Yes on Derb. The man was unflinchingly honest,
In my experience, the people claiming to NOT be racists in the most pious language, and especially those who are pointing quavering fingers at others claiming they are racists... are the worst racists of all. They’re just oh-so-much more polite and genteel about it.
That’s well seen in the bluebloods from the northeast... eg, the NR/NRO staff.
Too many Americans bleat on endlessly about racism, as tho we alone invented it. I’ve got a newsflash for them: Go to Asia. You’ll see the varsity league racists out in force.
Quite frankly, I’ve heard this crap about “XYZ is raaaacist” as an attempt to shield Obama and his political cronies from critical review so often, I’m now of a mind to say “Yes, and *so what?* Are the facts stated by this racist wrong? Then you’re not going to make them go away by calling him a racist.”
“He’s a racist. Just because he may get something right once in a while doesn’t mean he should be admired.”
Depends on how you define racist. Whenever you meet someone you don’t know, but they have a distigushing characterisic that you have been able, over time, to identifiy with particular behaviours more so than for those without that characteristic, you are perfectly justified in using induction to make assumptions in the absence of specific knowledge about that individual.
When I see a cat, based on my experience, I expect it to meow. When I see a dog, I expect it to bark. That is MY experience. I know from my personal experience that blacks are more likely to commit violent crimes. If I’m on the street and I see a black person that I don’t know personally, I would be a fool to not rely on MY past experience to guide my actions.
It is essentially an information problem. Utilizing gneralizations/induction in the absence of specific information is something we all do every single day. I know black people who I don’t even see as black any more because I know them personally. But if I don’t know them, I will protect myself by relying on my past experience.
And that is NOT racism. Or if it is, then so be it.