Yes, “racist” means just about anything nowadays, and so the word means nothing. What to call that rare bird who really *is* a racist now that the word has lost its original power and meaning? There’s no way to call out the real deal after claiming every non-wokey white person is racist.
A goodly segment of the lefties seem to think any white person who does not loudly and often call others “racist” is a racist. It’s insane.
I mainly hung out on foreign affairs threads during the Bush years here, so I missed the Klown Posse and all that. Sad they used the racism charge to cudgel those against illegal immigration. Illegal immigration is illegal immigration and carries all number of ills — including harms to those who cross borders illegally — I could care less what race the illegal immigrants are.
Anyway, it’s sad the word “racist” has been so ill-used and overused it’s lost all meaning other than insult. I’m ferocious when it comes to throwing the word “genocide” for that reason. If we go around calling every war crime, every crime against humanity, every human rights violIation and every war we don’t like “genocide” that word will lose its power and meaning, too.
“Yes, “racist” means just about anything nowadays, and so the word means nothing.”
It’s infinitely malleable and always has been. The trick has been to exploit this for political and economic and social advantage.
Jesse Jackson and his pals made a great living by “Mao-Maoing the flak catchers” in Tom Wolfe’s great phrase from 1970.
Affirmative action and racial quotas and minority set-asides and “equity” all benefit from it.
Obama owes his Presidency to gullible whites who put Making A Great Statement ahead of paying any attention his progressive agenda.
Maybe the coming generation will be wise to the infinite racism scam and won’t be intimidated by the accusation.
I wonder if anyone remembers Tom Wolfe or the Mao Mao rebellion. They probably think it was Chinese.