Resurgence of Racism

[Samael_Khan]

Racism went away? Must have missed that.

There was, however, a period when voicing racist views was not considered socially acceptable. It still isn't, really, nor should it be, but a combination of factors, driven by an organised and motivated far right, appear to have emboldened the bigots. This phenomenon is by no means limited to the USA or Europe, but there is a worrying recidivism in both regions. A resurgence of profoundly sinister nationalist sentiments, which reached a previous nadir in the 1930s.

That is what I mean, as I mention in the second paragraph in the OP. Racism was underground but now sees a rise in it being vocalized which means it is becoming more popular.

The resurgence of sinister nationalist sentiments is worrying. But since it has always been present under the surface, it is no surprise that it is on the rise again. People must just be careful that they don't gain too much support.

 

[Samael_Khan]

I kind of expected there would be an uptick in racism. I mean it's pretty darn predictable in a 'woke' culture that uses racism itself to one's advantage that practices marginalization of one group over another and justifying their cause at another's expense to a degree that can be best described as overkill.

Things like that will always have a massive tempering effect, and further promote factioning and discord even if the reason behind doing so has a degree of validation.

Agree with you here. The woke culture has its racist elements. I was watching this Youtube channel called The Grapevine, which is is a discussion among mostly young educated intellectual black people, and I didn't agree with it over time because their racism towards white people was showing through to the point that they were criticising black people as not being pro-black interests because they have mixed race relationships. This is bound to reflect on the other side of the political spectrum and is unsettling.

 

[Samael_Khan]

Exactly.

Especially in cases like critical race theory.

Almost make me want to join the "bad" guys, but that most certainly makes me a racist forevermore.

Is critical race theory the actual problem or is it how people use the theory to back up their agenda? Because it seems like the real intellectuals speak about it in a way that makes sense because really it is about cause and effect and social engineering, whereas laymen tend to use it in an attacking way towards white people because they are indoctrinated.

 

[Samael_Khan]

I would amend that by saying it would be better if people didn't speak out against whites as a group (or use regionalism or classism in the process of speaking out against racism). Speak out against ideas, ideologies, and odious principles, but when it leads to scapegoating or tarring the innocent along with the guilty, then it can lead to problems.

I don't know if it would make the racists more racist than they are already. But if a white person feels that they're being put upon or criticized just because of their race, it might drive them into the waiting arms of white racists who will be more than happy to receive them.

So, speak out against racism and racists, but don't speak out against white people as if they're a monolithic group. That's where it goes wrong.

There's a subreddit which I won't link to (although I will provide it in PM if someone asks) where people find statements in social media or elsewhere where people say disparaging remarks about "whites" or "white males" in particular, and they take the same statement and substitute the word "Jews" to satirically change the effect of the statement. It's toxic as hell, and they should probably ban it, but I couldn't help but be curious about the whole thing. If nothing else, it just goes to show just how much toxicity there is out there.

Agree with you here. Speaking of any race as a monolithic group is not logical and shows disrespect for the individual. And we see that everywhere which is why people are so polarised. Whether it be Capitalists, Socialists, whites, blacks, men, women and many more, these groups are all being generalised and creating tension because that way of thinking just leads to indoctrination. Then innocent people have to bare the brunt of unjust criticism and become radicalised.

 

[Samael_Khan]

I think there's a great deal of truth to what you say, especially the idea that most of these issues never really went away. However, I've noticed that they've taken different forms over the course of my lifetime.

WOW! What a history lesson! Thanks for putting the effort into this it is very informative. One of the posts that I have saved on my computer to reflect on.

A few points really stood out to me:

My parents came of age during the 1950s, when U.S. policy started to shift away from racism and segregation. Some could argue that the reasons for this shift included WW2, when the world saw the extremist nationalism and racism of Nazi Germany which went way beyond the pale. It could be said that, by witnessing such horrific atrocities as committed by the Nazis, it drove the point home just how horrible and malignant such ideas are so as to generate an even stronger reaction against them here in the U.S.

This is interesting. It is obviously different to South Africa because our institutional racism only hardened from that point. But whereas WW2 might have affected America's term, Marxism had an influence behind the races standing up to the government over here, as the movements were lead by many intellectual socialists. The racism of Nazi Germany must have been a big shock to the world then.

I also wouldn't dismiss the influence of identity politics on the whole situation. I recall a case where a white college student observed the existence of a "Black Students Association" on her campus, so she wanted to start a "White Students Association," yet was told that it was racist to do so. So, the question came up: How come blacks get to do it but whites can't? That's when the whole issue of "white privilege" and the notion that "only whites can be racist" came on the scene, and this is the point where it, sadly, jumped the shark. They would have been far better off to prohibit any associations based on race, rather than come up with weak, convoluted, specious explanations for having a double-standard. This is where it all went wrong, about 30 or so years ago.

I thought the term "white privilege" in its layman context and "only whites can be racist" was something that only occurred in the past decade. I didn't realize it has such a long history. Using these terms was certainly a counter productive move.

This also ties in to the whole problem, because Americans continue to embrace capitalism and its predatory, dog-eat-dog philosophy. It's social Darwinism, the belief that only the strong shall survive.

I don't know if you have heard of a video game called Bioshock or not? It is considered one of gamings Masterpieces. It would be a cool thing to check out even if you watch an analysis of the game. It is a commentary on what happens if Capitalism is taken to the extreme, where the government doesn't interfere with businesses and other problems and where might and and wealth is right. Complete freedom. Oppression, corporate greed, poverty, genetic experimentation and depravity eventually ruin the society and it becomes an out of control horror show. It ties in well with what you are saying above.

If you believe that racism and nationalism are wrong, then you must also say that capitalism and identity politics are equally wrong. If you don't, then don't be surprised if racism and nationalism never go away. You can't have one without the other.

I certainly agree that identity politics is wrong. I also do see how Capitalism can allow racism and nationalism to to remain. I also see how Socialism does the same thing but in a different way. I think we should step away from both concepts and try something new.

 

[pearl]

Is it me or does it seem that racism, xenophobia and nationalism are making a comeback?

They never left. Its just that now with the help of the highest office in the country, these have acquired the bully pulpit once again. But its not just the USA this time around.

 

[Heyo]

You live in Israel right?

Nope, Germany.

And yes, nationalism, xenophobia and racism are all linked. They are just different reasons to irrationally villainize those who are different.

I didn't realise that Eastern Europe had such a problem. But then I don't know much about those countries so...

I don't know if they themselves see it as having a problem but they are a problem for the EU. After having lost the nationalists on the island, we may have to kick out Poland and Hungary. Their populist, right-wing governments are defying EU law.

 

[stvdv]

That is true.

I just saw a YouTube showing South Africa, my God, that seems like horror what happens there. I hope you're in a safe area. Wish you all the best

And yes, nationalism, xenophobia and racism are all linked. They are just different reasons to irrationally villainize those who are different.

I think the link is "lack of Love", due to abundance of hatred, anger, frustration and other of such negative emotions

 

[Twilight Hue]

So don't speak out against racism, because doing so may upset the racists, and make them more racist?

Actually yes.

You don't recklessly cap pressure valves. It's careless.

What you do is redirect things in a safe direction.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Is critical race theory the actual problem or is it how people use the theory to back up their agenda? Because it seems like the real intellectuals speak about it in a way that makes sense because really it is about cause and effect and social engineering, whereas laymen tend to use it in an attacking way towards white people because they are indoctrinated.

In my view, it's radicalism and activism.

Something that shouldn't be taught in schools.

It's asking for serious trouble down the road if enough people buy into the propaganda.

 

[Samael_Khan]

I just saw a YouTube showing South Africa, my God, that seems like horror what happens there. I hope you're in a safe area. Wish you all the best

Thanks. I live in Cape town which is part of the Western Cape. The riots only affected one and a half provinces so its not like the whole of South Africa is burning.... Just a fifth of it. (As if that is any reconciliation)

I think the link is "lack of Love", due to abundance of hatred, anger, frustration and other of such negative emotions

That is really what it comes down to actually.

 

[Shaul]

So people get called out more for being racist, and that's a bad thing??

If it is done falsely, yes.

 

[Twilight Hue]

No it isn't. It should be done. But there have been many cases where people have been called racist just because someone disagreed with them, questioned them or a theory they had, or had a different opinion that alone isn't necessarily linked to racism. That is a problem because it supports racist persecution complexes and has been causing more and more people to sympathize with racists.

And those are the ones accusing people of McCarthyism back in the day.

Everyone is a communist, now everyone is a racist.

 

[Shaul]

Racism exists. So does a rising rate of false accusations. There are many exploiting racial differences for nefarious purposes.

If someone wants to convince you that there is a “us versus them” divide, take note. Take note and do not be fooled. They do it for their gain. Eschew and flee from fear mongers.

 

[Samael_Khan]

And those are the ones accusing people of McCarthyism back in the day.

Everyone is a communist, now everyone is a racist.

Yep, the same concept. It is used as a thought stopping word to prevent people from thinking further.

 

[Kooky]

And those are the ones accusing people of McCarthyism back in the day.

Everyone is a communist, now everyone is a racist.

That statement betrays a staggering ignorance of both the communist persecutions in the US (of which McCarthy's was only the most prominent - people very often forget about the Committee on Un-American Activities, for example) and the factual nature of anti-racism in our society.

 

[Kooky]

No it isn't. It should be done. But there have been many cases where people have been called racist just because someone disagreed with them, questioned them or a theory they had, or had a different opinion that alone isn't necessarily linked to racism.

I feel that many of such cases are urban legends that tend to get passed around conservative circles a lot, or at the very least an exaggeration of facts that is rooted in a profound misunderstanding as to why people might call something a person does "racist", possibly influenced by the primacy of etiquette over morality in personal discourse: It is generally seen as a worse violation of etiquette to call somebody out on their racism, than it is to actually say or do something racist.

 

[Samael_Khan]

I feel that many of such cases are urban legends that tend to get passed around conservative circles a lot, or at the very least an exaggeration of facts that is rooted in a profound misunderstanding as to why people might call something a person does "racist", possibly influenced by the primacy of etiquette over morality in personal discourse: It is generally seen as a worse violation of etiquette to call somebody out on their racism, than it is to actually say or do something racist.

I think that many are as well, so I am basing my thoughts mainly on what I have seen on Youtube, where there have been cases where the racist was denying they were actually expressing racism by using plausible deniability, cases where it is just people calling people racist for stupid reasons and cases where the accusation seems stupid based off the clip but in the broader context of the discussion and the individual the accusation was justified.

I do have a personal experience of this in my previous job. I had a Kenyan colleague who is from the Kikuyu tribe. The nature of the jobs is serving customers with printing and other things. But he was helping a Zulu adult with printing and was getting gradually irritated because she was indecisive about what she wanted to do. Then he told her that he did not have time for her because other customers were waiting and told her to come back when she knows what she wants. She all of a sudden made a scene saying that he was being racist, which was totally the wrong reason. Those type of situations are what I am referring to. Irrational people making irrational statements to play the victim card.

But I think it comes down to laymen, students, who do not fully comprehend what they are talking about because the theories of CRT and socialism are super complex and created by intellectual minds, and they don't understand the full reasoning behind why certain phrases are said and in what context to use them.

 

[Kooky]

I think that many are as well, so I am basing my thoughts mainly on what I have seen on Youtube, where there have been cases where the racist was denying they were actually expressing racism by using plausible deniability, cases where it is just people calling people racist for stupid reasons and cases where the accusation seems stupid based off the clip but in the broader context of the discussion and the individual the accusation was justified.

I do have a personal experience of this in my previous job. I had a Kenyan colleague who is from the Kikuyu tribe. The nature of the jobs is serving customers with printing and other things. But he was helping a Zulu adult with printing and was getting gradually irritated because she was indecisive about what she wanted to do. Then he told her that he did not have time for her because other customers were waiting and told her to come back when she knows what she wants. She all of a sudden made a scene saying that he was being racist, which was totally the wrong reason. Those type of situations are what I am referring to. Irrational people making irrational statements to play the victim card.

I think what people are doing is looking at incidents in isolation without seeing the big picture. Maybe this lady was irrational and an idiot. Maybe she overreacted. An alternate explanation may be that she had repeatedly experienced racism in her past, and so interpreted the situation you describe in these terms.

We cannot read other people's minds, we can only read their actions. If an action reads racist to somebody, then is it really "irrational", as you say, to react to it in this way?

And also, we see here the primary of etiquette once again: That her outspoken reaction was deemed worse than any potential racism that might have had occurred; that the person who points out a potential problem is being read as the real problem in a given situation; that we immediately go on to defend a person from accusations before we even try to figure out what's actually going on.

EDIT:
Personally, I believe a lot of the hostile reactions to "wokeness" and CRT come from a place of insecurity and defensiveness; an attempt to protect one's self-image as a fundamentally decent person who would not possibly harm another human being.

I think in this, a lot of people make a mistake when talking about "racists" as people. Personally, I would argue that there are no "racists" - there are no people whose intrinsic being is one of being racist; rather, we have people intentially or unintentionally doing things that have racist effects.

In my opinion, our communcation about racism (not just us two, but people in general) generally suffers from the influence of the the two factors I've outlined above - the primacy of etiquette on one hand (which means that anybody who calls out racism is effectively painted as the villain of any given interaction), and our natural instincts to defend ourselves and the people we care about on the other (which means that people accused of racism immediately go on the defensive and stop even talking to the accuser, let alone considering their viewpoint).

 

[Wildswanderer]

What do you mean by nationalism?
There's nothing inherently racist about loving your country.