The new elephant in the room

[Larv]

I don’t care what President Obama says, there is a detectable upbeat of racism in America. It’s the new elephant in the room. I see it coming from both sides. I see whites leaning a little more toward racist behavior; same for blacks. Asians and Latinos have their own racial problems, too. Can’t speak for them, but I think the country’s complexion has turned a paler shade of Nazi skinhead. As recently as 2005,

the Neo-Nazis provoked a race roit in Toledo, Ohio

.

There is too much hatred in the air. And there are too many publicized incidents where blacks are making trouble for themselves. I can see the Nazis or the Klan gaining membership when they go to the bank with Kanye West’s embarrassment of a lily-white girl at the MTV Video Music Awards. I can see them gathering recruits when Serena Williams made profane threats to a line judge (Asian) in the U.S. Open. And Rev. Jeremiah Wright's "God Damn America" doens't help much either. Bad shows all around.

But then there was

the outburst of Michael Richards against...

Rush Limbaugh's recent remark: It's Obama's America, is it not? Obama's America, white kids getting beat up on school buses now. You put your kids on a school bus, you expect safety but in Obama's America the white kids now get beat up ..." Such agitation! To me, there seems to be trouble a'brewin' between the white right and the black left. These we all see publicized by the media, whipping us up for the next great American war—a race war? That is the question.

See him standing over there, slurping down those shots of Yukon Jack? He’s a big son'a'bitch. Looks like a elephant to me...if not a jackass.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Larv

I don’t care what President Obama says, there is a detectable upbeat of racism in America.

since you commented, you must care. perhaps you meant to say you disagree with president obama. at any rate, president carter is more-or-less in agreement with the you. if ya ask me, which ya did, i think the elephant is in the room but it is old and it is getting skinny. caught this today on the newshour.

Debate on Race Emerges as Obama's Policies Take Shape | Online NewsHour | September 16, 2009 | PBS

JIMMY CARTER, former President of the United States: An overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American. ...

the entire transcript of the panel discussion with gwen ifill is at the link.

[lawcat]

I agree that the rhetoric is more potent, and it may be gaining following.
Let's just say that very few people are smart enough to distinguish what makes sense, and what is purely emotional, baseless. Racism is one of those things that make no sense rationally. But to many it makes sense because many think the way they feel emotionally.

Now, the problem in discourse is distinguishing rational from irrational comments, assertions, thoughts. The first problem is whether one can distinguish the two. The second issue is whether one wants to distinguish the two.

In recent months, or years, I have heard on different forums a more potent racial language. This has been accentuated by recent economic troubles, and actions of the federal government. The racist groups, which have always been critical of the federal government, now have a stronger rational basis for the criticism, and are comming out in organized fashion under different group umbrellas and names, and they are combining the criticism of the government related rationally to current issues, with criticisms that are completely baseless; some of those rciticism advance the cause of the racist groups.

For that reason, in my opinion, the times are dangerous, and it is difficult to distinguish what is rational or what is hatred driven. I personally tend to dismiss all claims as a whole of any group or individual who tends to assert anything baseless. But I worry that is not the case nationally.

[Donk]

The English town I live in has a large Sikh population. Relations are mostly good, but whenever I meet somebody from the "other" community, there's always the same slightly-suspicious start, where neither of us knows whether we're being judged racially. A smile and a handshake mostly gets rid of that initial awkwardness. I guess we're lucky.

There seems to be a built-in drive for people to unite into tribes and clans. This is sometimes based on skin colour, but equally it could be nationality, religion, politics, support for a particular team... xenophobia rather than racism.

When a man with a gun doesn't trust you, the safe answer is to shoot first. He knows this - it's why he doesn't trust you. This type of circular reasoning causes positive feedback, making the splits deeper. Crime, civil unrest, war