Racial prejudice has increased slightly since 2008 whether those feelings were measured using questions that explicitly asked respondents about racist attitudes, or through an experimental test that measured implicit views toward race without asking questions about that topic directly.
In all, 51 percent of Americans now express explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in a similar 2008 survey. When measured by an implicit racial attitudes test, the number of Americans with anti-black sentiments jumped to 56 percent, up from 49 percent during the last presidential election. In both tests, the share of Americans expressing pro-black attitudes fell.
Well THAT'S not very comforting now is it?
You know what I think? I don't think the percentage of Americans with racist feelings has increased one little bit. I just think that since there is an African American in the White House, it has simply provided carte blanche for people to unleash their hidden racist feelings while trying to hide them behind legitimate criticism of a sitting President.
("I hate his socialist, Marxist, anti-colonialist guts! But don't get me wrong, it has NOTHING to do with the fact that he's a ni**er." )
However I DO believe that the election of Barack Obama tapped into already existing racist feelings in a WHOLE BUNCH of people who never knew they were racist before.
And if we think we have recognized a spike in racism NOW, just wait until Obama wins that second term!
Yeah, we have a black president, but do you know how many African American senators we have?
ReplyDeleteZERO!
Zero black senators. Hasn't been one since 2010. And even then, there was ONE black senator, a political appointee to fill in Barack Obama's seat. Obama was the last black senator elected!
There are lots of black congressman but that's because the districts are drawn that way.
Whatever little faith I had in my "fellow Americans".......is dwindling.....dwindling.....
ReplyDeletenony @4:42 Mine too!!
DeleteI don't think racism has increased, I think we have always had just as many racists as we have now. It's just the racists have gotten more verbal since President Obama was elected, because their myth that blacks cannot achieve, has been squashed, since a black man has made it to the highest office in the land.
ReplyDeleteThere has always been successful, brilliant, black people, but many whites would not accept that truth. BUT since we have a black man as President, the racists cannot lie to their children anymore, telling them blacks are only capable of being servants.
Exactly, and they can't tell their children that he only got the Presidency because of affirmative action, either. It's not like he was spotted 30 electoral college votes because he was a minority, or that the votes of x number of states were designated for the black guy.
DeleteNo, the American people happily and willingly voted in greater numbers for Sen. Obama than for Sen. McCain.
I think you are exactly right, those people have always been there and now they are creeping out from under the slimy rocks and becoming vocal. I also think that the fact that he has been a shining success, he has accomplished more in 4 years than any predecessors in recent memory and comported himself beautifully, enrages those racist slimeballs because he is the exact opposite of what they want to believe he is. He and his family are beautiful examples of the perfect American family and that just drives the racists out of what is left of their minds.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, your opinion of this thing, is EXACTLY my opinion of it.
ReplyDeleteSeveral decades ago a man was awarded a grant from the federal government to identify migratory route changes that the Maine lobsters went through. Where did they go when they moved away from shore? The grant was around half a million dollars. It took the man about a month.
ReplyDeleteSeems no one in the government attempted to verify if it was a reasonable question he was trying to answer. All he did was ask the lobster fisherman if they knew where the things went. The answer? "Well, DUH!" (I mean, what kind of fisherman doesn't know where the fish go and how they get there? A general statement, folks!) Voila. Instant well-off dude.
The above question concerning racism seems to fall into the same category. At least, to me it does. They went to all that trouble to determine if there was racism in this country. The answer? "Well, DUH!'
No big surprise.
And as long as we have religions which generally accept the idea of racism and all the excuses they use for that, we will have racism.
Funny thing, though. Seems that the peoples who are responsible for the original spreading of all that racism and hatred (whether you think something like the Bible, as one example, was written by God or Man) aren't WHITE!!!!! You know what that means?
The white race is automatically inferior to those who were living in their holy books!
As a disclaimer, I say that not all believers are racist - but I'll bet the vast majority of those who AREN'T racist are not part of the "old school" religions currently spreading hatred and violence about gays and blacks and the rest of the races that aren't part of THEIR race. (Not to mention a religion that a certain ignorant piece of garbage currently running for POTUS! Yes, they CLAIM to have "changed" that attitude - on paper.)
Ask the people who pretend to live by those holy books to draw pictures of the people in those books and they will mostly draw white faces. Christ is almost always white with light brown hair and anglo features, as is almost every other biblical personality when paintings are done of people depicted in the Bible.
DeleteRacists have no concept of history or reality.
Olivia? I think that's what I just said.
DeleteSorry, I was agreeing with you in my own garbled way.
DeleteA thought to ponder. I love Obama - was an early supporter. I loath with a passion Clarence Thomas. I know his story from back at the beginning with Anita Hill and he hasn't gotten a bit better - only worse. I've never used the "N" word in my life except in private when contemplating Clarence Thomas' actions. In my mind Clarence Thomas is a "N" of the highest order. I'm a regular contributor here and not usually anonymous - but this is one time I must hide behind the "a" word. Would like some discussion on my feelings. Anyone else share them?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 5:02, I spent some time thinking about what you wrote. Don't out yourself, but do you think it could be your age? I don't use that word, but I was born just after the Civil Rights era, and when I was growing up, that was a hateful word that just wasn't used. I'm also so old that my peers didn't use that word jokingly among themselves, the way later-borns did.
DeleteI feel the same way as you do about the President and about Clarence Thomas, but I have never thought of him or anyone else as a "n" word.
DeleteIt just is not in my thought processes or vocabulary. I just tried to wrap my brain around it in reference to Thomas or a spectrum ranging all the way from Idi Amin to blowhard Herman Cain, and nope, can't do it. They are assholes. And I think they would be assholes no matter their race. (Cain :: Trump)
To call them a race referenced word due to their atrocious actions seems to me to imply that their behaviors and attitudes and actions are somehow intrinsic to their race and thus not their fault, or inevitable, neither of which I believe for a second.
I've heard all about Thomas's self-loathing, etc., but boo-hoo, everyone has childhood issues. You get over them or you don't. You use your background to make yourself a better human being or you don't. If you choose to act out your issues on those less fortunate or more vulnerable than you, then you are an asshole.
Based on the stunning diversity and glorious abundance of assholes parading across the world stage on a daily basis, I think it is safe to say that race has nothing to do with whether you are one.
*Disclaimer* I am not in any way suggesting that centuries of racial discrimination and unjust laws and practices have not had their effect on this nation. I believe that the government has an essential role to play in bringing and protecting justice and fairness and opportunity to all (see current voter suppression attempts as just one example).
I am thrilled to discuss something other than the size of Scara's boobies! I also am no fan of Clarence Thomas. I still often wonder how in the world this man got confirmed. When reading one of his boneheaded opinions, It has never occurred to me to call him the "N" word. It's gone from my vocabulary and from my inner dialogue. Growing up in the Sourh during the 1960's & 70's, I am certainly familiar with the word, but it is gone now. What I DO assign to Juatice Thomas is the worst slur I know, I call him a Reoublican.
DeleteNo, I don't think it is my age. I grew up in sophisticate DC where the word was not used, but summered in middle Georgia where it was and remains very common. I went to theaters in Georgia where the water fountains were segregated, rode Greyhound buses where blacks rode in the back, had maids who were much respected and loved. I worked with followers of Andy Young and James Lewis as well as people who marched in Selma.
DeleteIsn't it curious that Colin Powell doesn't seem to fall into the "N" category? How then can our wonderful president be pushed into this position? Why do these people not see that One of our Supreme Court justices is the biggest "N" of all times? Is "N" another word for poor white trash? Is there a bit of transference going on here? Would welcome a deeper discussion of this phenomena.
Lastly, why are women not marching in the streets with signs saying "Stay out of my Vagina"?
The word "Nigger" is a derogatory term meant to denigrate people with dark skin.
DeleteThe idea that some dark skinned people deserve that label due to their shifty character or attitudes, is really just a rationalization for people to use a word that they already want to use, and who are searching for just such a rationalization.
So no it is NOT okay to use it even when referring to Clarence Thomas.
At least that is the case in my opinion.
I have never thought of Clarence Thomas as the N word. Asshole starts with A and has nothing to do with race.
DeleteClarence Thomas is and always has been a shill for the neocons. Just as Scalia is. And John Roberts has been up to the point of that ONE vote on the ACA that has now resulted in his being labeled a traitor by the TeaPublicans on the far-right.
DeleteDon't let the partisanship issues intensify the bigotry issues. Hate the hate and not the person. Politics and the quest for power and greed transcend racial barriers, but racism is just another weapon when someone decides to "fight dirty".
Take Colin Powell, for instance. A military hero. An American success story. But last week Mitt Romney's senior campaign adviser hints that Powell is a racist who endorsed Obama because they are both black men.
Think about that. That's insulting one of your own party members who is endorsing the leader of the other party. It's natural to be disappointed and to be angry, but to do it in that manner shows a complete lack of self-discipline, civility, and is evidence of a win-at-all-costs strategy where "you are either with us 100% or you're the enemy".
I guess the Republican leadership never considered that Powell is intelligent enough to recognize the same neocon faces that were banging the war drums for the Iraq war that was ultimately fueled by false intelligence manufactured by those same neocons.
If Clarence Thomas had an ideology that was 180 degrees from his stated beliefs, the far-right would scorn him and use race as ammo to attack him.
I'm rambling here and struggling with several ideas at once, but yes, there is racism that exists at different levels and it can be used as a wedge between (and within) different groups with different goals, just as class and economic, religious or other value systems can be used to divide people.
I see that some are using the euphemism "asshole" where I used neocon. I concur, other than the fact that his is an asshole because he is a neocon, not so much vice versa.
Yeah they have crawled out from under their rocks...Nightline had a scarey segment on the current KKK in Mississippi last week. The children of these morons were excited to get their "robes" as young as 11. Their predictions on a 2nd term? Violence like you have never seen before...another civil war. As sad as it sounds, maybe that is what it will take to finally get rid of these traitors, at least it would ensure getting rid of the teabaggers in Congress, put them all in jail for treason. The old south never see the ties between their extreme poverty with their total ignorance being the largest welfare states in the country, consistently electing the worst of the worst in government. Astounding!
ReplyDeleteI hope to GOD that he wins a second term just to watch certain people's heads explode. It would serve them right, first amendment or not.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'd like to see them make good on their "move to Canada" threat. Won't they be surprised to find government sponsored health care and gay marriage?
DeleteThe racist hate has indeed always been there. It just didn't have anywhere to go until President Obama was elected. If no one is ever challenged about their feelings they are just left to boil right underneath the surface.
ReplyDeleteThat is why I laughed in the faces of people who kept spouting that post racial crap after the election.
Racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia--all the same.
Example. A good friend runs an office and one of the workers she supervises was an evangelical christian who had never met a Jewish person in her life. She was over the moon that my friend was Jewish and talked incessantly about her love of Israel and how god has chosen Jewish people, etc.,--- the entire talking points. My friend was uncomfortable but the woman was seemingly capable and friendly---until she wasn't. When she was gently called on her deteriorating work by my friend--she went there. She was all--Sorry I didn't go to one of those eastern liberal schools and am not as good with finances as YOU PEOPLE are. Yes, she said it. Of course she always thought it, but felt safe in her bigotry because she lived in a cloistered world of people just like her.
This country will never be post racial. You'd think when the old guard died out this would all be over---except, they have babies who sometimes live the hate for another generation.
Yep, the reason we cannot stamp out this cancer called racism is because the racists continue to pass it down to their children, and their children, on down from generation to generation.
DeleteIt can be stopped, it was in my family. Dad, born in 1931, was a die hard racist against anyone not white. Both my sister and I are not. Our kids are not, in fact one is married to a Mexican woman and the other one to a Chinese man.
DeleteBoth my sister and I made a conscious effort to jettison the racism my dad tried to pass on to us. I flat out told him if he ever used terms around my daughter like he did around me, he would never see her again.
Sometimes you just have to be the wall.
so excellent!!!! thank you for that.
DeleteAngela 5:33 am: yes, I've encountered that, too. I'm of Mediterranean descent, but fair-skinned, and I'm often mistaken for being Jewish. In the south, in particular, I get continuous snide, sneaky remarks about how "my people" are so good with money, when they're not telling me how much they LUUUUUV "my people".
DeleteWe should really thank $arah for making it OK to bring your racism out in public. Before racism was only talked about in "quiet rooms." So thank you $arah for making it OK to be a racist in public. Now, $arah, we don't have any question on who is racist like you!!!
ReplyDeleteMore to your point, most were afraid to be public about their racism. Fox News, Sarah Palin, "you lie" Joe Wilson, Mitt "I'm not finished speaking" Romney et al have gotten away with making disrespectful or insinuating racist comments concerning our president which their peers will not repudiate. I was raised to believe no matter your disagreement with his policies the president was expected to be treated as the most respected person in the world.
DeleteThose people have all made it not only acceptable but somewhat of a sport to be as vocal and sometimes vile as they choose when speaking of the president and by extension anyone that's not white.
When you shake cat litter, the poop comes to the top where you can smell it. Poop was always there, just hidden.
ReplyDeleteOh dear- shaking cat litter. That's really a wonderful analogy- can I use it even if I don't have a cat?
Deletedsmyre, I copied this and shared it on FB. Brilliant analogy.
DeleteVernD
Well, there's no stopping it here or anywhere else. Dumb is dumb, always was, always will be. Dumb people are everywhere and sadly they outnumber smart ones. Just the way it is.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to take a slightly "off" view here. While I agree that the racism that long hovered around was finally revealed through Obama's election (and hopeful reelection!), but I think it was a good thing to expose it.
ReplyDeleteLet it be exposed and mocked for what it is. Maybe it needs to be acknowledged before it can be cleaned up. I think those - mainly Republicans - who harbor vile racist views should finally be called to task for those views. And they are, to a large extent.
i agree so much with your assessment. our youth are the future and i don't see the overwhelming hatred in them.
DeleteYes, I refuse to believe that people can't change. President Obama's election didn't prove that racism was "over," but it definitely proved that it's not widely accepted as appropriate anymore, and I think that's why the racist idiots have gone into meltdown mode...they KNOW that their time is ending. It's driving them a bit nuts that we aren't afraid of them any more, no matter how much they threaten the rest of us with violence.
DeleteI agree. Racism is unlikely to have increased; its social acceptability has improved. A lot of people who were denying their antipathy toward "the Other" now express it openly. Sadly, and I put this directly at the feet of political and other so-called leaders like Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee et al, it's fashionable to be openly bigots, racists, homophobes.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't people ever remember that Barack Obama is HALF white? It's very convenient to do so, eh?
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin did back in July 2010 when she called Obama "half white or half black" and wanted him to "refudiate" NAACP for its resolution condemning the teabaggers' bigotry.
DeleteBECAUSE IT DOES NOT MATTER TO RACISTS. You got that, yet?
DeleteWhy should we be reminded that the president is half white as though that's the good part of him. Being black is not a disease. Why is it we're supposed to be ashamed of being black?
DeleteI'm half white too, not because I have a white parent but because my African ancestry has been diluted by white European blood. You understand that most black people are not ALL black, right? That means that millions of white people are running around with black blood too. A lot of freed black people "passed" as white after slavery. That's why you'll hear swarthy Great Uncle Bobby described as "Italian." You can best believe that many older whites know the deal, but they keep their ancestry hidden.
White people have no clue about the extent of race mixing in this country. They have no clue how many of their black ancestors crossed over to the white side to benefit from the privileges and access only whites seem to receive.
It's time for white people to address their own racism in their communities. You can best believe we black people, whether we're mixed or not, are not going anywhere. Many of us have ancestors who've been here since the 1700s and earlier. We're more American than Romney and his ilk. We're not going anywhere so get over it.
President Obama self identifies as a African American man, and we should respect his preference.
DeleteThat doesn't mean he rejects or loathes his mother's race, anyone who's read his book knows the profound love, admiration and respect he has for his mother, and grandparents who raised him.
This "half white" argument is another tool racists use to soothe their consciences when they direct their hate at him.
I think this research has more to do with the fact that a "polite" society in 2008 wouldn't admit to their racist feelings. Sarah Palin, "you lie" Joe Wilson, Fox News' Glenn Beck et al's abject vocal disrespect for this president has made it acceptable to come out from under their white hoods. If our legislators and TV personalities can be so blatant without any reprimand from their peers or the public then others are now unafraid of speaking their truth.
ReplyDelete"Racial prejudice has increased slightly since 2008 "
ReplyDeleteAnd THAT Palin trolls is just one of the many reasons why so many people can't stand Hater-In-Chief Sarah Palin who encouraged open racism.
In the last 4 years I have met so many wonderful people that worked to get President Obama elected. I have had the good fortune to be trusted by many in the black community and have been honored to dialogue and learn more. I can't imagine racism in on the incline. I believe the story is just wrong.
ReplyDeleteI agree what your readers say, the right wing nuts seem to make it it ok to spew hatred and violence and don't feel responsibility for their actions.
i am hoping that the prejudice that is on display will make people look at it closely and decide that it is not "american". most of the people that i knew who were really, really against ALL the ethnic groups are mostly dying off! i love america. obama and biden 2012.
ReplyDeleteI am in my 60's and all of my life I've heard that even "unprejudiced" people muse that while they personally would approve of a black president....that "the people" simply aren't ready and that it would be a presidency in which nothing could be accomplished due to ignorant white backlash.
ReplyDeleteWell, it was a barrier to be broken and it had to happen sometime. It DID bring all the hidden white rage and fear to the surface. We are just so fortunate that the first black person to hold that office is as steady, calm and wise as Obama is while navigating the dirty waters. I believe that he will lead us through the next 4 years and we will have BEGUN to deal with the discomfort that most white cultures have felt about people of color. We are blessed and must persevere.
I had a long discussion with a friend about this just last night.
ReplyDeleteHere's my theory: It has been 24/7 smack-talking about hispanics & blacks since the last election. That b*&ch Palin lowered the bar for political discourse, and it has stayed there. People who ordinarily might not have leaned racist have now been subjected to continuous b.s. & lies about minorities (free obama phones for blacks! free money for blacks! blah blah blah), so they, rather than actively investigate whether or not it is true, accept it as fact and start thinking "yeah, those people are leeches on society! they're violent & lazy!" Then they get about 100 emails from "friends" reiterating those thoughts, and voila! a racist is born!
Yes it is getting worse. Yes people are getting more & more ignorant as they get all of their news from dubious sources that reinforce their narrow beliefs. There is a connection between those two things, and there is a connection between that and the increase in racism.
That's my theory.
Seems pretty valid. As long as they have a sounding box to echo back their ignorance then it'll be a long time changing.
DeleteYup, a lot of folks who didn't think they were racist turned out to be some of the worst of the lot.
ReplyDeleteWhites will be a minority in anther generation, I can hardly wait until they "learn their place"
ReplyDelete