VW actually wants to unionize its American factory; Republicans freak out.

[PLATO]

If you don't think white flight is a real phenomena fueled by racism, then you haven't been looking very hard.

White flight is absolutely a product of racism. I remember living in Memphis in the early 1990's and there was a house for sale on a suburban street in a white neighborhood. A Black family bought the house and within 30 days, there were 25 of the remaining 30 houses on the street that were for sale.

The result is that you have over 70% Black inside the Memphis city limits and over 90% White in bedroom communities like Collierville.

You speak the truth when you say there is miles and miles to go, but you rarely acknowledge the miles and miles we have come...glad to see that you did do that somewhat in your post here.

[Felch]

Kentonio is back, and now he's explaining to Americans how our country actually is, because he knows better from an ocean away than we do right here. Apparently the BBC told him that Idaho is full of white people because of Jim Crow.

[PLATO]

kentonio is right that all the racial problems in this country haven't been solved. It is in the magnitude of the problem that he errs. Racism does exist and it is a problem, but it is not the root type cause of every problem as he seems to think.

[Felch]

No country is free of racial problems, ahem, BNP anybody?

[regexcellent]

Pakis are the British Mexicans.

[kentonio]

You speak the truth when you say there is miles and miles to go, but you rarely acknowledge the miles and miles we have come...glad to see that you did do that somewhat in your post here.

America has come on leaps and bounds, but when you have people making out that its all history and no longer has any real effect (like several people here regularly do) my first reaction is not usually to give them a pat on the head.

Kentonio is back, and now he's explaining to Americans how our country actually is, because he knows better from an ocean away than we do right here. Apparently the BBC told him that Idaho is full of white people because of Jim Crow.

Sometimes having some distance from a situation is absolutely the best way to see it in context, because you're not bound up in the issues personally. A lot of Americans have a real naivety in their beliefs about racism, and a lot of those beliefs are very easily dismissed by an unemotional view of your political and social discourse.

I've lost count of the amount of times race has been brought up here by white folks saying racism is scarcely an issue any more, and then when they're shown quotes by prominent black leaders and writers pointing out just how much of a problem it is the inevitable response is "well they're just saying that to stir up tension so they can stay relevant!". It's pretty depressing really.

No country is free of racial problems, ahem, BNP anybody?

I don't recall anyone saying they were. Feel free to quote.

[kentonio]

Pakis are the British Mexicans.

Please keep your racial slurs to yourself, unless you're trying to become the new DFG.

[Aeson]

Euphemism != Dog whistle

Political euphemism = dog whistle.

Pretending one political euphemism is a dog whistle while another is not is just another way people display their preconceived biases.

[regexcellent]

Please keep your racial slurs to yourself, unless you're trying to become the new DFG.

Where did I use a racial slur, dip****? Is mexican a dirty word now?

[kentonio]

Where did I use a racial slur, dip****? Is mexican a dirty word now?

The p word here is equivalent to the n word in the US. We had a thread about this a while back, I thought you posted in it.

[Felch]

Political euphemism = dog whistle.

Pretending one political euphemism is a dog whistle while another is not is just another way people display their preconceived biases.

No, they're not the same. A dog whistle is a coded message that only the target audience is expected to perceive. A euphemism is just a more pleasing word used to avoid saying what you really mean. A euphemism is not necessarily a code though.

[giblets]

Political euphemism = dog whistle.

Pretending one political euphemism is a dog whistle while another is not is just another way people display their preconceived biases.

That's not what the term "dog whistle" means. "Pro-choice" can be considered a euphemism because it sounds more positive than "pro-legal-abortion" but it's not a dog whistle because a politician who claims to be pro-choice is not sending a coded signal that only a small subset of the electorate will pick up on. If you claim all euphemisms are "dog whistles" you are ruining the metaphor and skullfuсking it.

edit: x-post

[regexcellent]

The p word here is equivalent to the n word in the US. We had a thread about this a while back, I thought you posted in it.

Not that I recall. Didn't realize Paki is dirty over there

[Felch]

The p word here is equivalent to the n word in the US. We had a thread about this a while back, I thought you posted in it.

That's actually appropriate. Given a country where "honor killings" are a fact of life, and where tribal savages strive to keep polio alive and well, it would make sense to turn that whole nationality into an ethnic slur.

If Pakis don't want to be the target of loathing and contempt they should stop pouring acid on their daughters.

[giblets]

But pouring acid on a girl is practically a rite of passage over there. It's an integral part of their culture. You can't expect them to change something like that so quickly when everyone is doing it.