Liberal Racism?

Parent Cafe
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<p>It seems to me that all that can be addressed here is the supposed hidden racism of Liberals. </p>

<p>Clearly, few if any conservatives were going to vote for a Democrat under any circumstances. </p>

<p>So I take the accusations of racism to be directed at liberals and [or] Democrats. </p>

<p>Are Republicans racist for not voting for Senator Obama? Certainly not. Who could suggest this?</p>

<p>In fact, I cannot think of an election where more well-known conservatives have treated the Democratic/liberal candidate so well and with such deferential respect. Peggy Noonan of the WSJ comes to mind. There are many others. Neither Kerry nor Gore received this deferential treatment from the traditional RIGHT.</p>

<p>I have always suspected a hidden intolerance in liberals. This must be what everyone is talking about: Liberal racism.</p>

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<p>Racism is a system of privilege. I think you mean race prejudice.</p>

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<p>Err…</p>

<p>What?</p>

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<p>In my life experiences I have found Liberals to be more racists than rednecks.</p>

<p>One thing about conservatives is that you have to ‘win’ them over. Once you have ‘won’ them, you are one of them.</p>

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<p>Very interesting thread here - </p>

<p>Wouldn’t it seem that the party which keeps a certain segment of society down & dependent more of a racist party (or “philosophy”, if we’re talking about Liberals, per se), particularly is that segment happens to be of a certain race?</p>

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<p>“Are Republicans racist for not voting for Senator Obama?”</p>

<p>If they are not voting for him in order to defend a system of privilege, then they are racists. If they are not voting for him simply because he is Black, then they suffer from race prejudice. Two very different things. (and I am accusing them of neither).</p>

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<p>I doubt they are liberals then…</p>

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<p>well Jack it may come as a news to you. But you should just search some old threads and read it yourself some of the venom directed against Asians by the Latte Liberals.</p>

<p>My theory is that many Asians live in the same economic stratosphere as them - they have same or higher education as them. They compete for the same jobs and often take away those jobs.</p>

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<p>You experts should get together and write a book on this subject. Then maybe we can get the Kennedy klan to write a book on “the authentic history of Texas!”</p>

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<p>^ You are stuck in past :)</p>

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<p>I actually think many Democrats recently elected are not liberals, but conservatives.</p>

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<p>The words ‘Racist’ and ‘Racism’ is often bandied about, but rarely do we take the time to nail-down a definition.</p>

<p>Considering that the [American</a> Anthropological Association](<a href=“http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm]American”>404 Page Not Found - The American Anthropological Association) has stated that:</p>

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<p>wouldn’t a ‘Racist’ be an individual that takes ‘Race’ into account when interacting with others; especially when selecting a spouse? </p>

<p>More to the point, if one consciously selects a mate/spouse using ‘Race’ as a criterion, is he/she practicing ‘Racism’ and thus a ‘Racist’?</p>

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<p>Or if they just don’t like the fact he is a liberal then there is no racism involved at all!</p>

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<p>Who is the party of affirmative action and entitlement programs? Those would be the ones holding people back because these programs certainly do not help people along…</p>

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<p>Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think OP intends to be discussing Racist Liberals, not “Liberal Racism”.</p>

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<p>If someone who would favor Obama on the issues refuses to vote for him because of his race, that would indicate racial bias.</p>

<p>I am using the word “racial bias” rather than racism because it is (a) more accurate, and (b) fits situations where the bias is unconscious. (e.g., the person has a gut level feeling that they don’t like/don’t trust the person of the other race) This is called [implicit racism](<a href=“Google Scholar”>Google Scholar) and there are numerous studies documenting its effects. </p>

<p>But I don’t think that the real issue or problem in this race comes from “liberal” racial bias – rather, it is the efforts of conservatives who oppose Obama to exploit unconscious biases by deliberately spreading false rumors and innuendo about Obama that play into those biases. </p>

<p>One important fact about subconscious racial bias is that people will make good decisions in spite of that bias. For example, a white employer might feel more comfortable about hiring a white job applicant, but if the resume presented by a black applicant is clearly superior, go head and hire the black applicant – the unconscious biases might only come into play in situations where the employer had a hard time determining which applicant had the better credentials. So most “liberals” would overcome their subconscious bias and end up voting for Obama anyway. </p>

<p>But it can be an effective strategy of someone who wants to attack someone else to take advantage of the implicit bias and use that as an avenue of attack. </p>

<p>So what we are seeing in this campaign is some very overt racism expressed in the false rumor and innuendo being spread around in chain emails and right-wing blogs; and also some very subtle efforts to play on racial stereotypes or fears (example: “terrorist fist bump”). The subtle efforts may or may not be done knowingly – that is, it could just be an expression of the attacker’s own unconscious bias that leads to them to express fears or concerns based on that bias. </p>

<p>On the other hand, it could also be an intentional effort by someone sophisticated enough to know exactly how certain accusations play into fears and discomfort that are part of the implicit biases that most people harbor. (When I say “most” I am going back to the findings of all those studies). It is highly likely that anyone who is shaping a media ad or campaign would be very aware of these biases, because this sort of thing should be well known to anyone with a career in advertising or public relations. </p>

<p>Obviously, racial biases aren’t the only biases that can be exploited this way.</p>

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<p>.</p>

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<p>How many conservatives or Republicans do you suppose did not vote for Senator Obama in the only vote taken: the DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES?</p>

<p>To date, conservatives & Republicans have not really had a chance to pull the lever one way or another on Senator Obama, **ONLY DEMOCRATS **have.</p>

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Then it is irrelevant and unproven. One could make this nebulous assertion about just about anything and be just as precise. </p>

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This is, if I may say, both unfounded and disingenuous …even if sincere. </p>

<p>Until a month ago, conservatives had done no meaningful advertising on anything that bears on the election of Senator Obama. This has been an intra-Democrat fight. **It was Bill and Hillary Clinton and their supporters that were accused of “racism” and “playing the race card” **by the media and by the activist supporters of Senator Obama for the past 9 months. There are a number of them that have done or continue to do this on this forum, including, as I recall, Calmom. The Clintons and their supporters are LIBERAL DEMOCRATS. </p>

<p>On thread after thread here on cc, Calmom and others have argued that Hillary and Obama are nearly identical on the issues and even that Senator Obama may be slightly to the right of Senator Clinton. This argument is made to show that any honest Hillary voter **MUST **now vote for Senator Obama; meaning the alleged “racist” votes (racial bias?) came from those that share his political vision or that are even slightly to his left politically…not right. Indicating either LIBERALS or DEMOCRATS or, I suppose, both of the above, on occasion.</p>

<p>Correct?</p>

<p>The point being, if there is any ***quantifiable racism ***in this election, and I am led to believe there is, it is from the left of the American political spectrum --and this according to those most vocal on the point. </p>

<p>It may be that there is more racism on the right in the public imagination and judgment, but that has had no quantifiable impact (votes) on Senator Obama in this election. Republicans, as a rule, do not vote in the Democratic primaries and Conservatives are not as a rule movers and shakers in the Democratic Party; these same conservatives did not vote for Senator Kerry or VP Gore either, and they were white candidates in the Democratic Party–although many of those that will vote for a Democrat will be voting for Senator Obama for idiosyncratic cultural and political reasons…and he is, as I understand, a ‘Black American’ having a white American mother and a black father from Kenya (which to my mind would make him more white-American [the white-American mother that rasied him is an American] than black-American [the absent father is a Kenyan]).</p>

<p>Beyond myself, I could direct you to quite a few high profile conservatives that have come out for Senator Obama in this election. Many as a reaction against the party as it has been constituted under President Bush and his administration, and many because they are looking for a major symbolic turn in the direction of American politics. They are willing to take a chance. </p>

<p>Perhaps an enormous chance.</p>

<p>In the end, if Senator Obama fails to win the election it will not be because conservatives were racist or were possessed of the mythic and unconscious racial bias. Conservatives, whether racist or not, would not have voted for Senator Obama anymore than they would have voted for Senator Kerry or Gore both of whom, it should be recalled, lost.</p>

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<p>Clearly there was some racism int he Democratic primaries. I know that blacks have always voted for Democrats in recent decades, but the fact that 90% of blacks voted Obama over Clinton is appalling. The Clintons have done more for blacks than Obama ever did.</p>

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<p>Woodwork:</p>

<p>A couple of points. I agree with your last paragraph.
As for liberal racism being shown in the Democratic primaries, I don’t believe so. The Democratic base has always been quite diverse in its composition.<br>
Democrats are not uniformly liberal. So the idea there is liberal racism is not proven. It may exist (it has not been disproved either), but the Democratic primaries is not the way to show it.</p>

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<p>I agree, Marite.</p>

<p>However, IF we insist that racism has determined any outcomes in this election, we can only speak of the Democratic primaries. </p>

<p>In them, Democrats voted their preferences, not Republicans and probably very few conservatives, if any (though, as I say, I believe many more conservatives than usual will vote for the Democratic candidate in the general). Democrats tend liberal in the Democratic Party, not conservative, as we all know. It is the party of the left of center, not the right of center. </p>

<p>Beyond these simple observations is --I believe-- mere pontification and speculation. Smoke and mirrors. </p>

<p>Though that is fine, too: this is just polite talk.</p>

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<p>I actually do think that, as a group of people, liberals do tend to be racist. Breaking people into subgroups is important to them and it then becomes difficult to see people as individuals.</p>