Does the word "Liberal" mean "N"""a Lover?

[Sweetpea]

I just watched a documentary called "The N Word" on Trio. There was a man who said he didn't vote for Johnson because he was a "N""a Lover. That time was not that long ago. When I hear Neocons say "liberal", it is with the same loathing that man said n""a lover. Because it isn't politically correct to say that term now, liberal has to be a partly coded name.

[Solly Mack]

1. the word liberal is used as a code word among rightwingers

it's intended to represent everything they think is wrong with the country...to include your example.

[LizW]

17. Racist code words

I was just reading lately about racist code words and how adept the Republicans have become at using them. I think I read this in "The Emerging Democratic Majority", but it's out in the car right now, so I can't check.

After Nixon observed the success of George Wallace's naked appeals to racism, he did the same thing through the "Southern Strategy". By the time Reagan ran for President, certain issues had become codes for racist appeals to the extent that he could just say them right out. The biggies are "school choice" and "safe schools" (meaning, we know you don't want your children going to school with those black children), law and order/tough on crime (appealing to white people's fear of black people), and affirmative action/quotas (don't let the black man take your job away).

Liberal is a code that encompasses a lot of things, but not so much the racist codes, I think. The Repugs use it more as code for "tax and spenders" (they'll take all your money and give it to the undeserving). It does have a racist flavor, especially the way Reagan used it in conjunction with stories about the "welfare queens", but I don't think it's particularly a code for the out and out racist phrase you mentioned.

[Spider Jerusalem]

53. Don't forget "states' rights" and "limited government"...

although they aren't just code-words for racism, although race is certainly some part of it. Right-wingers, or at least the variety we seem to mostly have here in the US, are possessed of a terrible fear of change, and an almost psychotic belief in the American myth of "rugged individualism", leavened with a touch of religious mania. These elements combine to lead to their opposition to the threatening spectre of social progress (gay marriage, decriminalisation of soft drugs, affirmative action, et cetera); a rigid denial of the social functions fulfilled by government, especially in a nation with religious freedom and no established church where many functions of church ought rightly to be fulfilled by the state (welfare being the most important); and a most frightening push towards theocracy based on the fundamentalist Protestant interpretation of Christianity.

Conservatism is, at best, a limited, very narrow, and ultimately quite selfish worldview.

[Enraged_Ape]

2. Pardon me, but how the hell do you equate that other term to "Liberal"?

It sounds like YOU'RE the one making the terms equivalent, not the documentary you watched.

[Solly Mack]

4. You misunderstand Sweetpea. She means when right wingers use the word

liberal, they use it as a code word for phrases like N@#$ Lover.

[Enraged_Ape]

11. I still don't get the connection

I think YOU'RE putting it there, not the wingnuts.

Right wingers use the word "Liberal" as a synonym for "lowest scum on the face of the earth", period. If there's a pointed racist subtext, I am absolutely unaware of it, and it really disturbs me that Sweetpea would be the one to bring it up. It makes me wonder what Sweetpea's got going on behind the keyboard.

[Sweetpea]

12. For a racist, a N''a lover would be next to the lowest thing on earth.

Why would it disturb you that I would bring it up? do you know me?

[Enraged_Ape]

14. This whole discussion is nuts

You could have just as easily equated the right wing's use of the word "Liberal" to "scumbag", "shit-for-brains" or "commie", and yet you chose that particular off-the-wall interpretation. Why? I really think that says more about how YOU frame it than it does them.

[Solly Mack]

18. I'm from the south, trust me..it's not off-the-wall

I've also been on the receiving end of racists. They do use it that way. Why is this so hard to believe? To a right winger, the word liberal is a catch-all word for all things they hate.

[Enraged_Ape]

20. But nationwide, as a synonym for the term you suggest?

Give me a fucking break. I'm very sorry that you've been the victim of racism. That's terrible and unconscionable. But there is a whole lot more behind the right-wing use of the term "Liberal" than what you suggest. It's simply become the simple, easily repeatable "meme" for everything that our corporate masters dislike--i.e., everything that doesn't adhere to what THEY want.

[Sweetpea]

23. But I do feel there is an strong element of racist thought when the

term liberal is used against someone. I don't think it is all about money and corporations especially in the South.

[Solly Mack]

24. I'm never said it was solely what they meant by liberal . I said it was

ONE of the things they mean.

and it is

[drdigi420]

58. Yes, nationwide, the repukes are presenting the Dems as

the party of 'niggers and queers'.

They are already trying to convince the knuckledraggers that voting for a Dem means you are a sissy.

[Heddi]

21. Yes. I agree.

Being called a "Nigger Lover" is...just...the...worst insult someone can give you if you are white and live in the South. I suppose that I'm not sure if such a phrase is used in other areas of the country, as I've lived nearly my whole life in South Carolina.

It is a very powerful insult in the south. Same way that liberal has become an insult. I don't know if it would be as strong as calling someone a Nigger Lover, but the "connection" is there. It seems that lately, being a liberal *IS* worse than being a Nigger Lover (to those who would use such terms). At least on the same level as, which is just as bad.

The OP is saying quite true things. I'm sorry that people who may not have grown up hearing such words on a regular basis, for a specificifically intended purpose don't understand the situation.

But I do, and I agree with the poster 100%

[Sweetpea]

Because I am Black and I am from the South (north carolina)

And have grown up being discriminated against as well as my family. Racism has changed forms. It is not off the wall to think that those people would have a new way to define candidates who do no support their core beliefs.

[Solly Mack]

15. Uh, No..sorry. The right wingers put it there

It should only disturb you because right wingers DO intend it that way ...among the many other ways they intend the word liberal when they use it. It's not the only way they use the word liberal but it is one of the things they mean when they use it.

[zeemike]

22. Not to dispute you but

That is correct, it is a code word for Niger lover. (there is no shame in saying it out loud)
But it is a perspective that can be seen only form a certain age. I lived in the south from 1964 to 1980 and have seen a lot of racism and I can assure you that at that time it was clearly a code word. George Wallace called them pointy headed liberals.
I could not count the times I have heard the Kennedy's referred to as Niger lovers, particularly Bobby who was hated by every redneck south of the Mason Dixon line.

[Enraged_Ape]

26. Not to dispute you (as a fellow New Mexican), but that is crazy

Maybe some people think that "Liberals" are (as you say) "Nigger-lovers", but for the word "Liberal" to be used by right-wingers as equivalent with that term? That, my friend, is unadulterated horseshit.

[Sweetpea]

30. WMD's is horse shit

Codes are still used in banking, housing and hiring to discriminate against people of color. Now maybe some conservative people may use the word liberal without the understanding of the history of the word but I do believe that there is a huge element in that group who are racists and they choose wording to align themselves with similar thought.

[Enraged_Ape]

36. I sort of agree with you

But that's not what you said originally. You 100% equated the word "Liberal" with something else.

[mrfrapp]

54. Codewords

Can you give some examples of the discriminatory codewords used by the "banking, housing and hiring" industries.

[Sweetpea]

56. Sometimes it is just a number.

I was looking for articles on the internet on this topic. So far all I could find was this <http://www.stanford.edu/~jbaugh/baugh.fft>

[zeemike]

39. Living in NM as we do

It is much harder to understand.
I look forward to the day that we can stand up and say with pride that we are nigger lovers.
Yes I love black people, they are artistic, funny, smart, interesting, and full of life. Yes I do love them.
And some day Black people just may stand up and admit that they love whitey.
Love is always a good thing is it not?

[Swamp Rat]

48. I've never been to Niger but they say it's nice.

;-)

[Kahuna]

27. Calm down. I do believe that n* lover is a component of the "L" word...

Inasmuch as liberals are pro affirmative action and for social programs that help minorities (though not exclusively minorities), wingnuts would consider "liberals" n* lovers. For the record, I'm black. And while I know that the insult, "liberal" encompasses a lot of things to wingnuts, I do believe it also is intended as a derogatory code word for people who promote programs that appeal to or help minorities. Is it any coincidence that the so-called southern strategy and the derogatory use of liberal are both used by wingnuts interchangeably? I don't think so.

[Solly Mack]

29. I think "Liberal" as an umbrella term (that encompasses)

all things right wingers hate escapes some...but good luck!

For the record, you're dead on.

[Enraged_Ape]

33. I can see I'm not going to win this argument

Because I'm dealing with people who would see racism in someone farting while standing in line at the post office.

"Liberal" is nothing more than the right-wingers' catch-all term for...well, everything they hate. Do they hate people of color? Yeah, most likely. Do they hate white people who are on welfare? You better believe it. Do they hate anything that threatens their vision of a world where THEY are in charge and Jesus is Lord in the courts and the schools? Absolutely.

[Sweetpea]

37. This type attitude is what has movedmany blacks away from even

liberal types. Dismissing racism as something imaginary. And remember Christians in this country had slaves so Jesus being Lord doesn't keep you from being a racist. When you look at people as inferior, it is different than just disliking them for their look.

[Enraged_Ape]

38. Did I say that racism is imaginary?

Did I?

[Sweetpea]

40. The sarcasm in seeing racism in a fart.

And I brought up Jesus because someone pushing the Jesus agenda doesn't not absolve them from being a racist.

[Enraged_Ape]

41. Have it your way, Sweetpea

As a proud, unabashed liberal, I guess I'm just a "nigger-lover", according to you. Guilty as charged.

[Sweetpea]

42. It hurts doesn't it....

:pals:

[ronabop]

52. I am a nigger lover.

I am also a commie lover, a jew lover, a pinko lover, a wop lover, a faggot lover, a polack lover, a hippie lover , a longhair lover, a pseudo-intellectual lover, a god-hater lover, a flag-burner lover...

Oh, yeah. I'm a liberal too.

But first and foremost, I am a proud, and patriotic, American.

Because you can't be a proud American *without* also being a commie lover, a jew lover, a pinko lover, a wop lover, a faggot lover, a polack lover, a hippie lover, a longhair lover, a pseudo-intellectual lover, a god-hater lover, and a flag-burner lover.

E Pluribus Unum.

-Bop

[Sweetpea]

7. Well, it isn't politically correct to say N''a lover anymore

Those people are still alive.

[kaiso]

3. You might be on to something....

I believe freepers use 'liberal' as code for many things, not just 'N' lovers.....

[Zen]

5. Yeah, I think you're onto something there...

Whenever I get to know a conservative well (I don't let people know my politics often), they inevitably start spewing ignorant prejudiced or bigoted viewpoints. Never met a conservative who didn't hate certain group(s) due simply to race, political or religious beliefs.

[BayouBengal07]

6. Liberal has been made into such a dirty word

by Conservatives that now whenever I read it I instinctively read it in a twisted, dirty, angry tone in my head. We've been brainwashed into thinking that everything wrong in America can be summed up by the dirty little L-word.


Also, I saw a show on the history channel about the KKK, and they showed a rally where the Grand Dragon or whatever blamed America's problems on "N***** loving Jew Liberals". Made me feel warm inside.

[physioex]

9. Don't worry we will take it back...

Actually the Christian Fundamentalists are the strongest supporters of Israel. Look at Robertson and Fallwell, so this makes no sense whatsoever....

[BayouBengal07]

16. well it doesnt make sense

because I had the quote wrong. It didn't look right, but the right one just dawned on me.

The Christian Right supports Israel because apparently, if God's chosen people control the holy land, Jesus comes back. Or something.

[physioex]

43. That's right...

Welcome to DU :hi:

[guitar man]

32. While we are at it

Let's see if we can "dirty up" the term "conservative" a little more. Boosh and his thugs are doing a pretty good job of it, but I'd like to see the term become as generally reviled as they have managed to make "liberal." If the media would just stop softballing maybe we could make some headway.

[Sweetpea]

35. It is funny. I don't think racist when i hear conservative

but I do when I hear NeoCon.

[physioex]

45. Haaaah..Impossible..

As far as I am concerned, the media is waaaay to conservative. Turn to any band on your AM radio. You have all flavors of Wing Nuts from local to nation liberal voices are just background noise.... No one would like to see what you mentioned more than me, but it's just a fantasy...

[Sweetpea]

46. I am reading this book called Alienable Rights

And it talks about even how racist, though well intentioned, some of the abolitionists were. One believed that black skin should be treated like disease like leprosy. There was a black man named Henry Moss who had vitiligo and was used as an example of what could happen if a negro was exposed to white people. It is a great read.

[flaminbats]

49. even a liberal can be racist..

A liberal is someone who believes in liberty for all. This doesn't mean that they are not prejudice. Liberals understand better than most that racism exist in all of us, and the best way to protect liberty for all is to improve education, end discrimination in the private and public sectors, and to support individual rights over any government's rights.

One final note, I have read Alienable Rights. This is nothing more than a sick defense of state's rights and slaveholders as property owners. This book begins with the idea that we are not created equal, that our rights come from the states not God, and that human beings in chains were not really human.

[Sweetpea]

55. How the heck did you get that interpretation from the book?

Alienable Rights? "The Exclusion of African Americans in a White Man's Land 1619-2000" Is not a defender of slaveholding or states rights. You must have some other book.

[Blue Wally]

60. About 1970

Because of the overwhelming idnetification of voters with the Democratic Party as opposed to the Republican Party or independents, the Republicans began to try and separate the Democratic voters from their party (and not just in the south). Remember that voters tend to decide based on an everchanging mix of security, economic, and social concerns. The Republican strategy was to identify certain Democrats as "liberal" and out of touch with the rank-and-file Democrats such that the blue collar worker was justified in voting against the Democratic candidate. Here are the themes:

1. Security:

a. Foreign Affairs/Defense: World government by the UN, soft on Communism (a bit passe' now), hate America, make America weak, weaken our defenses.

b. Internal Security: Fear of crime (has a racial component), fear of terror.

2. Economic: Tax and spend (income taxes have resonated since 1970s inflation), welfare queens, take away your hard-earned money, inflation/stagflation.

3. Social;

a. Fear of change: Radical feminism, gay rights, affirmative action.

b. Schools deteriorating.

c. Anti-religious.


Even fair-minded folks who are not overtly racist, sexist, or homophobe are still "uneasy" and are targets for a skillful use of these themes. Too many on the left reinforce the Republican message by their rants which "prove" the GOP message to Joe and Sally Sixpack.

[physioex]

8. I understand what you are saying Sweat...

I am not sure how old you are, but Raygun used code words like "states rights" in the south during his campaign. And most southern whites know what that means. It's things like this that divide the country and makes it easy to conquer....

[Fight_n_back]

10. Thats the code word

I saw a man on TV say he wouldn't vote for Dukakis becuase "He would give too much to blacks"

Its why the Willie Horton ad worked. Its why Clinton had to "reform" welfare. It is the Republican "Southern" strategy.

[flaminbats]

13. I'm happy with either name...

just don't call me a freeper you darn pansy!

[Rowdyboy]

19. You are so right!

Liberal was not a dirty word until the mid-late 1960's. The Civil Rights movement tore southern white Democrats away from the party; then, the anti-war movement tore middle-class union members away. Even though their economic interests remained with the Democratic party, their social issues (anti-black and pro-war) easily took preference in 1965. George Wallace represented both viewpoints and took nearly 14% of the vote in 1968.

Even in the rest of the country, the world liberal has terribly negative connotations. It unfairly came to represent drugs, disrespect, and weakness. You can run and win as a progressive now, just not a liberal.

Please, if you can, explain to me the difference in the two...

[flaminbats]

25. there is a difference...

a liberal can support basic civil liberties..but not support public education, universal healthcare, or a progressive tax code. A progressive like Truman or F.D.R. can support public education, national healthcare, and progressive income taxes..not because those are civil liberties, but because they help the nation's economy and businesses.

In the early 20th century one could be progressive and not liberal...or vice-versa. But today, most American progressives are also liberals.

[mellowinman]

28. Just one of many.

I regularly argue on another board with a poster named "Whitey." He doesn't offer even a lame explanation of why that's his name (white hair; just really pale; nothing,) and to me every post of his says:

"There goes the neighborhood," "Liberals kicked God out the door of schools and let the Blacks in," or whatever, but he's just subtle enough that everybody who posts there manages to find an opportunity to call me a "race baiter."

That's what I am, folks. A race baiter. I WANT people to find racism where there isn't any. I want to make the White Man look bad because I feel guilty, because I'm some unclean hippy, and "some of my best friends are Black people."

I'm sick of Whitey and his KKK friends. And I'm sick of the Jew-bashers, who are on many of my favorite boards, and even hide among the liberals.

A TRUE liberal (which is what I am,) sees all people as being equal, and doesn't allow ANY discrimination; White, Black, Asian, Native American, Gay and Lesbian, Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic; however you want to divide people up, Dogs and Cats; Brown eyes and Blue eyes; we are the political group of ABSOLUTE INCLUSION, which means we would even include freakin' CONSERVATIVES, as long as that conservatism didn't involve discrimination. For example, if they were all "traditional values" such as "don't beat your wife," "don't let the kids get on the drugs," WITHOUT all the "no same sex marriage" BS, I would hang with them.

After all, "some of my best friends" are conservatives.

There are a lot of Anti-Black buzzwords, and they only thinly hide the underlying racism that still permeates too much of Mainstream American Society.

As a White Male, I have the unique privilege of having racists and other types of assorted bigots get the idea they can clue me in, like I'm automatically sympathetic to their cause.

I worked in a restaurant for years. A mixed race couple comes in, and a dorky white guy says to me, "don't you hate it when they steal our women?"

I looked at him and said, "dude, there's nothing you could've done to make that lady YOUR woman," and he said, "oh, because she only likes Black Guys?" and I said, "no because she obviously doesn't date fucking DORKS."

I'm fucking SICK OF THIS SHIT, Sweetpea! I'll tell you one thing; anybody tells you you're racially oversensitive, or whatever, send 'em my way, and I'll be happy to tell them to fuck right off.

Not that that'll do any good or anything, but hey, at least they'll get to hear it one more time, right?

I don't know if I just ranted, or helped make any kind of point, but thanks for listening.

[Sweetpea]

31. I am glad I am not imaging things.

[Solly Mack]

34. I like the way you rant!

[zeemike]

44. You did the right thing

You didn't let them get by with saying it to your face, you through it right back at them.
When enough white people call them on there stupidity they will keep there racist thoughts to themselves, and that is a start in gutting the racist idea.

[drmom]

47. Not so far fetched...

...when I use the word "conservative" it's really code for "old, rich, selfish, white guy".

[Chili]

50. you're not imagining anything, Sweetpea

The word "liberal" has come to mean a lot of things, but the code embedded in it is "Those Who Give Your Hard-Earned Tax Dollars to Black Welfare Mothers so They Can Buy Cadillacs." It resonates viscerally with the bigot branch of the Republican party - a large part of Bush's base - like no other words can. That's why Republicans are jumping up and down screaming LIBERALS! LIBERAAAAALLLS! at Kerry and Edwards, spewing spittle and popping veins, they're so vehement about it. And Democrats are completely powerless to say anything to that "charge" of being - God forbid - LIBERALS! What can they say? Can they sputter "I'm *gasp* not a liberal!" and thereby alienate their most loyal base, the black voter (not to mention real liberals who believe in social reform)? No, they can't. Can they embrace the word and say, yes, I'm a liberal, and I'm damn proud of it?" NO. Because that would alienate the moderate/Reagan Democrats who are just a leeeettle too uneasy about welfare and other social programs themselves - and they're needed just as much as the black voter. So what do they do? Ignore it. That's why I say, instead of taking all that crap lying down and buckling to the racist element of that mentality, liberals should redefine the word Liberal and say it over and over and over again: being a liberal means caring about ALL Americans, it means being generous and compassionate about the progress of not just the poor, but the middle class... so that the black community doesn't think it'll be abandoned for political expedience, and so that the white moderate who voted for Reagan in the past won't bolt, and all the liberals in between can stop hiding from the word like it's a dirty word. I wish this would happen, but the priority is to take back the White House; redefinitions might have to wait. (and it's only when it comes out of the mouths of Republicans - and their talking heads - does it have a racial connotation. It means something else entirely to those who really are liberal)

[JackDragna]

51. It sure as hell is coded..

..when Republicans go after "liberals" in the South for their support of welfare and affirmative action, everyone knows what they're talking about. The same people I talk politics with in my favorite bar who support Republicans accuse me of being a nigg!r-lover all the time. Anyone who doesn't think the two words are synonymous in the conservative lexicon is fooling themselves.

[Shopaholic]

57. I live in South Carolina

and have lived here my entire life. And I can tell you for a fact that the repugs gained a foothold here because they used the word liberal as a code word for N-lover. They preached against affirmative action, against school integration & "forced" busing, against equal opportunity laws and promised school vouchers. The whole school vouchers thing is key because it allows racist southerners the opportunity to get their kids private schooling subsidized by the government. I can't tell you in how many cities & towns-both large and small-where public schools became primarily black schools because the whites all snatched their kids out of public schools and threw them into private schools to avoid having them go to school with N******. I've heard it time and time again. I've seen neighborhoods up in arms when a black family moves into their "suburban paradise." I've seen discrimination a million times over in the work place. And anyone who doesn't think otherwise hasn't live in the south and seen it firsthand like I have or is burying their head in the sand. I have literally been told by some that they'd never vote for Dems because we're "for the n******". They believe the whole Welfare Queen stories-they believe that all blacks receive food stamps and Medicare and welfare. I could go on for hours but this is the sort of thing I live with as a white, liberal Democrat in the south every single day.

[cap]

59. codetalk: liberal = n*lover

no one talks about poverty being a white issue. Once it's a black issue we dont have to do anything about it.

Poor whites have their egos goosed by this. At least they are better than someone else.

[Onlooker]

62. That's really scary

The term is obsolete at least in Boston. If someone called me that, I'd probably be both embarrassed for them and astonished by them.

[ProfessorGAC]

61. No. It's Code For "Smart People"

Look, when the whole conservative movement started, they devised a tactic of demonization of those that they knew would be opposed to their POV.

They also knew one or more of 4 things:
1) Their ideas were intellectually bankrupt, unworkable, unfair, and counter to the general welfare, benefitting only a very narrow elite.

2) Knew they were poor at winning any debate specific to the issues since they didn't have any facts that would support their contentions.

3) That their ideas would appeal to those who were ignorant of the facts, incapable of analysis, or indifferent to anything but themselves.

4) The folks in 2 & 3 were intimidated by smart, highly educated people.

So, their only recourse was to turn the word "liberal" into a perjorative term, and they intentionally targeted those folks with the most awareness, best ability to think critically, and would be easy targets for the large, truly unwashed, masses.

So, the word is really used to describe "scary" smart people. Racial overtones are merely a by-product of the fact that most of these smart people don't have any racist tendencies, so they support equal rights and racial diversity. That's just a side-benefit to them as they target the bigots who vote Republican.
The Professor

[JNelson6563]

63. I know a Rethug who said

"The only people who vote for Democrats are n*s and losers".

I said I vote Democratic, what does that make me? Looking at my pasty Irish complexion sitting in my house that is much larger and nicer than hers she had no answer.

Brainwashed.

Julie

[linazelle]

64. Hmmmm....where to begin...?

You seem to be asking if liberals are N-Lovers. Just because A man called the former president this derogatory name, doesn't mean everybody else thinks that way. I don't think any party can be labeled with that name, nor can any race be saddled with it.

On the other hand, liberals/democrats are the big tent of politics. Many who aren't monied enough for a variety of reasons--and that includes a lot of minorities--are not the darlings of the republiCONS.

[Sweetpea]

67. It isn't just a word of A man

It is a belief system and a train of thought that is exposed by the election of leaders who support bigotry in coded ways.

[Az]

65. The divide is very simple

There are those that believe they know the true path we are supposed to walk and there are those that believe we can only determine the path by finding the truth as best we can. This is the divide. Conservatives believe that the particular thing they support is the one truth. All things must support this and those that don't are simply misunderstood.

Liberals meanwhile believe that we have to strive to figure out what the truth is. From this truth we can work to figure out where we should go. Because liberals support determining the truth to find the path they often will differ with those that are trying to force the truth to fit their world view.

Because the liberals will find themself in contention with the truth the conservatives need to have be true they are seen as spoilers. Liberals are a threat to the truth as conservatives wish it to be. As they believe it is the truth the liberals must be opposed to the truth. Anything opposed to the truth must be evil.

[rman]

66. yes, but that's not all;

the cause of that difference in mentality is imo more fundamental: simply put, RW-ers want everything (resources,wealth) to themselves, while Lefties are more in favor of sharing the riches of the land.

Of course the RW-ers can't just say outright what it is they want, because a vast majority would not agree. That's why they avoid real debate on the matter by assuming the role of authority ("i know best, trust me").