Are we becoming more racist as a nation, or less?

[LiberalLoner]

I used to think that with each new generation, we would become less and less racist. I had hope for the future.

But then I've been reading that participation in racist hate groups is way up, and in conversations with people, they've said that people are teaching their children to be more hateful, that there is an upswing in teaching racism to children.

So I'm not sure which direction we are going in as a nation. I don't know if it just seems like we are becoming more racist because of the backlash against President Obama, or if we really are becoming more racist as the economy sours and people look more and more for scapegoats.

Just wondering what all of you think.

[DrDan]

1. I think the racists are getting more vocal

Those loud town meetings of the past summer seem to have given a loud voice to some of the most racist among us.

I really don't think racisim is getting worse - but certainly not getting any better either.

[Posteritatis]

19. Yep. Fewer racists, more horsepower to the remaining ones. (nt)

[Coventina]

2. We are becoming less bigoted, but that makes the bigots scream louder.

So it seems like there is more of them.

They are feeling insecure, because it is becoming apparent that most don't secretly feel the way they do. That makes them louder and more shrill.

YMMV

[leftstreet]

3. +1

[Zoeisright]

8. +1000

Yep, that's it. And as they feel their tenuous grasp on a fictional land of white people slip away, they are going to scream even more. But they're dying off.

[EFerrari]

20. How do you figure that? The black community was targeted

for those impossible mortgages just as those payday loan outfits locate themselves in those neighborhoods. Our schools are being resegregated. The first tool of election frauds is to spoil black ballots or suppress the black vote, witness Florida and Ohio.

Maybe on the surface, now Palin has to say "Obama is not like us" and wink but the deep structure of racism in this country hasn't changed very much as far as I can tell.

[Coventina]

25. Personally, I think it is more about a war against the working class

than it is about ethnicity.

It happens that because of institutionalized and historical bigotry, there is a disproportionate number of non-white Americans in the working class and those that are below the poverty line.

Institutionalized bigotry still exists, but I think it is focused more on the "have-nots" than it is focused on skin color.

These are my non-scientific observations, and like I said, YMMV.

[EFerrari]

26. I go back and forth on this but you don't see Armageddon Spice

dog whistling about poor people. What a loathsome human being she is.

[GrantDem]

28. +1

[LiberalLoner]

4. Thank you for the replies! I hope there will be fewer racists in time.

[my2sense]

5. People are more comfortable expressing their

racist feelings. It's always been there, right under the surface.

[blogslut]

6. I think the racism is just more out in the open

...than it was since the social revolution of the sixties. I really don't think there are more racists. I think there are just more of them willing to declare it. Hiding one's bigotry has become a kind of twisted norm. You can have a person spout dog-whistle platitudes and that person will turn around and flat-out swear they are not racist.

[Caliman73]

7. It is cyclical

Racism is a way of life for some people. We are all marred by the history of racism, which is not new even to America. We were founded by racists, racism took on an American flavor, and it continues. Even the targets of racism seem to believe the hype to a certain degree. Racism is often exacerbated by insecurities. At a time where our economic future is not looking good and the demographics of the nation are changing, the atmosphere is ripe for a surge in the expression of racism. I don't think that there are numerically more racists in this country relative to the numbers in the past. I think it is just that we are hearing from them more loudly than in prior years. They think their way of life is threatened. They are scared.

[seabeyond]

9. yes... both racist and sexist and become more mainstreamed and accepted.

i think overall we are becoming an uglier and more unaccepting people...

[Gidney N Cloyd]

10. Less racist but the racists are closing ranks, getting bolder and louder than recent years.

[ShortnFiery]

11. Neither, the only color that matters now in the Corporate USA is mean GREEN!

[el_bryanto]

12. I think part of it is that the right wing percieves that they will be accused of racism either way

They beleive that if they say "We need to cut off funding for low income housing" they will be accused of racism no matter what their rationale is. So in for a penny in for a pound. At least with some of them.

Of course there are still plenty who take great pains to fend off accusations of racism - and Steele, despite being kind of a dip, is the RNC Chairman at least partially because of that.

Bryant

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

13. Less.

Cutting out the cancer will produce some screams.

Note: Still pretty(very, extremely, outrageously) weak for year 245.

[Arkansas Granny]

14. I think there are fewer racists, but the ones that are left are making more noise

than in recent years.

[Xenotime]

15. Agreed.

[emulatorloo]

22. And give way too much airtime and credibility on Cable News

[Nye Bevan]

16. We have progressed from enslaving blacks to segregating blacks to electing a black president

so of course we are becoming less racist. Sometimes people lose sight of the big picture.

[EFerrari]

18. Um, we have progressed from slavery to imprisonment.

What a leap.

That's the big picture. There are about the same number of black children living in poverty today as there were when King was speaking.

We now have a black president who says he's the president of "all Americans" and who told the CBC that the stimulus would help the black community, which it hasn't.

We can do better. This isn't really progress, it's just displacement.

[EFerrari]

17. Imo, it depends how you think of racism.

I think of it as mostly a means of economic control (that gets fanned culturally) so, the economic interests at work have no problem using racism to get what they want. It's not going to hurt them.

Don't know if you're interested but I watched Tavis Smiley's "Black Agenda" forum last night. This is what some black leaders are saying about this moment. It's hours long but I found it well worth the time.

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/292635-7

[snooper2]

21. less as they die off...

nt

[eridani]

23. I think markedly less. However serious economic distress aggravates

--such racism as is retained, and also religious and other differences.

[proteus_lives]

24. There will always be racism in human societies.

But against who and what level will change constantly.

[mzclinton05]

27. Race

I completely agree with you that racism has increased since obama was elected, and here's my theory:
The right wing nut groups are out there and they are mainly targeting obama's race. I'm telling you right now it is getting scary out there and if something is not done, there's gonna be a huge race riot. I thought we were past racism in america but apparently these people hate to see a black president in the white house.

[Subdivisions]

29. Nothing has changed. It's just that the racists now have something to crow about. n/t