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2012 Election
ackblom12:
I don't think it's in between at all, since it's basically being concerned that the person who stood on the steps in a public place to declare his racist comment got tattled on.
This wasn't even a private Facebook feed, it was a public Twitter.
Lines:
--- Quote from: Papersatan on 15 Nov 2012, 08:53 ---That's the thing. You can grow up and know your parents are terrible racists, and not become one. It is clearly possible, or how have we gotten here today?
--- End quote ---
It's not about how far we've come or how things have changed since our parents were children, it's about how much farther we have to go. (And sometimes, kids don't realize that their parents are racist and then they act in the same way as their parents, not really knowing why what they're doing is wrong.) Yes, we have a Black president and this is an amazing thing, but only half the country seems to realize this. The other half keeps making racist comments. Yes, enforced segregation is over, but I wouldn't say segregation is gone. It's just not obvious. People are still separated because too many people still have that "us vs. them" mentality.
As for dealing with those students... If they were at a university, I would fully support the school kicking them out, but that is because universities are institutions that can choose whether or not they want to be affiliated with you. High schools, however, don't have that luxury unless they're private. Do those students deserve to be punished because of what they said? Yes. But in an educational way. Make them attend a seminar about diversity and racism. Make them do community service in predominantly non-white areas. Make them learn about why racism is wrong and how they should not spread hate.
Also maybe bash it into their skulls to make sure it sticks. :-P
Also also, if anything, this will teach those kids that they can be held accountable for what they say on the internet, which at the least will teach them to think before you type. It may not cure the racism, but it may teach them to shut up about it.
Blyss:
Hmmm. I grew up in a horribly racist place, with a split of some horribly racist family members, and some not racist at all. My mother and stepfather were two of the racist ones.
I myself, have never felt what I can only imagine they feel when looking at someone that they consider different from themselves. I cannot fathom the thought processes they go through, though I know well enough that they were/are wrong. In essence, I learned from their mistakes.
Not everyone does the same. And many of those people believe it perfectly justifiable to voice their racist opinions whenever they feel like it, based on the idea of free speech.
I have something of an issue with this, especially considering that I am a veteran and one of the reasons that I joined the military in the first place was to ensure basic freedoms. I have always felt that people are entitled to their opinions, no matter how wrong I might consider them to be. That said, if see someone being blatantly racist, you can bet your ass that I'll be the one to call them on shit, publicly without so much as a thought. There needs to be a way to make people realize that while they have the freedom of speech, a person should be responsible for their bullshit as well.
Akima:
There was an earlier story about a silly woman who'd posted on Facebook: "Another 4 years of this nigger. Maybe he will get assassinated this term." When interviewed, she seemed honestly puzzled about why this was a big deal. Like some of the posters in that list of Twitter feeds, she seemed to think you could go around calling a black man a nigger, and yet not be a racist. Her line is "It made me sound like a racist, but I'm not!".
I'm not sure that we can achieve much progress, when people simply redefine racist as "something hypothetically bad that I am not", and their apologists trot out excuses such as "You don't know that they're racist, they might just be ignorant!"
pwhodges:
My mind is blown by the suggestion that she can hope for Obama to be assassinated, but it's OK because she's not racist (even though she is) and it's "only" her opinion. It's nearly my bedtime, but I doubt that sleeping on it will help.
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