when any mass shooting happens is it the president’s fault?
i’m talking over the last few decades..
Those words do not fit the OED definition - actually, they match up quite well.
If you had a war of words with someone, a la Trump and the 4 Dems, and said
"I think white people are superior to black people"
Well, I think that belief matches up fairly well with this ...
Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
when any mass shooting happens is it the president’s fault?
i’m talking over the last few decades..
going by the OED definition, none of this matters - if Trump's words are racist we need to see how his words match up to the dictionary definition of racism.
Even if Trump said "I think white people are superior to black people" ... Maybe he doesn't actually believe that white are superior to blacks - but his words would be racist. Because they match up to the dictionary definition.
Saying 'go back to where you came from' doesn't match the definition of racism.
when any mass shooting happens is it the president’s fault?
i’m talking over the last few decades..
@Rubadub, ok fair enough.
My point is that this isn't necessarily helpful because it might show how political correctness has taken over our work place.
Certainly if that kinda thing was said in the average workplace it would be considered rude. I'm not making excuses for that kinda behaviour.
However, the racist label is used so much that the currency starts to become devalued.
If we're gonna use the word racist then it has to match the dictionary definition.
Because if we don't have direct access to others beliefs, and we use OED as our guide, we really can't say anything about anyone being racist. - no, I disagree. The grand wizard of the KKK is a racist. NoI leader Louis Farrakhan, speaking of white people being inferior 'white devils', is racist.
Trump telling political opponents to GTFOH? Well ...
when any mass shooting happens is it the president’s fault?
i’m talking over the last few decades..
Rubadub - your own words ...
1). The workers (4 women of color) call the boss a MF for being a racist. (italics mine)
when any mass shooting happens is it the president’s fault?
i’m talking over the last few decades..
Well, hell. . . ALL sentences are ambiguous! - not really, no.
If Trump had been caught saying 'I think white people are superior to black people', that would be an unambiguously racist statement. If Trump is or was a member of the KKK, then that would be unambiguous, too.
The evidence that supposedly shows Trump is a racist wouldn't stand up in a court of law.
He's been accused of being a sexual predator on the basis that he was caught saying 'some women will let rich guys get away with anything, grab their pussy, anything.' While what he said was obviously stupid, there needs to be actual evidence of him being a sexual predator if he really is one. Same applies to charges of racism.
when any mass shooting happens is it the president’s fault?
i’m talking over the last few decades..
@Rubadub - your poll doesn't necessarily suggest that the boss' behaviour is racist, instead it may suggest that political correctness has permeated most aspects of our lives, including the working environment.
We need to go back to the Oxford dictionary definition of racism.
1 Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
1.1 The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
^^^ Using the definition as a guide, is Trump racist? Was what he said racist?
when any mass shooting happens is it the president’s fault?
i’m talking over the last few decades..
I also think that if I were to say that to the four workmates -- even people I don't like and who don't like me -- there's no doubt that it would be coming from a racially motivated place.
That's why I would't ever say anything like that - a lot of people wouldn't say that because they have a filter, they realise that certain things are sensitive or could be taken in a certain way.
Telling people to go back to where they came is definitely said by actual racist people, but the sentence 'why don't you go back to where you came from ...' is ambiguous.
If Trump had been having a war of words with John Oliver and he told him the same, I don't think there'd be this much fuss and accusations of racism.
Again, the evidence that supports Trump's supposed racism is ambiguous at best.
when any mass shooting happens is it the president’s fault?
i’m talking over the last few decades..
I get into a major fight about some company policy or procedure. One of the women even calls me a mf-er in front of everyone at work - that's not the correct analogy.
The correct analogy would be: you and these 4 women get into a major war of words, one of the 4 women, a new recruit, says she's gonna have your ass fired or arrested and calls you MF.
Then you say, hey why don't these four go back where they came from and fix stuff, etc.
Trump's a brash, ugly-talking New Yorker who has no filter whatsoever. But that doesn't mean he's racist.
As an aside, there's a nice guy in the UK called Karl Pilkington. He and Ricky Gervais have a radio talk show. Karl has no filter and no idea about sensitivity. He was talking about Rosa Parks and said why didn't she want to sit at the back of the bus - she's lazy (XD). He had no idea that his words are offensive. He didn't see Rosa Parks as a person of colour, he just saw her as a person. He doesn't really think how his words calling her lazy have anything to do with a negative stereotype or unacceptable generalisation of black people as being lazy.
I think Trump is more aware than Karl Pilkington but he's in a war of words with political opponents. He was just saying some ugly stuff in response. Does Trump usually go up to people of colour and tell them to go home?
I don't think so.
when any mass shooting happens is it the president’s fault?
i’m talking over the last few decades..
I still think Trumps tweets -- the Tweets I read with my own two eyes on twitter -- about the 4 women clearly express a strong nationalistic sentiment (I think it would be difficult to refute that) and are at the very least racially charged - ok, but we must consider the context to those words. The context is that Trump and the 4 women are having an ugly war of words. Again, one of the women (I think it was the Palestinian-American) started her political career with 'let's impeach that MF.'
If someone went up to some random person of colour on the street and said 'get back to where you came from!', well, that's obviously very different.
I don't know about Trump's other tweets (it might be useful if you provide those) but re Trump vs the 4 Dem women, there is a context to his words.
Do I think Trump's words are ugly? Yes.
Do I think Trump should modulate his future speech? Yes, that would be good. I've already said in a previous post that, although Trump's blunt speech may have been refreshing to some in 2016 when he was taking on the political establishment, such refreshing bluntness can quickly grow tiresome, plus these are tumultuous times for the US in 2019. Trump would do well to adapt.
Is Trump a racist? The jury's still out on that one. (Supporting evidence needed.)
when any mass shooting happens is it the president’s fault?
i’m talking over the last few decades..
How do we convince white nationalists he isn't? - well, for a start, white supremacists believe one race is superior to another. That's unreasonable, so I wouldn't bother wasting my time on those losers.
But, most important, it shouldn't be up to us to prove a negative.
The onus lies on all the journos and politicians who day-in, day-out call Trump racist, to provide clear evidence of Trump's racism.
Trump telling Ilhan Omar, AOC, etc. to go home isn't evidence of racism. Those four women and Trump are fighting each other. I believe it was Tleib, the Palestinian-American, who started her political career with 'let's impeach that mother f**ker'.
Trump and those 4 women are having a war of words that's quite ugly. But none of that proves Trump a racist.
