On Racism, Conservatives Fail to Self-police
Late last month the U.S. experienced a couple of high-profile racist statements -- one from then NBA owner Donald Sterling and the other from conservative hero, rancher, lawbreaker and "taker" Cliven Bundy.
If nothing else, these comments proved that we are not in a post-racial era, as many would have you believe. Obviously given the status of both of these me, their comments garnered national media attention and started a number of conversations.
As you might expect, these conversations revealed just how far we have to go but one of the unexpected comments I received when discussing race issues in America was "you bloggers and opinion writers need to let the race thing rest for a while. It's getting old and tiring."
Gee, you mean to tell me old white conservatives don't want to talk about how the statements of other old white conservatives could be seen as racist?
Back when "black-on-black crime" was all the rage in the conservative media, talking heads like Bill O'Reilly were out in front calling on black leaders to address this issue. After all it was their community -- shouldn't they do something? Now that the shoe is on the other foot, conservatives no longer sees any value in a community policing their own?
Funny how that works.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dale-hansen/on-racism-conservatives-f_b_5357840.html
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The topic of racism in America and around the world for that matter has been considered taboo by racist and those who don't consider themselves racist since the inception of this nation. Legally sanctioned racism sanctioned privileges and rights for White Americans not granted to Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latin Americans. European Americans (particularly Anglo Americans) were privileged by law in matters of education, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal procedure over periods of time extending from the 17th century to the 1960s. At the time, many non-Protestant groups immigrating from Europe - particularly Jews, Irish people, Poles and Italians - suffered xenophobic exclusion and other forms of ethnicity-based discrimination in the American society. Giving up privilege is hard to do, and those who claim they will do it willingly are only kidding themselves. Things have changed in the U.S. somewhat, but there are those conservatives that believe they are entitled to the misguided fortunes that were bestowed upon them by the wealthy who set up the horrible system of government in this nation.
We have the Bill of Rights that has been added to the Constitution and amendments that have been added to that, to continue to try to correct the damage, but there are those who have who have worked tirelessly to try to prohibit the changes, since these rights have been voted upon and added to the Constitution.
The Bill of Rights enumerates freedoms not explicitly indicated in the main body of the Constitution, such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, a free press, and free assembly; the right to keep and bear arms; freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, security in personal effects, and freedom from warrants issued without probable cause; indictment by a grand jury for any capital or "infamous crime"; guarantee of a speedy, public trial with an impartial jury; and prohibition of double jeopardy. In addition, the Bill of Rights reserves for the people any rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution and reserves all powers not specifically granted to the federal government to the people or the States.
As the minority population in this nation continues to grow, and the majority eventually becomes the minority, more and more you will see those that are afraid of losing the privilege they claim they don't have begin to act out. Acting out is a psychological term from the parlance of defense mechanisms and self-control, meaning to perform an action in contrast to bearing and managing the impulse to perform it. The acting done is usually anti-social and may take the form of acting on the impulses of an addiction (e.g. drinking, drug taking or shoplifting) or in a means designed (often unconsciously or semi-consciously) to garner attention (e.g. throwing a tantrum or behaving promiscuously) or as in this case, making horribly racist statements as did the two gentlemen you referenced.
In general usage, the action performed is destructive to self or others and may inhibit the development of more constructive responses to the feelings in question. The job of the people of this nation, those who are interested in having a more perfect Union would be IMHO to consider this "Acting Out" as what it is, a psychological problem and deal with it in that manner. Discussing the problem getting to the root of the cause and learning to treat those who are afflicted with it is the only way to eradicate it. I don't believe the problem will go away with the aging population either, the descendants of these people are being taught to think the same way they do, and are growing accustomed to the privilege they knowingly or unknowingly enjoy....for the moment. 
