So when the next Republican President doesn't accomplish everything he promises during his campaign, we can expect you to fill this forum and others with the same stuff you've plastered about Obama, correct? Or will it then be, "He's trying to fix Obama's mess."?

 

It will be a mess to fix, but yes I will bash and hammer whoever the next Pres is. Get ready for the war on women since it will be Hillary.

When I read this statement I hear an 80-year-old black man who has gone through a lot of racism in his life talking. Nothing more. I disagree with his generalization but, as PP92 points out, it's understandable based on his life experiences.

 

Who knows what I would think had I been threatened with lynching and murder simply because I broke a white guy's record.

It always seems to me that white people are more bothered and offended by black people's thoughts than blacks being offended by white people's thoughts.

 

Come on this is ridiculous.

When I read this statement I hear an 80-year-old black man who has gone through a lot of racism in his life talking. Nothing more. I disagree with his generalization but, as PP92 points out, it's understandable based on his life experiences.

 

Who knows what I would think had I been threatened with lynching and murder simply because I broke a white guy's record.

 

And furthermore, he spent almost half of his life in a segregated (to some degree) world. He played some of his career when blacks and whites often couldn't eat in the same place or drink from the same fountains in many areas. Imagine being a minor league baseball player in that era. His generation was really the first generation that wasn't directly affected by slavery. His grandparents and older relatives either likely knew or were even slaves themselves. Your family has a big impact on your views and thoughts...just imagine some of the conversations that went on at the Aaron (or any black) household) when he was growing up in the 40's only 70 years removed from the Civil War. Civil rights is a fairly recent event in our history as a country.

When I read this statement I hear an 80-year-old black man who has gone through a lot of racism in his life talking. Nothing more. I disagree with his generalization but, as PP92 points out, it's understandable based on his life experiences.

 

Who knows what I would think had I been threatened with lynching and murder simply because I broke a white guy's record.

 

Yeah but that was in the 70s. I very seriously doubt he has been threatened since then. If he thinks race is a problem then maybe he should blame Obama for not helping race realations.

Yeah but that was in the 70s. I very seriously doubt he has been threatened since then. If he thinks race is a problem then maybe he should blame Obama for not helping race realations.

 

 

Again, life experiences. It doesn't matter how long ago it was. It's his frame of reference.

Come on this is ridiculous.

 

Simply my perception. I wouldn't expect my perception of racial issues to be similar or mirror white people's perception. Whenever something gets that 'racist' label in my experiences white people are more bothered by it than black people.

 

See it all the time when people say they can't say what they really want to say because they'll be considered racist or offend people. Double standard. Al and Jesse.

 

Just saying.

So when the next Republican President doesn't accomplish everything he promises during his campaign, we can expect you to fill this forum and others with the same stuff you've plastered about Obama, correct? Or will it then be, "He's trying to fix Obama's mess."?

 

The problem with people who throw out the race card because people don't like Obama as a politician is they ignore history. Bush and Clinton were under as much fire if not more than Obama but those who want to play the race card ignore this fact. Clinton the beloved president on the left today never won 50% of the popular vote did people not like him because he was White or maybe it was because they didn't like his policies. Most Republicans aren't going to like a Democrat politician if he were White, Black, Asian or Hispanic and it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with political principles. Sure we can say small groups of people didn't vote for Obama because of race and we can also point to equal amount of people who vote for Obama based on his race.

 

The reason Mountain Ref probably wouldn't post as much about a GOP president is probably because their core political principles are closer to Mountain Ref and I doubt it has to do with skin color.

 

It is incredible to me how often race is used as shield still in this country. Until we as a country can disagree and identify ourselves beyond race these silly conversations will continue to happe. Hank Aaron who has always been a well respected man with good insight came off in this situation as uneducated and not aware of the society around him.

And many Republicans of the 1860s were radicals who ignored the Constitution at every chance they got to impose their vision of radical reconstruction on the conquered South and manipulated the system to try and toss Andrew Johnson out of office. These parties have switched around so many times it's almost hard to keep track of what they are or aren't in favor of across the years.

It's also notable that when the national Democratic party supported all that Civil Rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s, the "Solid South" suddenly began turning Republican. Now, I'm not going to get bogged down on which party is full of racists because the answer is neither. I truly do believe the virulent racism -- a racism that is so much a part of our history -- is on the wane in America. However, systemic racism is still a problem and the smaller stereotypes that can lead to a more troubling racism are always going to be around.

 

But if we're wondering when this perception really changed around and the Republicans began to have race troubles, 1968 would be a good place to start.

 

You posted the results of the 1957 Civil Rights legislation; I find the 1964 bill even more interesting:

 

Southern Democrats: 1–20 (5–95%) (only Ralph Yarborough of Texas voted in favor)

 

Southern Republicans: 0–1 (0–100%) (John Tower of Texas)

 

Northern Democrats: 45–1 (98–2%) (only Robert Byrd of West Virginia voted against)

 

Northern Republicans: 27–5 (84–16%)

 

Had nothing to do with which party you were in. It had to do with where you were from. In that tally above, "South" means exclusively the states that once seceded into the Confederacy. "North" simply means the other 39 states. Democrats and Republicans from the rest of the country supported the Civil Rights legislation almost universally.

 

Correct on both counts.

Simply my perception. I wouldn't expect my perception of racial issues to be similar or mirror white people's perception. Whenever something gets that 'racist' label in my experiences white people are more bothered by it than black people.

 

See it all the time when people say they can't say what they really want to say because they'll be considered racist or offend people. Double standard. Al and Jesse.

 

Just saying.

 

The reason I would say a White person may be uncomfortable is because of the PC world we live in now we don't promote honest discussion and any real attempt to reach across the aisle and discuss issues in other peoples communities and is met with distrust and attacks.

 

Look no further than Paul Ryan who dared make an attempt to talk about issues in the inner city black community and his words were picked apart and people tried to label him a racist. I hear all the time from friends how Republicans don't care about the black the community but any time a Republican makes an honest attempt they are met with attacks or labeled racists. If our ideas aren't the ideas that you want to hear then they must be racist.

Again, life experiences. It doesn't matter how long ago it was. It's his frame of reference.

 

Life experience doesn't excuse you from being naive in the society you live in today.

The problem with people who throw out the race card because people don't like Obama as a politician is they ignore history. Bush and Clinton were under as much fire if not more than Obama but those who want to play the race card ignore this fact. Clinton the beloved president on the left today never won 50% of the popular vote did people not like him because he was White or maybe it was because they didn't like his policies. Most Republicans aren't going to like a Democrat politician if he were White, Black, Asian or Hispanic and it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with political principles. Sure we can say small groups of people didn't vote for Obama because of race and we can also point to equal amount of people who vote for Obama based on his race.

 

The reason Mountain Ref probably wouldn't post as much about a GOP president is probably because their core political principles are closer to Mountain Ref and I doubt it has to do with skin color.

 

It is incredible to me how often race is used as shield still in this country. Until we as a country can disagree and identify ourselves beyond race these silly conversations will continue to happe. Hank Aaron who has always been a well respected man with good insight came off in this situation as uneducated and not aware of the society around him.

 

I agree with all of your post.

 

I'll also add again that Hank Aaron's life experiences shaped his views. How educated is he?

Life experience doesn't excuse you from being naive in the society you live in today.

 

Nope. But that is what shapes his views. No matter how misguided and ignorant his views are.

Life experience doesn't excuse you from being naive in the society you live in today.

 

It's easy to say for us. We didn't live through it. It's presumptuous to say how you would view the world today without walking in his shoes.

Nope. But that is what shapes his views. No matter how misguided and ignorant his views are.

 

We all have life experiences that most others would never understand. I could never understand what Hank Aaron went through. I would never try to say I did. But it doesn't excuse him from labeling half this country in a hateful manner.