Sometimes people say and do things that seem stupid on the surface. “Half this game is 90% mental” is a Yogi Berra quote that is funny but NOT stupid. It’s simply a confusing way of saying that the game is 45% mental. At other times, people say and do things that ARE stupid—on the surface or otherwise. But, we won’t even go there.
And, sometimes people are simply out-and-out lying zealots. They say and do things designed to prove some ideological point. They’re mindless ideologues for whom the ends always justify the means. They justify the harm from their stupidity as “necessary” collateral losses.
There is no shortage of examples in any of the above categories. Some of the stuff in the first category is sidesplitting comical. Most of the stuff in the second category is too stupid to mention. But, some of the third category stuff is downright gut wrenching cruel and we need to mention it simply because it devastates innocent lives and at times borders on the criminal.
I’m going to give a couple of examples here. One deals with racism (3rd category above) and the other deals with a Lefty favorite: pick on Sarah Palin (1st category above). I’m not going into any detail because many of you watch cable TV news, surf the Internet, and listen to talk radio like the rest of us do.
As well, some of you are Conservatives; some of you are Liberals, neither of which renders anyone stupid. But I think most of you are like me: wobblers around the middle, which I think is the more effective position.
The latest from the world of racism…
By now most of you, if you’ve been conscious over the past week, have heard about Shirley Sherrod (black) and the way Andrew Breitbart (white) victimized her by posting a doctored video on You...
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... of mock-Bushisms, the most famous of which was Will Farrell’s of SNL fame: “strategery.”
Sarah issues these things unapologetically and with a casual flare. It does not matter to her that they’re not REAL words because she has no idea that they are NOT real words. And besides, I’ll bet anything that some of them will BECOME real words simply because she’s used them.
In fact, for me the only thing more entertaining than her dropping these random word-bombs is watching the grammar-gods blow head gaskets over mostly nothing, like an occasional sentence ending with a preposition or splitting an infinitive for editorial flash (“to BOLDLY go where…”). You go, girl, but, at least for now and the near future, don’t tally me as a political “yes” vote.
Joe Walther is a freelance writer and publisher of The True Facts. You may comment on his column by clicking here.
I am an athlete, and also enjoy reading and watching political sitcoms. My parents are teachers who have raised me to work hard and have shared with me a lot of their political ideas and morals. Coming into this class I like to think I have a good idea of my Political Ideology and have a decent idea of the news that was happening around me. Through this class I hope to become more informed about the “Hot Button Issues” so that I can know exactly where I fall politically and become an informed voter. I hope these things will help shape me and maybe change my mind on some issues. Through all of this I am a liberal, socially and especially economically, considering both of my parents are teachers which is an underpaid profession ;this has influenced me to side with liberals on major issues or talking points such as abortion, same sex-marriage, and higher taxes on the rich.
Dr. Peggy McIntosh looks at white privilege, by “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” She describes white privilege as almost a special check or coin that she gets to cash in on. Dr. McIntosh tells that white privilege has been a taboo and repressed subject – and that many white people are taught not to see or recognize it. However, she is granted privileges (McIntosh 30). Dr. McIntosh goes on to describe twenty-six ways in which her skin-color grants her certain privileges. In example twenty, she describes how she can buy “…posters, postcards, picture books…” and other items that “…feature people of my race” (32). Additionally, in her first example, she talks about being able to be in the “company of people of my race most of the time” (McIntosh 31). Instances in which a privilege person would not even recognize unless they were looking, show evidence for white privilege. People take these advantages for granted because they simply expect them. Due to the lack of melatonin in her skin, she was granted privileges and her skin served as an asset to her. Dr. McIntosh conveys how her privilege is not only a “favored state,” but also a power over other
In her 16 January 2016 The Washington Post editorial, “What is White Privilege?”, Christine Emba asserts white privilege is a societal advantage inherent in people who are white, irrespective of their “wealth, gender, or other factors.” According to Emba, white privilege makes life smoother and is an entity that is hidden or unknown until the privilege is taken away. Although racism is still a rampant issue in society today, white privilege is a concept created by the progressive left in order to brand whites as a scapegoat for issues and adversities that non-whites face. This concept of privilege ultimately causes further dissension between whites and non-whites.
Many of the privileges that white people have are unnoticed as they have become such a daily part of life that not even people of color notice these privileges sometimes. Because of the portrayal of the typical person of color in media, institutional racism continues to exist, and it continues to bring out the hate and the fear of other races in people. In order to fight this injustice, people need to be made aware of these things, and as the studies have shown, awareness to white privilege
Many people in the United States society believe that people of all cultures, races, and ethnicities are now on an even playing field. People with this belief support their logic with the argument that since equal rights for people of color and women have been required by law for some time now, we are all inherently as equal as claimed in the Declaration of Independence. Many believe that race is no longer an issue, a viewpoint frequently referred to as color-blindness. National polling data indicated that a majority of whites now believe discrimination against racial minorities no longer exists. (Gallagher, 96) Color-blindness allows a white person to define himself or herself as politically and racially tolerant and then proclaim their adherence to a belief system that does not see or judge individuals by the “color of their skin.” (Gallagher, 98) Many Caucasians in particular are of the opinion that because they listen to hip-hop or cheer for their favorite black, professional sports player that they are not racist. Still others believe that because they have a black president, we see black people in the commercial of products we consume, or enjoy television shows with black people that they are actually acknowledging race. In order to examine and dismantle this series of misconceptions, we will turn to the work of various scholars of social justice and privilege, including Peggy McIntosh, Patricia Hinchey and Johnathon Kozol as well as the story of Patricia J Williams. Through a careful examination of these works with the support of some key statistics, it is the goal of this paper to demonstrate the existence of a privileged and unprivileged America, despite the color-blindness many may profess to have integrated into their p...
The media has, for as long as it’s existed, upheld white privilege while at the same time stereotyping people of color. The biggest way that the media, specifically the news, does this is how they advocate white people’s accomplishments the same way that they advocate alleged crimes by people of color. They want to criminalize people of color to make whit...
White privilege is institutionalized when the practices and policies of an institution systematically benefit whites at the expense of other racial groups. Peggy McIntosh published an article entitled “White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack”, which names in very clear ways, how everyday, having white skin confers privileges that white people don’t often realize they receive. By illuminating the many forms that white privilege takes, Peggy McIntosh urges readers to exercise a sociological imagination. She asks us to consider how our individual life experiences are connected to and situated within large-scale patterns and trends in society. She includes a “white privileges” checklist which include answering yes or no to statements. For example, can Chad Aiken confidently say “I can be pulled over by a police cruiser and not have to worry about it being about my race”, or “I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the “person in charge”, I will be facing a person of my race”. White people are generally free from this systemic bias, suspicion and low expectations that racialized people must endure everyday because it is built into our culture. When a criminal has white skin, his actions are never connected to his race, while a criminal perceived as a brown-skinned Muslim might inspire hatred and suspicion of other
America has had plenty of racial unrest, and what 's shocking is how we continue to ignore its side effects. Many people believe white privilege does not exist or it’s not a real thing even though America was built by white people, with a foundation for whites. White privilege is prevalent in America. They believe there is no way the color of someone’s skin, gives them a privilege. In reality, it does. No matter how much we ignore the fact, that the color of your skin can change the way you live, it’s true. It’s not fair, but it’s true.
Overall, previous studies showed that political liberalism and conservatism are correlated with brain structure. Liberalism is associated with the gray matter volume of the anterior cingulate cortex and conservatism is associated with increased right amygdala size. In addition, results offer possible accounts for cognitive styles of liberals and conservatives.
The people in power, white corporation leaders, want to oppress marginalized communities in order to exploit them to develop fear t...
“I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group,” Peggy McIntosh wrote in her article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Too often this country lets ignorance be a substitute for racism. Many believe that if it is not blatant racism, then what they are doing is okay. Both the video and the article show that by reversing the terms, there is proof that racism is still very existent in this world. By looking into A Class Divided and White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack along with their ability to broaden the cultural competence, once can see how race is still very prominent in our culture.
In Claudia Rankine’s article ‘The Condition of Black Life Is One of Mourning”, she describes systemic racism as “Vulnerability, fear, recognition, and an absurd stuckness.” Living in America as a white person is completely different than if you were black. If you are black, you
Every day, whether it is through our families, classes, churches, regional location, workplace, or the media we obtain unique views on how we feel the world should work in politics. Personally, during my lifetime these factors of political socialization, or the process of becoming politically aware, have led me to become a very liberal person for the majority of political issues. There is one view of mine that tends to lean toward the conservative side, but other than that from abortion to welfare I have a liberal ideology. My experiences with my close-knit family, conservative population at school, and the media are the largest influences that have shaped me into who I am today, and why I have these strong views on economic and social
For example, the article states that this type of violent act should not have occurred because this is case they would've seen in the 20th century (Robertson & Fausset, 2016). The media describes this incident as a shocking event that happened in Greenville, Mississippi. Also, the article appears to be bias because some of the investigators and leaders debate whether it's a hate crime and if so they are questioning if it is a civil rights crime. Race is viewed in a negative way as blacks and minorities are seen as threat to society. It is most evident in this article, which white people try to intimidate blacks by threating their rights. Honestly, I believe that race and ethnicity was downplayed because the article didn’t place emphasis on who they believed committed this crime. For instance, they did have a possible suspect in custody but was discharged because of lack of evidence (Roberston & Fausset, 2016). Mainly, I've learned that there are actual people that believe and feel the way Donald Trump feels about minorities. Lastly, I concluded that African American and minorities will forever be seen as a threat to
Without knowing how wrong these actions are someone might try to be like Hilter, racist or prejeduce against people different thatn themselves. Educating people is important, if not for education and knowledge there would be endless war, and in the words of H.G. Wells "If we dont end war, war will end us."