Who Is Oppressed?

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You are absolutely right. I haven’t lived in the US for years but I feel that racism and xenophobia have become worse in the UK, or at least people feel that they can be more open about it than they were when I moved here just 10 years ago. That’s the only context I have to go by, I don’t know what it was like before that. It’s more than just being concerned about immigration – it’s flat out how minorities and foreigners are treated and the attitude that existing citizens have towards them, even ones that have lived here LEGALLY for decades being told post-Brexit to “go back to where you came from” or “leave the EU, no more Polish vermin” when they’ve lived here for decades and this country has become their home. There are also attitudes that aren’t as obvious, but a xenophobia that is very subtle, like, people will be polite to you but you are still looked down upon. This is coming from someone that gets annoyed by people on the far left but tries to see things from both sides. In my experience, it HAS gotten worse.
 
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I grew up after the Civil Rights movement era. I watched Sesame Street and never entered my mind that Black people were inferior. I learned about slavery and segregation in school and learned it was bad and never questioned it.
If anything, I grew up with the message that Blacks were way cooler than whites.
I got a little older and learned that there was a disproportionate amount of poverty in the black community. It didn’t seem fair to me. But most black people I knew were middle class like me.
I got even older and learned that there still was racial tension that cut both ways, but in my ordinary life saw very little of it.
I had bosses, coworkers and subordinates who were black.

Then Obama was elected.
Obama who was black. Who was elected the the majority of voters in this country. Amid rejoicing.

And then the murmurs started. If you didn’t vote for Obama you were a racist. Then the murmurs got louder and louder. Previously level headed people were jumping on its bandwagon.

Nemmind about the abortion issue. Nemmind about objections to SSM or to mixed-sex locker rooms for children.

Objection to Obama was only, ever, and for all eternally because non-Obama-voters couldn’t stand to see a black man as president.

I didn’t start the fire
 
0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
And then the murmurs started. If you didn’t vote for Obama you were a racist. Then the murmurs got louder and louder. Previously level headed people were jumping on its bandwagon.
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I’m one of the ones arguing quite loudly on this thread that racism against minorities is alarmingly widespread.

This case, however, is an example of overusing the word “racism.” By that line of “reasoning,” you could - shouldn’t, but could - accuse white Democrats of being racist for not having thrown their support behind Alan Keyes, Herman Cain, or Cynthia McKinney.

The problem with crying wolf on racism is that it trivializes or downright overlooks real racism, such as African-Americans being disproportionately victimized by police brutality.
 
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And another problem is that the crying-wolf types alienate potential allies and keep them so busy defending themselves against unjust accusations that that they do not have the time or energy or desire to help anymore
 
Well, some would say that it is. I had this discussion with my boss, who supported Brexit but like many he objects to the claim that all Brexiteers are racists and xenophobes, and in that respect he has a point. People voted for it for various reasons but at the same time there was and is a contingent of people that want to leave the EU that are flat out racist and xenophobic and I think it had a strong driving force in it.
 
Alternatively, Brits have historically been hyper-nationalistic. Brexit can be realistically seen as a resurgence of British nationalism.
 
Ardent_Fire said:
I haven’t lived in the US for years but I feel that racism and xenophobia have become worse in the UK, or at least people feel that they can be more open about it than they were when I moved here just 10 years ago
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There’s a similar problem in the U.S. Most of us who are in the slightly-right-of-center to more liberal spectrum are a bit baffled at how much bolder the white nationalists have become. Personally, it is less baffling and more depressing. I’ve basically spent the last decade watching slightly-right-of-center friends and family become more and more…extreme…and there’s definitely been some shockingly (for them) racist stuff posted on Facebook. There’s been a couple articles written post-Charleston that basically cover the same thing among some of the more notable white supremacists, though thankfully I don’t personally know anyone who’s gone to the extremes some of those people have. Anyways, it just seems like all that anger and moves towards the extreme are at a boiling point.

Unfortunately, short of God’s grace, I just don’t see that changing soon. They don’t trust anyone who calls them out on their statements or behavior.
 
It’s part of it, I think. A lot of countries around Europe have seen a surge of nationalism and patriotism. I certainly don’t really have a problem with someone being proud of their country and I think perhaps in today’s day and age, people have a certain fear of their country losing their culture and identity. A lot of the racism and xenophobia I’ve seen isn’t even rooted in a specific movement, it’s just some ugly undercurrent that’s crept in over time.
 
ZMystiCat said:
the last decade
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Which corresponds with
the Obama years,
the phony accusations of racism against anybody who voted against him,
the way Obama knew these accusations were being flung about, yet stood by and did nothing
and the repeated ignoring by the democrats in power of any republican (name removed by moderator)ut whatsoever
 
I think if phony accusations make you more of an extremist, especially if it goes to the point of white nationalism, then those accusations weren’t so phony after all.
 
What I’m saying is that on the spectrum of racism to colorblindness, most people are somewhere in the middle.

But actions and words have consequences.
My grandmother had an ugly run-in with some tough black girls when she was a teenager and was afraid of black people for the rest of her life. She didn’t join KKK or anything, but she never completely got over her fear.

If you have people who have had a variety of experiences with people from another race, some good and some bad, but then the negative encounters begin to outweigh the positive encounters, they’re going to start creeping to the racism end of the spectrum.

Obama, who was in a position to make things better between the races, decided not to.
He decided to allow the accusations of racism go unchallenged, while ignoring all (name removed by moderator)ut from across the aisle.

I don’t know why he did it. But he did
 
I’m not denying that such experiences don’t have an affect, but I am saying that the affect indicates something in one’s own life that needs addressing. After all, Jesus didn’t say, “Love others, unless they say something mean about you.”

Edit: Realized that the use of “your” gave a more accusatory tone than intended.
 
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0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
Obama, who was in a position to make things better between the races, decided not to.
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Political correctness may have fueled some already existing resentment.

But there’s no way I’d point a finger and say “Obama did it.” We’re each responsible for our own attitudes and moral choices.
 
Obama did not make racism start.
But he did nothing to stop it.

Sad.
 
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