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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Jasaiga Since: Jan, 2015
#146626: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:24:44 PM

Okay, can someone more well verse in US history break this down for me: What is it about racism in the USA that it's so powerful that there are tens of millions willing to potentially burn down the entire republic (and by proxy the entire Free World), just for the CHANCE to screw ethnic minorities over?

Even the far-right European parties aren't this insane as they want power and want to exercise their rule, but Trump supporters are practically a suicide pact.

Bat178 Since: May, 2011
#146627: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:26:12 PM

[up] It's been inherent in the US since they separated from the British, killed most of the Native Americans and stole their land.

edited 26th Oct '16 5:26:35 PM by Bat178

Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#146628: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:30:25 PM

The trick is selling it (both by the politicians and by the people to themselves) as preserving your vision/the existence of a nation and that's not a thing exclusive to the US,it's a bug inherent in the human operating system.

NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#146629: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:30:32 PM

Even the far-right European parties aren't this insane
No, they're basically exactly the same. The difference isn't the level of crazy, it's just the consequences of it. Crazies in charge of the world's sole remaining superpower can do more damage on a global scale than crazies in charge of other, non-superpower countries (though both can mess up their own countries pretty well).

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#146630: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:30:37 PM

@Bat, that's a massive oversimplification. The rest of the settler colonies don't manifest their difficult histories with racism in the same way.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#146631: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:31:55 PM

[up][up][up][up]Yeah, because the British have nothing like that at all... (Note, I'm only bringing this up because of the implicit superior tone, that's inherent in pretty much all of Bat 178's posts)

Edit: And [nja]'d.

edited 26th Oct '16 5:32:54 PM by LSBK

EpicBleye drunk bunny from her bed being very eepy Since: Sep, 2014 Relationship Status: In Lesbians with you
drunk bunny
#146632: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:32:18 PM

@Bat: That's, uh, putting it way too harshly and exaggerating it quite a bit.


The answer is simply due to human nature to distrust those that are dissimilar to us. You'll find similar amounts of racial bias in other First-World countries as well. The difference here is that (largely due to the large population of the US spread over a large mass of land) there is a strong culture that reinforces previously-held and thoroughly conservative and ancient beliefs; this culture is also primarily found in the south due to the fact that the nature of the South's economy relied on the slave trade during the settlement period up through the 1800s. This is also why it's much more pronounced than in other countries (beyond the fact that everyone has their eyes on us all the time), since we simply have central populations that share these beliefs and talk about them.

Furthermore, I have read several studies and documentaries that share the conclusion that this isn't just a US thing. Rather, the US simply talks about these issues out loud and isn't afraid to, while in other countries these subjects are hushed and more taboo to talk about. Brexit is a huge example of this.

edited 26th Oct '16 5:36:38 PM by EpicBleye

"There's not a girl alive who wouldn't be happy being called cute." ~Tamamo-no-Mae
Bat178 Since: May, 2011
#146633: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:32:58 PM

[up][up][up] The colonial Australians treated Aboriginals pretty much the same way the colonial Americans treated Native Americans, and Native Americans weren't treated much better in Canada either.

edited 26th Oct '16 5:33:29 PM by Bat178

nervmeister Since: Oct, 2010
#146634: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:35:35 PM

The lust for a comfortable, simplistic worldview is something I actively wrestle with.

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#146635: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:36:54 PM

Furthermore, I have read several studies and documentaries that share the conclusion that this isn't just a US thing. Rather, the US simply talks about these issues out loud and isn't afraid to, while in other countries these subjects are hushed and more taboo to talk about.

From my experience, this is correct.

Source: I live in Brazil. It shares a lot of commonalities with US racism in terms of how it affects minorities, but the biggest difference to me is that racism here is much more insidious and difficult to talk about for a variety of reasons.

If nothing else people in the US are trying to have a conversation about it. Hard to get anything to improve if you don't begin with that.

BlueNinja0 The Mod with the Migraine from Taking a left at Albuquerque Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Mod with the Migraine
#146636: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:38:13 PM

I'm sure if Jill Stein was the nominee and the Republicans picked Jeb Bush you'd vote Stein just to make sure she appointed a liberal judge who wouldn't overturn Roe v Wade.
... No, I think I'd go for Jeb. Jill promotes literal conspiracy theories and anti-vax crap, so I'd be more worried about who she'd nominate. Jeb, for his faults, would promote someone predictably right wing.
"I'm trying to envision something more fitting than this election actually ending in a Biden-Trump fist fight and i cannot"
I'm tempted to say a good old-fashioned duel, only then Trump might actually shoot Biden.

... I need to print out my absentee ballot and fill it out. Like, now. (NV, for the record.)

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#146637: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:41:33 PM

@Bat, correct. And they don't have the far-right hijacking one of their dominant political parties. Nor is racism so ingrained and said party has to at least tolerate racism to remain viable.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#146638: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:42:38 PM

The simple answer is: America was founded by racists, for racists. America and Racism go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly. If you took away systemic racism, everything, and I do mean quite literally EVERYTHING in the USA would fall apart practically overnight.

Comparing it to European countries is extremely disingenuous because it ignores just how our prejudices built and shaped our entire history. Just about every issue in America today can be traced back at some point to racism being the root cause or at the very least an extremely significant factor.

New Survey coming this weekend!
Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#146639: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:53:21 PM

Ex: American Civil War, basically fought over racism, and the South basically created an elaborate lie to exculpate them of blame and many people still buy into it because they don't want to accept their collective guilt.

edited 26th Oct '16 5:53:43 PM by Draghinazzo

EpicBleye drunk bunny from her bed being very eepy Since: Sep, 2014 Relationship Status: In Lesbians with you
drunk bunny
#146640: Oct 26th 2016 at 5:56:18 PM

[up][up],[up][up][up]No, just... no. Like, that's just blatantly wrong and completely ignores the fact that other countries share the exact same issues that America has.

edited 26th Oct '16 5:56:45 PM by EpicBleye

"There's not a girl alive who wouldn't be happy being called cute." ~Tamamo-no-Mae
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#146641: Oct 26th 2016 at 6:06:52 PM

Here in Huehueshitstain, a particularly despicable piece of human being my the name of Bolsonario and his sons, are what is essentially dictatorship apologists, proposes things that Duterte in Philippines does in order to fight crime, frequently leaves out racist, sexist and homophobic comments and overall makes every single appeal to nationalistic bravado.

He has a lot of political support by the reactionaries, religious conservatives and everyone frustrated with criminality. Essentially he is a more eloquent version of Trump without the fake orange tan and inherited wealth.

There is also Marco Feliciano, which would be our Ted Cruz when it comes to religious conservatism, he is also quite popular among our very conservative protestant population spewing every noxious crap you can think about social rights, specially about women and homosexuals, under the guise of being a moral guardian defending the traditional families.

So yeah, everywhere else has the right with conservative hardliners to deal with.

Inter arma enim silent leges
Elle Since: Jan, 2001
#146642: Oct 26th 2016 at 6:08:39 PM

Yeah, the entire colonial era would like to say hello. Our flavor of racism came to us from Europe, Asia has its own racisim issues targeted more at each other, ancient Israel came to be through a campaign of "kill anyone in this area who doesn't worship Yaweh" and ancient Egypt fought constantly with Nubia, a black people they named from their word 'nuba' meaning 'slave'.

TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#146643: Oct 26th 2016 at 6:11:17 PM

[up][up][up] That's false equivalent bullshit. NO ONE is denying that Europe and other advanced nations have serious issues with race.

But to put it on the scale of America? Lmfao, Please name ONE developed nation that owes it's literal existence to prejudice.

I'll wait.

edited 26th Oct '16 6:11:39 PM by TacticalFox88

New Survey coming this weekend!
Elle Since: Jan, 2001
vandro Shop Owner from The little shop that wasn't Since: Jul, 2009
Shop Owner
#146645: Oct 26th 2016 at 6:14:01 PM

Most of them. That's how nations work,

Artificius from about a foot and a half away from a monitor. Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Norwegian Wood
#146646: Oct 26th 2016 at 6:14:17 PM

"I'm trying to envision something more fitting than this election actually ending in a Biden-Trump fist fight and i cannot"grin

I've been giggling off and on in the ten minutes since reading that, imagining Joe Biden in a domino mask cornering an American flag-caped Trump at home, then the ensuing fight on the roof of a limo speeding through New York. https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-i-would-love-to-fight-mr-tough-guy-joe-biden-140347997.html

edited 26th Oct '16 6:14:53 PM by Artificius

"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#146647: Oct 26th 2016 at 6:15:15 PM

Pakistan and India aren't European settler nations (and Pakistan isn't a developed nation, India is only arguably one).

The other European settler nations, even the other members of the Anglosphere don't have racial issues that dominate the fabric of their politics like it does in the US. They still have racism present in their societies, and have dark periods in their histories. I never denied that. But one of their (major) political parties isn't dependent upon racial tensions for survival.

edited 26th Oct '16 6:20:34 PM by Rationalinsanity

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Heatth (X-Troper) Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
#146648: Oct 26th 2016 at 6:15:46 PM

@Tactical Fox 88,

Define "developed". And also "nation" I guess? How far you are willing to go back? Pretty much every European country I know the story of is born of conquest. The Anglo-Saxons conquered the Welsh, the the Spanish/Portuguese (re)conquered the Moors and so on.

[up]These are fair points, but Fox presented their case horribly.

edited 26th Oct '16 6:16:55 PM by Heatth

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#146649: Oct 26th 2016 at 6:16:43 PM

I get where Tactical is coming from with the righteous indignation, but I always have to wonder how anyone expects to be taken seriously when they make the claim that literally everything in the U.S. (or any country, for that matter) can be traced back to racism.

To a disturbing amount that's true, but hyperbole is still hyperbole.

EpicBleye drunk bunny from her bed being very eepy Since: Sep, 2014 Relationship Status: In Lesbians with you
drunk bunny
#146650: Oct 26th 2016 at 6:16:52 PM

Seriously. Nearly every nation has its routes and histories entrenched in racism. That's just the way things were!

And Tactical, please turn down the condescension a couple notches.

"There's not a girl alive who wouldn't be happy being called cute." ~Tamamo-no-Mae

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