Quote:
Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague
People don't accuse you of being any type of monster, and if they did, they'd be wrong. That's sort of Cliff's point with the pedophile thing. There's a difference here. If someone is branded as a racist, that's... pretty much it for them. No one has to take them seriously on any topic. They're a pariah. It's one of the worst things you can be. You're unemployable, people don't want to be seen as interacting with you, and so forth. "Racist" is a horrible thing to be accused of being. Which is why it's so effective a rhetorical weapon to use against one's ideological opponents. It's like a cheat code.
No, I want to wait until they've said something racist. Even then, the benefit of the doubt is often warranted - for example, using the term "thug" to describe a black man - pointing out the connotations and historical uses of the word is a reasonable response. When we had that discussion in this thread, there were a number of people who had simply missed the memo on the whole "thug" thing, and accusing those people of being racist would have been completely unfair. Now they know, because the response was to explain the context, not simply lob accusations.
First of all, no they're not. Successfully branding someone as a tribal ideologue does not result in them being a social pariah. Second, feel free to try to find the last time I used the word "tribalism", and what it was aimed at. No, I do not use that in anywhere near every disagreement I have on this board. I almost never do. This reads as a rather desperate "no, you!" attempt.
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No, nobody becomes a social pariah just because they're called racist. Racists become social pariahs on their own by being repeatedly racist. Donald Trump is a racist and he's the President and might win again, on the other hand. Calling out racism, even casual racism, is important and you're the perfect example of why. By reserving racism for only the most extreme examples, we effectively ignore or condone many of the much smaller forms and examples of racism. People like yourself begin to think it's the great boogeyman, and not some unfortunate yet changeable part of who we are. I've said racist things and held racist ideas. And maybe I would today, but I've been called out and thankfully had some life experience that rocked that dumb way of thinking into submission. If nobody had ever told me my thinking or actions were racist, I don't know that I ever would have paused to think about them that way.
Regarding the thug thing, considering I was one of the ones who explained the context and highlighted it's racist usage by pointing out how a poster only used it to refer to Black people and Black athletes, even those who did not fit any "criminal" description, I would think you'd at least give me the benefit of the doubt for not jumping to conclusions based on a single post or whatever. I choose my words carefully
most of the time, and I apologise when I don't. I've chosen my words carefully here. I've also explained what, exactly, is racist in this situation. Agree or disagree! That's great! That's what discussion is for! Cliff calling for the word "racism" to be a bannable offence is certainly not opening up discussion any more than identifying racism is.
The last part also wasn't directed to you. So I'm not sure why you took it personally. Successfully branding someone as a tribal ideologue may not cause them to be a "social pariah," I guess, but it is a funny way of using a "personal attack" to discredit their thinking. I'm not sure it's any better than calling out racism, but it certainly isn't used any more nobly.
The point of this all, to get back on topic. Is that both the vast and brutal differences in the way both the cops and some as observes treat and address Jacob Blake vs Kyle Rittenhouse is a shining example of racism at work. No, it doesn't meet your threshold of saying "heil Hitler," but racism isn't always the most extreme example.