(no subject)

[theweaselking]

Cross burned outside gay couple's home in Tennessee

And Cross burned outside black couple's home in Florida

And more burning crosses in Alabama.

And North Carolina

And, of course, the position of the official spokesmoron of the government of the United States Of America is that racism is a dead issue and need no longer be addressed.

Comments

[ismarc.livejournal.com]

Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, and North Carolina... all southern states, coincidence?

White House Press Secretary, Tony Snow... Fox News Alumni and stand-in host for the O'Reilly Factor, coincidence?

Hmmmmmm.

[zenpreacher.livejournal.com]

Racism gets a lot of attention when it's in the south; and rightfully so. But just so you know: as a southerner who works near the spot where that cross was burned in Alabama I can tell you that the climate that I live in doesn't tolerate shit like this and those that perpetrate it are a vast minority who know how to garner attention.

Also: Do a Google News search for racism. None of the top stories occur in the south or even in America for that matter. Racism is a world wide scourge and should be treated as such.

[anivair.livejournal.com]

True, but ignoring racism is an administration specific problem (or a partisan problem). You'll be hard pressed to find liberals in the KKK.

[zenpreacher.livejournal.com]

I agree.

Whatever you say

[pope-guilty.livejournal.com]

As long as it lets you pretend it's not also a local problem, right?

Re: Whatever you say

[zenpreacher.livejournal.com]

I'm not pretending it's not a local problem. It is an EVERYWHERE problem. See recent stories of ethnic slurs being chanted at World Cup matches in which players have threatened non-play as a method of retaliation. It's naive to think of this as a 'southern problem.' ... If you'll re-read my statement above you'll see that I agreed racism is a problem in the south. I'm not denying it; I'm only contesting that it's much larger a problem than it seems anyone gives it credit for, and when it happens to occur in a southern state the whole world seems to turn its head and nod knowingly, ignoring the fact that the same shit is happening in their collective back yards.

[ismarc.livejournal.com]

By no means with intent of oneupmanship: Having been born and raised in the rural south, spent many years on the west coast, and currently living in a very rural Georgia community, I have seen the climate first hand and with basis for comparison. This is not to contradict so much as to refine your statement. Indeed, cross burning is not a common affair (or it hasn't been), but when it occurs I feel it rallies the racist element, emboldening the most uncivilized element to take action that would, by most, be unconscionable. True, most would not tolerate such behaviors, but they have occurred nonetheless.

Far more insidious and ubiquitous is the subtler prejudice that lurks in casual conversations, selective courtesy and "antiquated values" still common in the region and held to as a vestigial part of an ideal system mistakenly considered by some as charming or even classical. It has always been present and it still lingers like a fungus that refuses to die. This might be considered progress by some but sadly, it flares up from time to time in the imitated behaviors of "indigenous" youth and young adults. Socially anethematic "traditions" and attitudes such as this, sustained by an unreasoning adherence to partisan rhetoric and a twisted and contrived dogma provides the basis for the "southern" stereotype. For this reason, I am perhaps one of "the south's" most vitriolic critics. If I can rise above such ignorance and behaviors anyone can, no excuses.

I will go so far as to say that the more metropolitan areas are indeed enjoying notable progress, a condition I suspect is propagated by the immigration of non-natives, but there are still many small towns and ruralites which have hardly noted the turn of the last two centuries, much less any social maturity.

And by all means, I agree that racism is a world-wide problem, manifesting in the much more recognizable and atrocious form of 'human rights violations'. However, at the risk of taking the idealistic view, America ought to enjoy a government of sufficient social enlightenment as to recognize the responsibility, not only to protect the liberties her own people, but to stand as example to the rest of the world. While such an ideal does not absolve us of our responsibility to the global community, we would nevertheless, be derelict if we did not attend to our own in our efforts to address the failures of the world as a whole.

[zenpreacher.livejournal.com]

I agree; and a lot of us have risen above it. And when the old guard finally dies off completely, there will be a token batch of those who perpetuate the problem by ignoring it, and even some who engender it, but it's the same everywhere that you have an integrated populace (everywhere that I've been at least, and that's quite a lot of places). I won't bore you with specifics; I'll only say this: There are those of us that choose to measure a person's worth by their merit. And more and more it seems that we are the true minority in this world.

[corruptedjasper.livejournal.com]

For quite a lot of the world, though, it's not so much racism as it is sheer xenophobia. The Serbs and the Croats are genetically pretty much the same people. So are the Hutus and Tutsis -- or at least by comparison to white-versus-black.

[zenpreacher.livejournal.com]

Damn; I didn't see it, but I work in the area where the Alabama cross was burned. Racism is a tricky issue down here; I wish it would just go away completely but I'm not so naive as the government spokesmoron who thinks it has. Still, strides have been made and I'm ever hopeful that the fuckwads who perpetrate hate shit like this will suffocate in their own feces, white, black or candy striped, whoever.

[culfinriel.livejournal.com]

"racism is a dead issue and need no longer be addressed"
Perhaps he just thinks they've finally managed to get rid of most of us and therefore we need no longer be addressed.

Warning: Sarcasm Ahead.

[gothpanda.livejournal.com]

One of those examples is of gay people. It's okay for people to promote hate against homosexuals, non-Christians, and the poor, but racism is naughty and bad and Republicans don't like it (except Barbara Bush, she loooooves it). Unless those black people also happen to be Muslims, or gay, or poor, in which case clearly their religion or sexual orientation or economic status is directly caused by their race, but it's not racist if you like black people who are Christian and straight and moneyed, people like Colin Powell, who have clearly "risen above" their skin color to be Christian and straight and moneyed.