The admin of this forum is (somewhat understandably) playing a numbers game. If all the idiots are purged, that leaves approximately ten people.
I figured as much when they refused to do anything about the promotion of white supremacy from a particular poster.
The whole problem with "racism" is everyone has a different definition. I personally think it's only "racism" if you are trying to harm or "handicap" some group of people because of their "race" (not even accurate since we are all of one "race"). I don't think it's wrong to have "preferences". I have a "preference" for Asian chicks so I married one (call me a racist - I don't care). What about another "race" like the dog "race"? All are dogs but some prefer labs, some poodles. Some prefer pit bulls and some hounds. If I really don't want to have poodles around me am I a "poodle racist"??
It's really all about free association as long as I'm not infringing on the rights of others to associate and live their lives it's really "no foul". No one is hurt.
One problem people have is that they don't view racism as the spectrum that it is. They'll hear the word "racist" and immediately recoil because they obviously don't want to be labeled as such, and they don't personally think they've done or said anything racist, let alone being one. Everyone has implicit biases, and it happens that a lot of these biases are racist, even on a smaller scale. These are not the explicit biases you see from white supremacists or outwardly violent racists, which I believe, is what a lot of people think of when they hear the word "racist." As mentioned, it's a lack of understanding that a spectrum exists.
A lot of progressives will shout "racist!" and quickly label individuals who don't understand the varying degrees of racism, which is why many on the "right" will say that "everything's racist nowadays to those progressives!" I think there's a difference between someone who is racist, and someone who may do or say racist things due to their implicit biases. I wouldn't call someone with these subconscious biases a racist—I would merely point out that they're
doing/saying racist things, and why it's flawed. Just calling them racist ignores any sort of nuance and immediately puts people on the defensive, which is why progressives typically fail. Someone who refuses to change or act against these biases when possible after being made aware of them and how they may be hurting others, however, is a racist. And again, as a spectrum, it may be that they're on the very low end of that scale, but it doesn't absolve them of these racist tendencies. Someone who clutches their purse or crosses the street when minorities are approaching for example, doesn't exhibit the same level of racism as an individual who openly calls them derogatory terms or works politically towards implementing laws that target them.
For individuals who constantly scrutinize the mainstream media, it's a little ironic when they don't also understand how that very same media may have shaped their own subconscious biases, especially racist ones. While I would want nothing to do with outwardly racist pricks, I do have some empathy for people with these implicit biases because I know at least the majority of it stems from their upbringing and media consumption. However, I have even more empathy for all people who have to struggle against both implicit and explicit racism, especially on a systemic level. A lot of these officers who gun down minorities and specifically target them on drug charges for example, are often way more cavalier about the way they handle "suspects" and make arrests. Their subconscious racism will make them pull that trigger with certain speed.
The minority will be less trustworthy to the general public and they'll be character assassinated to give cops the benefit of the doubt, no empathy or understanding of the circumstances. The white kid will typically be seen as a tragic case or a good kid gone wrong due to mental health issues, with some empathy expressed. This is why it's "Black Lives Matter" and not "All Lives Matter." The general public already knows all lives matter and expresses concern for white lives, but black people are often seen as dangerous, less deserving of empathy, and less human. That is essentially what it's about. It's not "ONLY US," it's "US TOO!" I find that many people don't understand this or choose not to for their own repugnant reasons.
To reiterate, we need to look at racism less rigidly and understand that even implicit biases can have a profound effect on others, especially when it's so large-scale. It can be as simple as employers subconsciously rejecting "minority-sounding" names on a resume or as dangerous as people/cops being more trigger happy when the dark skin they see triggers their subconscious racism. These things disproportionately affect minorities, and they are indeed racist—just not the stereotypical explicit type. This is why education and pushing back against all forms of racist beliefs are so crucial.
People like to say we should be "color blind" because there's only one race (human), and that's a nice sentiment, but it's not the reality we live in where people do get separated and treated differently for things that are out of their control and should have no bearing. Just because being outwardly racist is much less common now than in the "good ol' days," it doesn't mean we're in some post-racial world. The outward racists have simply learned to dog whistle and hide it better, even through policy. It's often this quiet racism and the subconscious form that are more insidious, though we can certainly do more to make people aware of their biases vis-à-vis the latter.
