception (and some of the ground reality) has changed so
much in the last 50 years..
>
> What about other civil rights? Does the fact that most conservatives
> disagree with the whole concept of a "hate crime" make them some sort of
> bigot? It is simply a belief in equal protection under the law. The same
> applies to racial preferences.
Equal protection only makes sense after equal consideration. Bush said in
the debate that "God" didnt intend marraige between people of the same sex
(or something of that sort), and thus he was against gay marraige. Bam, there
in one sentence you have the future president negating the separation of
church and state, right before the country, in a debate. Whatever the
"God" intends, i dont care and believe, and it has no business being part of
law. When there is no conscious effort to ward off such thinking, discrimination
can creep in.
>
> These days Racism in this country is a boogeyman that, statistically
> speaking, does not exist. Ask yourself, how many real racists do you know?
> How many have you ever met? What color were they?
Or ask if you have ever faced it yourself, one way or the other? Racism isnt
so overt today, its subtle, but its there. And its there amongst all ethnic
groups.
>
>
Rahul
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