Good for you (and I also sincerely mean it) and I'd also like to believe it's true.. and always thought that would be the case, but sadly have found otherwise. I know people who I had never known to be racist but after they moved to an area which had a large population of Hispanics they have become extremely bigoted and downright hateful toward Hispanics, or were fine with black people until black people tried moving into their town or neighborhood, so unfortunately that change can go both ways.Alatar wrote:Me.Frelga wrote:Citation needed.yovargas wrote:The best, most reliable way to cure bigotry is to get expose bigots to the people they hate. It leads to genuine change.
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All it does is expose vulnerable people to bigots who hate them.
I was homophobic as a young adult. Then I found out one of my friends was gay. Suddenly gay people weren't "other", they were my buddy Gary. It was like a light switch.
There are people who claim not to be racist because they 'have a black friend who is OK' or claim they do not have a problem with black people (or xyz) yet still believe a race war or 2nd civil war needs to be fought (by some accounts about 1/3 of Americans feel this way.) I don't know if many of you have lived in an area where 96% of the population is homogeneous (white), but I've lived in such areas all of my life. Sadly, such people aren't changing any time soon. The more 'others' move into 'their territory' the more threatened they feel. They are perhaps fine with a few token Asians, Hispanics, Blacks, or Jews .. as long as they 'stay in their own place'. I'm not so sure I could say the same for LGBTQ, Muslims, or 'liberals'. My hubby works with people who believe in this upcoming 'war' and I recently asked him about it.. like.. what is their objective? Since he is just about the only Democrat where he works (and is currently not working due to COVID), and as such he rarely discusses politics, but he hears plenty. He says this upcoming 'war' is against not only people of color, Jews, LGBTQ, atheists, and Muslims, but all liberals who believe in such inclusiveness and liberal indoctrination. We're all 'antifa communists' to them.
My hubby, who is not racist, recently came with me when I dropped our dog off at the home of the groomer. I had never mentioned that she was black and he was blown away and said, 'Wow, she's really brave for living here." If you are of color and driving through our town (or many of the nearby towns) you will almost certainly be stopped by police. There was a young (black) woman selling cleaning supplies door-to-door in our neighborhood. I had been working out in the yard and I was talking to her and police pulled up and told her she wasn't safe here and suggested she leave. Someone must have called the police because I live in a quiet country neighborhood and they don't come here unless they've been called. I don't know if this is common in other areas of the country but the dog whistle 'code' around here seems to be 'Back the Badge' flags and signs.