Obama's views on Race

[yovargas]

Planned Parenthood, yov, Margaret Sayer... look it up. And there's no misinformation in what I said, only facts.

I will in a bit but, since this thread is about whether there are differences in how blacks and whites are perceived in our society, I won't comment on it here unless it's relevant to that.

[JewelSong]

I believe you mean Margaret SANGER.

And we are discussing abortion and related issues in the Roe v Wade thread.

[Passdagas the Brown]

education is never scary, hence my desire to educate people on things they should actually care about, rather than things like racism, nuclear proliferation and climate change.

Forcing people to think a certain way (you know by destroying their lives if they don't behave perfectly... see Paula Deen), is very very scary.

As for my personal experiences... I was born in Memphis, TN. Most of my family still lives there. My aunts were public school teachers in the city. I owned a retail business in downtown Long Beach, CA (and lived there), where many of my few customers were black or hispanic. Oh, and I've personally been discriminated against and lost major opportunities because I was white.

So yeah, I know what I'm talking about. Just because I happen to completely disagree with your view of the world doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about... although discrimination against minority points of view is often the case on the internet.

Paula Deen was not forced to think a certain way. She was employed by a particular company who felt that her attitudes towards race complicated their brand, so they let her go. As a conservative, should you not be supportive of an employer's right to hire and fire, as they see fit to protect their profitability?

Paula Deen was not arrested for her past comments regarding race. She was simply fired by her employer for her past comments on race.

Don't see what is "scary" about that.

The PC "police state" you believe is materializing under socialist liberals is simply not there.

As for educating people about what they should care about, I'm not quite sure why climate change and the proliferation of nuclear materials in unstable places like Pakistan would NOT be deemed important, along with other critical matters closer to home, such as the economy, healthcare, infrastructure, etc.

Those are not partisan issues. They are, in fact, two issues that the US military takes very, very seriously.

[halplm]

I believe you mean Margaret SANGER.

And we are discussing abortion and related issues in the Roe v Wade thread.

Of course, my apologies.

And no, Paula Deen was not forced to think a certain way, she just had her life destroyed because she told the truth about the use of a word that frankly has no bearing on how she thinks now or anything of the sort.

That's worse than being arrested, frankly. How do you think people that see that feel. THAT is an attempt to force people to think certain ways, and I do think it is incredibly scary.

And with that, I'm reimposing my self-exile. I've said what I wanted to say and gotten the response I expected. I apologize for abortion being brought up if it upsets people over in the other thread, I won't be joining that discussion. If anyone wants to discuss any of this thread or that one with me personally, please send me a PM.

さようなら

[yovargas]

And no, Paula Deen was not forced to think a certain way, she just had her life destroyed because she told the truth about the use of a word that frankly has no bearing on how she thinks now or anything of the sort.

That's worse than being arrested, frankly. How do you think people that see that feel. THAT is an attempt to force people to think certain ways, and I do think it is incredibly scary.

Turns out if you say and do racist and bigoted things, people call you a racist and a bigot. Fortunately, we no longer live in a society where racists and bigots can speak their racists thoughts publicly without social repercussions. Very fortunately.

I suppose one might see it differently if one believed racism had vanished.


And I do wish you'd tell me what you think of that study I posted before you go on exile again.

[halplm]

When I get a chance, I'll send you a PM.

And it doesn't sound like you know anything about the Paula Deen case, so you might want to look that one up too.

[Passdagas the Brown]

Apologies hal, but these are very, very controversial topics, which generate a lot of emotion simply because they are so important, and speak to our moral compasses.

In short, you can't start a conversation about race and abortion, offer up strong opinions, and expect placid reactions!

I understand your fears, and your perspective, but I unfortunately find them to be divorced from the realities of where power lies in the US.

A broad, completely unenforced public consensus on how to talk about African Americans, what words are offensive or not, etc, are not scarier than the mandates and enforcement powers of authoritarian regimes.

I am not very PC in a number of ways, but I hardly find a hardening of the public's views against residual racist thinking to be "scary."

If you don't like it, you are free to say so, in a number of fora. And I am free to say you're delusional!

On the unrelated subject of climate change, etc, what I find far, far scarier than the PC phenomenon is that somehow, a small fraction of the extreme right has been able to characterize the issue as a partisan one, and then build a political base around attacking the science in incredibly disingenuous ways.

Numerous senior flag officers in the US military, conservative leaders from the GHWB, GWB and Reagan Administrations, CEOs across the business world - not to mention the overwhelming body of climatologists - agree that climate change is an existential challenge. It is frightening to the core that a small political opposition has essentially stopped us from getting out of the way of this security issue barreling towards us, and continues to insist that it is a "liberal conspiracy" even when the U.S. military takes it so seriously (which is natural, given that the military has longer-term planning and budget horizons, and must plan for contingencies in their strategic environment). This keeps me up at night. Not being able to use words that are deemed racist by much of the public does not concern me so much...