In the minds of many, the definition of racism has changed from a belief that "one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others." Indeed, in this age of blue state fascism, a rejection of "racialism" and general bigotry is no longer sufficient to be safe from the highly politicized charge.
In order to "re-educate" you guys about the "new" racism, I've provided the below guide on what it is and how to avoid it:
(Thanks to Harsha Tolappa for the picture)
I lost at “Are you a Republican?” XD
Seriously?! I thought this was the kind of stuff that only crazy right-wing lunatics cared about. The most racist thing is to assume that race is an issue, when in truth...ITS NOT. This is just political drama. Excuse me while I go vomit.
Nathan- Have to strongly disagree with you here. Major national pundits like Chris Matthews, progressive bloggers, like Kos, and ex-president Jimmy Carter have publicly accused the opposition to Obama of being racially driven. It's out there all the time.
So suddenly we are considering pundits, including Jimmy Carter and progressives, to be credible sources? Many people call Ron Paul a racist; should I believe that as well? Honestly, what does racism have to do with the liberty message? This whole racist argument is something conjured up by offended right-wing dissenters who want a reason to psychologically insulate themselves from any genuine intellectual backlash against their already backwards, hawkish views. For emperical proof observe Fox News
I think when people make a false allegation, you have to fight back. You're entitled to differ on that, but when so many people falsely believe the opposition to Obama is racist, I think that at least merits some satirical criticism. Respectfully, I think the vast majority of Rothbardian libertarians would agree with me here. (for example, this charge is regularly mocked on LRC)
Your implication that I have said the Obama Administration itself has race baited is also mistaken... While some of the people that have done so may well be following the God-King's orders, this is purely speculative and thus, it's nowhere in my post. :/
Thanks for commenting,
Matt
You have to be a "crazy right-wing lunatic" to be offended when someone accuses you of being a racist for disagreeing with the President? And we are racists just because we bring up the fact that we have been called racist? Color me confused.
Race is only an issue if you make it an issue, and clearly no one from the Obama administration has accused anyone of differing political views of being racist. Clearly the belief that dissenters are racist is something that wasn't conjured up by left-wingers, instead it was something clearly bearing the fingerprint of right-wing punditry and propoganda trying to rile up its uninformed Republican base.
Speaking as someone who has been publicly accused of being a racist by Obama supporters and witness to many public conversations on campus where it is suggested that dissent from liberal policies is a sign of racism, I have to whole heartedly disagree with you.
This flow chart, as others have already mentioned, is satire, and is in no way an attack on the Obama Administration itself, and I don't believe anyone implied that it was. It is merely mocking the ad hominem arguments the Left is currently employing to silence dissent. If you are in denial that the Left is using ad hominem attacks against opponents of Obama's current health care proposal you simply haven't been paying attention.
Racism is just a buzzword. Less than 100 years ago, the words "racist" or "racism" did not exist in dictionaries.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Matt, but I think the point of this post was to show the fallaciousness of the charges of racism which are being leveled at the president's opponents these days. Am I the only one who gets that this flowchart is amusing, and clearly a parody of the ridiculous and erroneous charges which are now often made?
Yeah. I thought the satire was pretty obvious....
Amcon seems to agree: (and I'm flattered they linked to YAL/me)
http://www.amconmag.com/postright/2009/09/30/are-you-a-racist-hint-if-you-read-post-right-then-you-probably-are/
In my opinion, the satire was obvious. I couldn't help but laugh the entire time.
I get the satire, but let's be honest, who isn't tired of this worn out jargon about racism?
Well now THAT would've been a legitimate criticism, but respectfully, that isn't what your first post said. "racist to assume race is an issue," etc.
But whatevs. I like the comments regardless. :]
There needs to be a bubble towards the top of the graph that says "Is your criticism of the president illogical and cannot be attributed to anything other than racism?", then this chart would get a little close to the reality on the ground.
It's obvious that your Republican colleagues did not seem to understand that it is satire. Sorry your side is stuck with Stupid. haha
I found this quite humorous. It's truly an accurate representation of the argument presented by left-wing punditry. I think the entire racism issue, while originally based on true bigotry and unequal treatment, has now been reduced to a lame McCarthy-like name game that pundits and politicians use to attack those they disagree with. I hope that eventually this whole issue can be set aside and people can talk about issues that really matter. (like how about that darn Fed?)
This is not an accurate argument presented by "leftists". The truth is that by posting these types of articles up on blogs we are perpetuating an issue that would die if we just stopped giving it attention.
Following your logic, by responding to this thread, are you not "perpetuating the perpetrator?"
My view is that responding to false accusations is more effective than ignoring them. I think most people in the liberty movement would agree with me on that one. The key is not to dwell on things, but I don't think we mention this stuff often at all at the YAL blog.
nope. im accusing this of perpetuating, not perpetrating, but that works too. plus the fault is not found in the "perpetrator" its found in the subject matter.
I am entirely sympathetic with the cause of pointing out garbage when people say it on either side, but my problem here is that there's a lot of "those leftists say you're racist if...", "those leftists thing it's a hate crime if..." without saying which leftists. The Anthony Gregory post does the same thing; there's specific complaints or citations, just a vague suggestion to "google this" which doesn't really provide much insight. I have certainly read specific instances of individuals writing that so-and-so on the right said this and it's racist, but if that can be justified, than it's not a blanket statement.
(Full disclosure: I am an Obama supporter and left-leaning, but I want to know which pundits on the left are legitimately conveying this sort of garbage. I'm working on a small project to try to actually research some of the misleading political forwards out there, and tear down the lies. I'm concerned that I just have blinders on, because I've just seen more from the far-right than the far-left.)
It's non-productive to widely point at "the other side" and claim they're unreasonable. It could actually be uniting instead of dividing to target specific individuals and/or publications, with citations, who are fearmongering on either side.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2009/09/04/matthews-walsh-unsubtly-accuse-obama-opponents-racism (Chris Matthews and John Walsh)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/05/AR2009080503876.html (Wash Post piece calls the joker face racist)
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/09/are-obamas-critics-racist-jimmy-carter-thinks-so.html (Jimmy Carter)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/opinion/13dowd.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss (Maureen Dowd)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYYlRe7P2Z8&feature=player_embedded(Rachel Maddow says that calling Obama a liar is racist)
There's a credible line of thought that says attacks like these should just be ignored, but I don't happen to agree with it.
Good luck with your project and thanks for posting,
Matt
Thanks for the links! It actually seems like there's an interesting argument to be had about this, anyway...
OMG....I disagree with Obama and I'm white.....I'm racist!!!!
Post new comment