Yr. Teen Kolumnist has been noticing a nerve twanging-ly annoying trend among his pubescent peers. We are getting more hypocritical. Or maybe I am noticing it more. And I don’t mean saying one thing and doing another. I mean fervently believing in an idea, repeatedly stating your belief in said idea, and then saying something that is to the exact opposite of the idea. This was briefly mentioned in the
I think the object of ridicule is the (alleged) closeting, not the (alleged) gayness.
Of course, if they were out, we'd then rag on them for being self-loathing gay Republicans, so it's pretty much a no-win for these guys.
My kids went to HS in an upper-middle-class part of San Jose. San Jose has a possibly surprisingly small population of blacks, so I'd guess that in their HS population of 2000, there were maybe 20 or 30 black kids. One of them happened to be an outstanding football player, and an all around nice kid.
I imagine there are at least 500 graduates of that HS that think they had a black friend.
We are all, in our little lizard hindbrains, suspicious of people unlike ourselves and too willing to ascribe negative characteristics to them as a class. My grandparents' generation was outwardly racist and didn't see anything wrong with it, it was just "common sense". My parents' generation, bless their post-war idealistic hearts, absorbed a lot of this but nevertheless made damn certain that saying any of those things was forbidden in polite society.
I think we are all racist at some level; the test is whether you let your racism determine what you say, what you do, or how you treat people.
Yes, the response to the "black friend" statement should always be, when was the last time you were at their house / were they at your house?
I'm with bobbert, I had several friends who highly recommend Ayn Rand in high school and I couldn't get past more than a few chapters of the clumsy exposition and clunky symbolism. "The corporation was like a tree. He was like a lumberjack."
I asked my mother-in-law to not tell racist jokes around my sons when the first was still a babe in arms, 22 years ago. I told her I wanted them to grow up without those attitudes. She was surprisingly good about going along with it. Not sure if father-in-law managed it. Nice guy, but used to rant about how, back in the day, white restaurant owners in SW Ontario had a perfect right to keep out blacks if they wanted to(he even blamed the Jews for being behind it) (this had been an issue here too at the same time as in the States) BUT he had the requisite one black friend, so not racist, right?
Until his last few months my Father was racist. Hey, it was part of the generation he grew up in the East Texas piney woods. I never accepted it and barely tolerated his rants. He used every evil adjective developed and I'm sure he coined his own.
In his last three months his care giver was a kind Hispanic nurse. He told me while in he was in hospice that he was wrong, that all people are beautiful and he hopes he was forgiven.
Sooner or later, I hope that all people come around to the concept that we're all the same, sans some unique genetics and personalities.
This is now the official strategy of the GOP. They learned it in kindergarten last week: "I'm rubber, you're glue, what you say bounces off me and sticks to you." Hence,
We're not racist; you're the racists because you call us racist. We're not Fascists; you're the Fascists because you know what the word "Fascist" means. Everyone knows Hitler was a liberal (and also probably a Jew). Giving free food to poor children is the same as aborting them.
And other Orwellian inversions. It's not doublespeak; it's Bizarro Speak.
I'm guilty of insulting Texas whenever I can, despite having friends there (and one black friend even, which counts double, right?). But I do it based on the politics of Texas, their rate of execution of prisoners, their habit of electing horrible morons and then inflicting them on me, and most of all the fact that Texas used to be amazing (LBJ, Barbara Jordan, etc. etc.) which makes it even more worser. I will continue to insult Texas, because I have rock-solid grounds for it, but I'm trying not to go after other states per se.
The one I can't figure out is the tendency here at Wonkertown to insult hated politicians by insinuating that they are gay (Lindsey Graham, that Bachmann fellow). I do not get that at all.
There&#039;s a <i>very</i> fuzzy line between making &quot;racist&quot; and merely statistical assumptions. We all make assumptions and act on hunches, based on what we observe and what we know -- and what we think we know. The latter is what usually causes problems.
Example from everyday life in NYC: Choosing to put your iPhone away, based on who&#039;s riding the subway with you. Racism, or rational? Discuss.
I think the object of ridicule is the (alleged) closeting, not the (alleged) gayness.
Of course, if they were out, we&#039;d then rag on them for being self-loathing gay Republicans, so it&#039;s pretty much a no-win for these guys.
My kids went to HS in an upper-middle-class part of San Jose. San Jose has a possibly surprisingly small population of blacks, so I&#039;d guess that in their HS population of 2000, there were maybe 20 or 30 black kids. One of them happened to be an outstanding football player, and an all around nice kid.
I imagine there are at least 500 graduates of that HS that think they had a black friend.
I don&#039;t think you can copyright &quot;off&quot;.
Anyone wanna bet on which kid turned out well, and which is fucked up?
We are all, in our little lizard hindbrains, suspicious of people unlike ourselves and too willing to ascribe negative characteristics to them as a class. My grandparents&#039; generation was outwardly racist and didn&#039;t see anything wrong with it, it was just &quot;common sense&quot;. My parents&#039; generation, bless their post-war idealistic hearts, absorbed a lot of this but nevertheless made damn certain that saying any of those things was forbidden in polite society.
I think we are all racist at some level; the test is whether you let your racism determine what you say, what you do, or how you treat people.
Yes, the response to the &quot;black friend&quot; statement should always be, when was the last time you were at their house / were they at your house?
I&#039;m with bobbert, I had several friends who highly recommend Ayn Rand in high school and I couldn&#039;t get past more than a few chapters of the clumsy exposition and clunky symbolism. &quot;The corporation was like a tree. He was like a lumberjack.&quot;
I asked my mother-in-law to not tell racist jokes around my sons when the first was still a babe in arms, 22 years ago. I told her I wanted them to grow up without those attitudes. She was surprisingly good about going along with it. Not sure if father-in-law managed it. Nice guy, but used to rant about how, back in the day, white restaurant owners in SW Ontario had a perfect right to keep out blacks if they wanted to(he even blamed the Jews for being behind it) (this had been an issue here too at the same time as in the States) BUT he had the requisite one black friend, so not racist, right?
Until his last few months my Father was racist. Hey, it was part of the generation he grew up in the East Texas piney woods. I never accepted it and barely tolerated his rants. He used every evil adjective developed and I&#039;m sure he coined his own.
In his last three months his care giver was a kind Hispanic nurse. He told me while in he was in hospice that he was wrong, that all people are beautiful and he hopes he was forgiven.
Sooner or later, I hope that all people come around to the concept that we&#039;re all the same, sans some unique genetics and personalities.
<i>... there is probably a 94 Camry in Kid&#039;s future.</i>
The best summary of the depressing prospects for today&#039;s youth that I have seen all week.
The car just needs a &quot;Join the Herd&quot; MLP bumper sticker to complete it.
This is now the official strategy of the GOP. They learned it in kindergarten last week: &quot;I&#039;m rubber, you&#039;re glue, what you say bounces off me and sticks to you.&quot; Hence,
We&#039;re not racist; you&#039;re the racists because you call us racist. We&#039;re not Fascists; you&#039;re the Fascists because you know what the word &quot;Fascist&quot; means. Everyone knows Hitler was a liberal (and also probably a Jew). Giving free food to poor children is the same as aborting them.
And other Orwellian inversions. It&#039;s not doublespeak; it&#039;s Bizarro Speak.
Faux meta-post-ironicism is racist.
Try honky.
Diverse Ed - that&#039;s the politically correct reboot of the old talking horse TV show, right? This time the horse is black.
I&#039;m guilty of insulting Texas whenever I can, despite having friends there (and one black friend even, which counts double, right?). But I do it based on the politics of Texas, their rate of execution of prisoners, their habit of electing horrible morons and then inflicting them on me, and most of all the fact that Texas used to be amazing (LBJ, Barbara Jordan, etc. etc.) which makes it even more worser. I will continue to insult Texas, because I have rock-solid grounds for it, but I&#039;m trying not to go after other states per se.
The one I can&#039;t figure out is the tendency here at Wonkertown to insult hated politicians by insinuating that they are gay (Lindsey Graham, that Bachmann fellow). I do not get that at all.
There&#039;s a <i>very</i> fuzzy line between making &quot;racist&quot; and merely statistical assumptions. We all make assumptions and act on hunches, based on what we observe and what we know -- and what we think we know. The latter is what usually causes problems.
Example from everyday life in NYC: Choosing to put your iPhone away, based on who&#039;s riding the subway with you. Racism, or rational? Discuss.