Quote:It exists more to those who want to push it to the for front [sic] because its easier to use that as an excuse than to just say hey, they simply don't like what he's doing. It's really sad and pathetic that is the easiest way to dismiss things now a days. It happens all too often.
I like Cam, I like the way he dances, I like when he smiles, I like when he gives footballs to kids....and guess what, I'm WHITE!
Wait a minute.
This is a country that, within the lifetime of a 50 year old person, had LAWS specifically governing
- where a person could live
- where a person could be after sunset
- from what water fountain a person could drink
- into what entrance a person could enter a restaurant
- with whom one could marry or procreate
- where a person could go to school
- what restroom a person could use
- whether a person could serve on a jury
and many other aspects of life, too numerous to delineate, all based on color.
Were the results of those all encompassing abhorrent policies not so tragic for so many generations of people, the reflexive dismissal of the mere possibility of racial animus would be laughable.
People tend to think that because there was a civil rights era in the 1960s, all bigotry somehow ended.
But if you asked these same people if the passage of the 55 mph speed limit in the 1970s actually stopped people from speeding who were inclined to do so, you'd get a resounding no. For that matter, they would also acknowledge that gun control laws would not deter the criminally inclined from obtaining a firearm, and that laws against murder do not actually stop the murderous, despite tangible penalties for violating each of those norms. People may not know the exact full range of possible sanctions, but they know if caught speeding, they could get a ticket, if illegally owning a firearm, they could get jail time, or murdering someone, they could get anything from jail to the death penalty.
But besides chafing from the perceived constraints of "political correctness," what do any of you know about tangible penalties for being a bigot?
The people who opposed the Civil Rights movement didn't simply magically become unbiased. Over time and exposure to other races, some reformed.
Others had children, and instilled their racial animus and intransigence into them. They grew up to become teachers, policemen, lawyers, doctors, nurses, salesmen, and all other walks of life.
Racial animus and its myriad manifestations didn't all just go away.