The part that surprised me was the degree to which it came out in "well"-educated Republicans. Hell, I'm as WASP as they come -- blue-blooded heritage on Mom's side springing from English royalty, among other high-falutin folks in her background. Dad's background was working class Scottish & Irish until his own father became a very successful self-made man by working his way through college, going to grad school at night while working full-time, etc. Dad grew up in NYC and his family's egalitarianism showed later in his fight for civil rights -- my parents marched with MLK & were at the march on Washington, among other things. And Dad was a Republican! An incredibly liberal Republican, but a Republican nonetheless. And because of that, I knew LOTS of Republicans growing up -- totally different breed from today, at least the ones I know and knew. The racism that came out in Republicans sitting in office in Washington really shocked me -- I truly didn't expect that. But for me, it was undeniable.
I think you hit the word -- fear. And now that whites are becoming the minority, the fear is escalating. I think that's part of what the surge in hate groups and hate group membership is all about. It scares the hell out of some whites, or maybe a lot of whites. And for those people, it frankly should! Their world is really getting shaken up. They've felt comfortably ensconced in white privilege, as much as they claim that doesn't exist. It most certainly does exist and they can see that slipping in the future when more and more of today's minorities enter leadership roles, be it in factories or offices or political positions or legal positions.
How does it change? Oddly enough, I think this election may have forced some change. People saw the power of minorities in this country and the influence that can be exerted when they grab that power and use it. The Republican "leaders" aren't getting it in their rhetoric since the election. Yes, they get that their representation and appeal is too white, but they're totally not getting why that is. I hear nothing about looking at their policies and looking at their own racism, though I don't expect them to do that publicly -- I sure hope it's happening privately! The racist undertones to so much of the campaigning was disgusting this go round, and if they don't look at themselves and their behavior over the last 4 years, the GOP is doomed. And the way they're talking publicly now, they think it's as simple as putting up a minority candidate or a woman, like they did with Palin. Duh! They can put up all of the Herman Cains they want, they aren't going to get minority votes that way! It's not about skin color, it's about policy and actions. It's just further racism on their part if they think that African Americans will vote for someone just because they're black -- wrong, assholes! But that's the way they're talking now. What concerns me is at the hate group level, it could lead to more violence as they really freak out -- they don't like the fact that the country doesn't see things the way they do -- they're getting left behind and shut out. One of the things that made me happiest in this election is that we told the bigots of all kinds to go to hell! I love that! I did sort of think it'd have been interesting if Herman Cain had ended up being the Republican nominee.....what would all those white Romney voters done then?
So, there's gonna be quite a period of adjustment, maybe with some escalation of violence in there, but I think the white bigots are going to have to adjust for survival's sake. This country isn't an Anglo-Saxon country, as much as they'd like to believe it is. I don't think we'll ever get rid of the bigots, but I do hope they become increasingly in the vast minority.
That's sort of how I'm looking at it now, but ask me tomorrow -- I may totally change again! I wish I did have some viable answers and had a crystal ball that would really tell the future. I think WE keep politically active and keep trying to educate people, one at a time if that's what works, and keep pushing forward -- the racists will just have to catch up or be increasingly more isolated in their little KKK worlds.
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