(06-07-2020, 09:55 AM)Last42min Wrote: 1. No one is saying what you're suggesting. Even if you bring in the national guard, people can protest. Just don't loot anything, kill people. or burn stuff. It's not rocket science, and stop conflating the two. We aren't struggling with this concept. You are.

2. Agree.

3. This is a tired argument dragged out by the left to undermine American values. Yes. America's original sin was slavery. It was hotly contested at the time, and many people lamented the fact that they couldn't change it, while others saw it as a way of life. The price we paid came at a great cost. The traditions created a subculture of hate that fell out of favor in the 70's. What still exists are codified laws that infantilize blacks and treat them like they are less capable than whites, by a group of liberal elites that string them along for votes. So, yes. I agree that America still has racists. They just look like progressives.

1. You were struggling with this concept mere days ago. The right wing media made a clear play to discredit the protests based on rioting.  And you and JJ were totally on board with that conflation.

2. Glad we agree

3. These are the kinds of messages, most recently and prominently put out by Koch-funded grifter Candace Owens, that white people amplify to justify their commitment to doing nothing and sacrificing nothing.  I think it would be a noble cause to get more racial minority people on board with the Republican party.  Tying racial identity so strongly to political identity is dangerous.  So I'm all in favor of developing targeted messages to persuade at least some black people to change their allegiance, and then another message for each other minority group out there.  But telling blacks that they are being "infantilized" and kept "on the plantation" is not that message.  You have to establish that you understand why they vote that way now, that you accept it and even honor it, you just would like to point out a problem or two and you think they could be doing even better by voting with you.  Just like any other form of persuasion.  If 52% of blacks say that being black has hurt their prospects (and yes that's a real poll result from 2019), you're not going to change their mind with a wall of statistics or exhortations to grow up.  You have to empathize with their feelings first.

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