I hear what you're saying, and I don't have any argument against anything you said. The lines are definitely more blurry now than they used to be. "I'm not a racist, but..." starts off way too many sentences. But at least in my circle, people do generally call them out on it. And I love seeing it. I love rational discussion... Actually making people think about what they're truly saying -- The core meaning of their words. But "Rational" is the word that's so often missing in these conversations, unfortunately. You can't disagree with someone's logic without it being taken as a personal attack... And then logic flies out the window.

 

I'm sure racism will be alive and well in the US when we're dead and gone. But I'll just keep fighting one battle at a time and try to do my part to make a small dent.

 

I'm with you brother. Fighting one battle at a time is all we can do. Hang in there.

I seem to remember a few years ago when a radio personality who is much loved here was basted in his own juices for using a word in proper context that sounds something like the infamous N word but has nothing to do with it.

That's the thing. It may not as blatant as it used to be yet it is still out there. I can take you the LEX-18 Facebook page where they talk about the confederate flag in one post and the Jefferson Davis statue in another and over half of the comments are over the top racist. When you look at it all these people are co-workers, receptionists, secretaries, food industry people, store clerks, truck drivers, car mechanics, etc. When you take into account people that keep their racist thoughts and comments to themselves...well.....then....There are so many people that I work with that I can't even bear to look at or be around anymore.

 

Add in folks who make uncomfortable and insensitive status updates and not any of your 212 mutual friends call them out on it and that kind of makes you wonder also.

 

PP92, I went to lex-18's face book page last night... :no:. Quite saddening.

My favorite thing now (pun intended) are the idiots showing photos of the confederate flag and a few teens with their pants down to their knees and the caption says "if this comes down because this offends you (the flag), then these should go up because it offends me (the pants).

 

SO, now they are labeling, saying that ALL black people wear their pants like that? Like no white people wear them that way? I see more white kids than black kids who wear their pants like that. And what about white people like me who say that the flag should come down?

 

Pathetic and sad ignorant people.

My favorite thing now (pun intended) are the idiots showing photos of the confederate flag and a few teens with their pants down to their knees and the caption says "if this comes down because this offends you (the flag), then these should go up because it offends me (the pants).

 

SO, now they are labeling, saying that ALL black people wear their pants like that? Like no white people wear them that way? I see more white kids than black kids who wear their pants like that. And what about white people like me who say that the flag should come down?

 

Pathetic and sad ignorant people.

 

The idiocy of people amazes me. Yes, let's equate the confederate flag with saggy pants. Yep, they're the same. :ohbrother:

I seem to remember a few years ago when a radio personality who is much loved here was basted in his own juices for using a word in proper context that sounds something like the infamous N word but has nothing to do with it.

 

Who are you referring to?

Who are you referring to?

 

I should have put much loved in quotes because sarcasm was definitely intended.

 

Rush Limbaugh and the word was a synonym of cheap or miserly that I don't know weather I should use or not.

Funny you post that, I met a guy over the weekend who seemed like a good dude and the kind of person you'd one day let into your circle. 15 minutes into the conversation it comes up that his son is dating a black girl and then the above line comes out, followed by all of the reasons he doesn't want them together. 30 seconds later I found an opportunity to excuse myself as he had slipped comfortably into a cloak of his true colors. It has become the "no offense, but," line where you know what is coming after is not going to be good.

 

I'm with the several of you that don't think things have improved all that much.

 

You should have sent me a text asking for a response and I would have said on behalf of my people......"sorry, not sorry." :lol2:

The idiocy of people amazes me. Yes, let's equate the confederate flag with saggy pants. Yep, they're the same. :ohbrother:

 

 

It was always my (perhaps incorrect - it's been known to happen) understanding that the baggy pants originated as a jail/convict thing as a result of not being able to wear belts in the slam; rather than a race thing.:thumb:

PP92, I went to lex-18's face book page last night... :no:. Quite saddening.

 

I always start to comment but then I realize it would drive nuts to join in that conversation. It's so saddening. It always makes me wonder about people that I am around everyday and how they really feel about me and my white wife and biracial kids. You just never truly know anymore.

I should have put much loved in quotes because sarcasm was definitely intended.

 

Rush Limbaugh and the word was a synonym of cheap or miserly that I don't know weather I should use or not.

 

 

Which one of these is it?

 

 

Top 10 Rush Limbaugh Racist Quotes | News One

Wouldn't be any of those. The comment I'm referring to wasn't racist or even have racial overtones, it's just because the word I'm thinking about SOUNDS LIKE IT COULD BE DERIVED FROM THE INFAMOUS WORD.

I hate the word, but I don't mind him using it in the context that he did.

Outside of the nontroversy over his use of the word, the interview was fairly good and worth listening to.

 

I listen to Maron's podcast because he gets great guests and is a deft interviewer. For those who don't know, his interviews typically last an hour or more and the interviewee is forced to open up and speak candidly rather than give canned or PR-sharpened answers. I was curious how this would work with a sitting politician. For the most part Maron deferred to the president and allowed him to talk which kept the conversation from getting as open as it normally does on his show, but Obama sounded mostly genuine and at ease with it.

 

It's also devolved into a minor controversy that the president was on a show like this at all. As a public we always complain about how out of touch and aloof politicians are, especially in Washington. Then when they do something like this we complain they aren't respecting the dignity of their office. Obama was at least forthright about why he did the interview, saying something to the effect of how he and his outreach team thought it would be a good way to communicate with people who normally don't follow what's going on the Beltway. That seems fair enough to me.

 

He did say something that I agreed with and is worth sharing. They were talking about polarization and politics and how most people have a lot in common, but corral themselves into one political corner or another. He said:

 

"That's why I think so many people shy away from politics because they know, look, if I'm going to my kids soccer game and I'm just with a bunch of dads and we're talking about sports and we're talking about housing prices and we're just talking about how we're living our lives, then everybody's finding all kinds of commonalities. And yet the minute you introduce Republican, Democrat, Obama, Bush, then suddenly people start breaking apart."

 

I think that's pretty true. People can't reasonably disagree with one another. For a lot of people, meeting people who don't share your political stripe is outright insulting. I don't know if that's a new phenomenon of our digital age or something much older, but it certainly plays into a lot of the divisions we have in our country where it's constantly "us" versus "them." I never discuss politics or my opinions outside of here or with a few close friends because I know not being a card-carrying member of a certain team is enough to cause offense.

Wouldn't be any of those. The comment I'm referring to wasn't racist or even have racial overtones, it's just because the word I'm thinking about SOUNDS LIKE IT COULD BE DERIVED FROM THE INFAMOUS WORD.

Incorrect. The word that ends "...ardly" dates back to Middle English and is borrowed from a Scandinavian source. The two words are not etymologically related.