The GOP is hellbent on rolling back the protections in the Voting Rights Act. That says a lot about whether racism is still alive and well. It most definitely is - at leas inside the GOP.

Is there racism in America? Yes. Are there a large number of racists? No, in fact I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to actually find many true racists today. Moreover, in my experiences, racism is something that exists among people of all races and can be towards any number of other races. IMO, I think most people today have prejudices. A lot people are judged not by something they actually did, but based on other people's prejudices based on their superficial attributes. Just because a black male is wearing a tanktop, doesn't mean he is going to rob you. And likewise, because someone is a white southern conservative, doesn't mean he secretly has nooses lying around.

On a side note, I personally believe that the Voting Rights Act should be done away with. The VRA was created at a time when blacks were literally not being allowed to walk through the door and vote for a number of ginned up reasons. That hasn't happened for a very long time. Voting is open to blacks and other minorities as long as they follow very simple rules that are required of everyone. In most states, they usually involve being a resident of a state, registering to vote beforehand, and showing up a designated time and place with proof of identity. It's not rocket science and nothing about it requires a federal case.

(01-26-2014 11:50 PM)pharaoh0 Wrote:  Is there racism in America? Yes. Are there a large number of racists? No, in fact I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to actually find many true racists today. Moreover, in my experiences, racism is something that exists among people of all races and can be towards any number of other races. IMO, I think most people today have prejudices. A lot people are judged not by something they actually did, but based on other people's prejudices based on their superficial attributes. Just because a black male is wearing a tanktop, doesn't mean he is going to rob you. And likewise, because someone is a white southern conservative, doesn't mean he secretly has nooses lying around.

On a side note, I personally believe that the Voting Rights Act should be done away with. The VRA was created at a time when blacks were literally not being allowed to walk through the door and vote for a number of ginned up reasons. That hasn't happened for a very long time. Voting is open to blacks and other minorities as long as they follow very simple rules that are required of everyone. In most states, they usually involve being a resident of a state, registering to vote beforehand, and showing up a designated time and place with proof of identity. It's not rocket science and nothing about it requires a federal case.

I guess the fear is that they'd gradually add more caveats to being able to vote, which would put more and more minorities on the losing side of being able to vote. Those fears are unfounded, but they're still fears.

Don't want to go conspiracy but: I just can't help but to be wary of anything that makes the government go so heavily toward something. The voter ID things? They'd make supporters think that they're just trying to take the fraud down. I can't believe that they're that caring.

(01-27-2014 12:05 AM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  I guess the fear is that they'd gradually add more caveats to being able to vote, which would put more and more minorities on the losing side of being able to vote. Those fears are unfounded, but they're still fears.

Don't want to go conspiracy but: I just can't help but to be wary of anything that makes the government go so heavily toward something. The voter ID things? They'd make supporters think that they're just trying to take the fraud down. I can't believe that they're that caring.

I see your point, but I just don't think there is any way that a state could place an unfair burden on a person to vote without the media making a big deal out of it. States are soooo different in composition and views than they were in the 50s and 60s as well.

As to voter id, i think even a majority of black voters are okay with it (there were polls last election cycle). It is more of a political issue among party wonks and academics. The honest answer is that many Democrat voters are apathetic and/or very bad with time and fail to follow the registration rules. Or, they are college students without any intent to be residents of a state, they just want to influence a local elections. Some people vote for relatives that don't care to vote ...they get away with it because they just need a name and address. Republicans know this and therefore pushed voter id to limit these votes. We have voter id in Virginia, and it just isn't an imposition on anyone. It assures that people are residents and they are who they say they are. Dems have generally improved their get out the vote efforts, so it really doesn't affect them as much anymore....but, it makes for great straw-man arguments about racism at the polls. Personally, I wish people were a bit more responsible in their claims of racism. I have faced racism before and fear that we as a country are becoming desensitized to actual instances of racism due to the extreme over-usage of the word.

(01-26-2014 11:13 PM)UM2001GRAD Wrote:  The GOP is hellbent on rolling back the protections in the Voting Rights Act. That says a lot about whether racism is still alive and well. It most definitely is - at leas inside the GOP.

You are a clown. A poor clown, but a clown nonetheless. Have you shined your big red floppy shoes yet?!?

Is there racism in America?
Is the Pope Catholic?

You would have to kill off all mankind
for there not to be.

(01-27-2014 12:05 AM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  

(01-26-2014 11:50 PM)pharaoh0 Wrote:  Is there racism in America? Yes. Are there a large number of racists? No, in fact I'd say you'd be hard-pressed to actually find many true racists today. Moreover, in my experiences, racism is something that exists among people of all races and can be towards any number of other races. IMO, I think most people today have prejudices. A lot people are judged not by something they actually did, but based on other people's prejudices based on their superficial attributes. Just because a black male is wearing a tanktop, doesn't mean he is going to rob you. And likewise, because someone is a white southern conservative, doesn't mean he secretly has nooses lying around.

On a side note, I personally believe that the Voting Rights Act should be done away with. The VRA was created at a time when blacks were literally not being allowed to walk through the door and vote for a number of ginned up reasons. That hasn't happened for a very long time. Voting is open to blacks and other minorities as long as they follow very simple rules that are required of everyone. In most states, they usually involve being a resident of a state, registering to vote beforehand, and showing up a designated time and place with proof of identity. It's not rocket science and nothing about it requires a federal case.

I guess the fear is that they'd gradually add more caveats to being able to vote, which would put more and more minorities on the losing side of being able to vote. Those fears are unfounded, but they're still fears.

Don't want to go conspiracy but: I just can't help but to be wary of anything that makes the government go so heavily toward something. The voter ID things? They'd make supporters think that they're just trying to take the fraud down. I can't believe that they're that caring.

Are those fears really that unfounded though? I think we're kind of jumping the gun on the assuming certain regions won't fall back to very unfortunate and unacceptably prejudiced methods. This wasn't hundreds of years ago, this was in my parents lifetime this change occurred.

And it's not as if the VRA is a piece of legislation that arguably hurts many people or affects their lives negatively.

The right-wing argument being put forth in this thread is exactly what Lee Atwater described as the way racism exists in the modern GOP.


You start out in 1954 by saying, "N*gger, n*gger, n*gger." By 1968 you can't say "n*gger" — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N*gger, n*gger."

Voter ID laws disenfranchise minority voters at a far, far higher rate than white voters. Right-wingers love that. That's the whole purpose of such laws.

Quote:Voter ID laws disenfranchise minority voters at a far, far higher rate than white voters. Right-wingers love that. That's the whole purpose of such laws.

Cite a few examples for us then. If it's a high rate it oughta be a pretty simple task.

The Voting Rights Act is just outdated. It's a political tool now more than anything else.

(01-27-2014 12:50 PM)JMUDunk Wrote:  

Quote:Voter ID laws disenfranchise minority voters at a far, far higher rate than white voters. Right-wingers love that. That's the whole purpose of such laws.

Cite a few examples for us then. If it's a high rate it oughta be a pretty simple task.

not only that, but somehow 23 year old minorities manage to get an ID to buy alcohol..................but it's too hard to secure one to vote with. Yeah, that's the ticket.

UMgrad, by his insinuations that minorities can't manage to secure an ID, is more racist than any other comment in this thread.

(01-26-2014 02:58 PM)UCF08 Wrote:  

(01-26-2014 02:55 PM)Flying Bearcat Wrote:  Racism is always going to exist until people stop having preferences in physical qualities.

Murder will always exist until people stop living in mortal bodies, but that's a nonsensical defense of a human phenomenon that only a moron would think relevant to our handling of murderers.

You must have learned a new word.

(01-26-2014 11:13 PM)UM2001GRAD Wrote:  The GOP is hellbent on rolling back the protections in the Voting Rights Act. That says a lot about whether racism is still alive and well. It most definitely is - at leas inside the GOP.

There is more hate between the right and left than there is in your candyland of race. You prove it everytime you speak. I broke up with a girl back in 2010 simply because she's a liberal. The two don't mix.

(01-27-2014 01:31 PM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(01-26-2014 11:13 PM)UM2001GRAD Wrote:  The GOP is hellbent on rolling back the protections in the Voting Rights Act. That says a lot about whether racism is still alive and well. It most definitely is - at leas inside the GOP.

There is more hate between the right and left than there is in candyland of race. You prove it everytime you speak. I broke up with a girl back in 2010 simply because she's a liberal. The two don't mix.

Good post.

From what I've read of his posts he has every bit as much hate in his heart for people he disagrees with as any KKK Grand Wizard has ever had for any black.

(01-27-2014 12:39 PM)UM2001GRAD Wrote:  The right-wing argument being put forth in this thread is exactly what Lee Atwater described as the way racism exists in the modern GOP.


You start out in 1954 by saying, "N*gger, n*gger, n*gger." By 1968 you can't say "n*gger" — that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "N*gger, n*gger."

Voter ID laws disenfranchise minority voters at a far, far higher rate than white voters. Right-wingers love that. That's the whole purpose of such laws.

Whose fault is that?

(01-27-2014 01:34 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(01-27-2014 01:31 PM)LSU04_08 Wrote:  

(01-26-2014 11:13 PM)UM2001GRAD Wrote:  The GOP is hellbent on rolling back the protections in the Voting Rights Act. That says a lot about whether racism is still alive and well. It most definitely is - at leas inside the GOP.

There is more hate between the right and left than there is in candyland of race. You prove it everytime you speak. I broke up with a girl back in 2010 simply because she's a liberal. The two don't mix.

Good post.

From what I've read of his posts he has every bit as much hate in his heart for people he disagrees with as any KKK Grand Wizard has ever had for any black.

110% agree... If given the legal option, liberals would lynch every Conservative without hesitation because of the deep seeded hate they have towards us.

(01-27-2014 12:55 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  The Voting Rights Act is just outdated. It's a political tool now more than anything else.

Completely untrue.

There was a case where the Voting Right Act was needed in 2007 at Sam Houston State University.

(01-27-2014 04:03 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(01-27-2014 12:55 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  The Voting Rights Act is just outdated. It's a political tool now more than anything else.

Completely untrue.

There was a case where the Voting Right Act was needed in 2007 at Sam Houston State University.

It's completely true. The Supreme Court agrees.

At this point election regulators in certain states who are black in primarily black districts can't make their own decisions so as to keep them from disenfranchising their fellow blacks. Not even you can argue that's a good setup.

Here's a thought to warm your hearts - there's little chance that Scalia and Kennedy make it through three more years of Obama and eight years of Clinton.