Double Standard ?

I do not think I made any point for you at all, but your argument is a strange one. Yes, racism is what is bad, but the point of laws is to protect citizens from bad things. If there was a focused law that pretty clearly made it easier to murder your family, would you not fight to change that law?

It's not an either/or solution - it's both/and. We don't have to choose between teaching people not to be racists or fixing laws to stop allowing for racism. We can do both of those things simultaneously, and we need to do both of those things simultaneously.

While you might not personally have any differentiation in your thought and kindness towards people based on their skin, you being 'sick and tired' of all of this stuff speaks to your privilege as a majority, because you have never been affected by these things. If you grew up black or hispanic, you wouldn't be sick and tired of it. Well, you would be sick and tired of it, but it would be because you are spent from fighting a losing battle for your liberty.

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
I do not think I made any point for you at all, but your argument is a strange one. Yes, racism is what is bad, but the point of laws is to protect citizens from bad things. If there was a focused law that pretty clearly made it easier to murder your family, would you not fight to change that law?

It's not an either/or solution - it's both/and. We don't have to choose between teaching people not to be racists or fixing laws to stop allowing for racism. We can do both of those things simultaneously, and we need to do both of those things simultaneously.

While you might not personally have any differentiation in your thought and kindness towards people based on their skin, you being 'sick and tired' of all of this stuff speaks to your privilege as a majority, because you have never been affected by these things. If you grew up black or hispanic, you wouldn't be sick and tired of it. Well, you would be sick and tired of it, but it would be because you are spent from fighting a losing battle for your liberty.
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So...now because I'm sick and tired of racism....I'm racist.

 
tschu said:
BigRedBuster said:
tschu said:
Yeah, but then why would Republicans want to put the law in place? It wouldn't help them win elections, and it would cost the government money.
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Why don't we implement voter ID laws.
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Because it isn't a problem and there is literally no reason for it.
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sitting right here, I can't agree if there is or isn't a problem with it. How do you really know? If cops weren't out patrolling roads, would we know if people were breaking speeding laws?

 
BigRedBuster said:
sitting right here, I can't agree if there is or isn't a problem with it. How do you really know? If cops weren't out patrolling roads, would we know if people were breaking speeding laws?
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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/voter-fraud-real-rare/story?id=17213376

It's not a problem. Not only do you have to know the name of someone registered to vote in that precinct, you have to also hope that that person doesn't vote as well. If they do, the gig is up, and you've got 5 years in prison and a massive fine. All for trying to illegally cast ONE VOTE. There are much more effective ways to actually, tangibly influence election results. Like Voter ID laws, for example! And gerrymandering!

 
We could just do what India did when they held the largest election in world history and it went off without a hitch - use Election Ink. No fraud, it's simple, elegant, effective. But I guess that seems too "third-world" for some people here in America. I don't want that nasty ink on my hand ewwww!

 
tschu said:
We could just do what India did when they held the largest election in world history and it went off without a hitch - use Election Ink. No fraud, it's simple, elegant, effective. But I guess that seems too "third-world" for some people here in America. I don't want that nasty ink on my hand ewwww!
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I'm fine with that. but, we are getting away from the discussion of the thread. The thread isn't about voter fraud. It's about if laws are racist.

Voter ID laws are not racist if implemented correctly. It is the people and implementation that makes them racist.

Once again, if I wanted to, I could use just about any law in a racist manner.

 
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No, I didn't say that either.

What I am getting at is that you are sick & tired of all of this because it's an annoyance to you, or you don't want to be accused of being a racist, or whatever else that really isn't a big deal but is only barely inconvenient.

All the while, minorities in our country are sick & tired of all of this because nobody wants to talk about it while they are still getting substandard education, not making as good of money, more likely to be imprisoned, stuck in systematic cycles of poverty, receiving poorer healthcare, and constantly facing barriers to social and economic participation which entrench disadvantage and exacerbate social exclusion.

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
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No, I didn't say that either.

What I am getting at is that you are sick & tired of all of this because it's an annoyance to you, or you don't want to be accused of being a racist, or whatever else that really isn't a big deal but is only barely inconvenient.

All the while, minorities in our country are sick & tired of all of this because nobody wants to talk about it while they are still getting substandard education, not making as good of money, more likely to be imprisoned, stuck in systematic cycles of poverty, receiving poorer healthcare, and constantly facing barriers to social and economic participation which entrench disadvantage and exacerbate social exclusion.
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We constantly talk about it. It is constantly in the news. It is constantly in politics. It is constantly over and over and over again put in front of us as..."it's a problem and because you are white you have no clue what we are talking about".

I am sick and tired of it because it continues to obviously be a problem in our society that we have to constantly spend time, effort and money fighting but we continue to do nothing but the same things.

And, I'm also not naive enough to realize that one political side (or should I say certain political individuals) have made a living off of racism and if it were to go completely away they would be less powerful and/or out of a job.

So, yes, racism is an issue in our society that we must keep fighting. But, let's realize that there are people promoting it from the back door also. And, not everything that a middle aged white dude does is racist or a benefit of racism.

 
BigRedBuster said:
So, yes, racism is an issue in our society that we must keep fighting. But, let's realize that there are people promoting it from the back door also. And, not everything that a middle aged white dude does is racist or a benefit of racism.
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You're arguing against a ghost man - I never said or implied that either of those things wasn't true, and I don't think anyone else did either.

It's unfortunate that our state is still so predominantly white because I would love to have people from more diverse backgrounds and ethnicities and cultures weighing in on this - I'm a straight white dude too and as I gain more relationships with non-white people, and learn more about their lives and their perspectives, the more I realize that I really don't have a clue what they're talking about or what they go through.

Walking a mile in someone else's shoes is about as cliche as it gets but it's also the best possible advice you can give to someone that has an opinion on a subject that has never really impacted them in a meaningful, negative way.

 
I'm not calling anyone racist or anything, but turning a blind eye to disenfranchisement and the impact of white privilege is really the shape of today's racism. Read the Vox article I posted; it's very real. Outright racism is getting to be pretty rare outside of the south, but it manifests itself in other, just as problematic, ways

edit - and i don't post from some holier-than-thou platform. I'm just posting what I've learned. I know I'm prone to the same conscious and subconscious assumptions and stereotyping, and i know that I've clearly benefited in society just from being a white male. It doesn't mean there's something wrong with me for being white, it just means that I need to try to be more aware of problems and issues that face others that I haven't necessarily faced

 
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Here's another thing that frustrates me about this. Everyone just assumes that the straight middle aged white guy doesn't have a clue what it's like to be a minority and therefore he benefits from it and subconsciously....bla bla bla....

I actually live in a very diverse part of central Nebraska. Ever since the early 20th century, we have had a large hispanic population here. By the time I grew up, they were second or third generation residents and honestly, none of my classmates gave a crap if someone was white or hispanic. Heck, the only thing I knew growing up was my friend had black hair and his mom packed one hell of a lot better bag lunch than mine on field trip days. In the late 80s, a meat packing plant came in and brought in another wave of hispanics. From reading and hearing people from other areas, I think we have accepted them much more than some communities. There are still issues but nowhere close to what I read in the news. NOW....we have Somalians coming in. Do you know what group dislikes the Somalians the most? It's the Hispanics. Seriously.....There are actually Hispanics that are moving out of around here because they want to get away from the Somalians.

My point in this is.....We shouldn't just be looking at the white guy as the villain in this. Racism happens between every single group on the planet.

 
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Dude, you are not a villain. How many posts in a row do you have to imagine something that someone is calling you?

White people don't benefit from their standing because they are ignorant - they benefit because they are white. It doesn't matter how accepting and fair you are, you are still privileged in ways that non-white people are not. A lot of ways. Nobody is saying that white people are inherently evil and prejudiced and other groups aren't - people are only saying that white people have greater standing and advantages in our country due to the systems and institutions that support it. Because that is the reality.

You don't have to apologize for it you just have to acknowledge that it exists and then use it for good.

 
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