Why has there been an increase in racism since the election on ATS?

I just am wondering what's with the increase of racism and racists on ATS. It's one thing to criticize the President but it's another to make unfound accusations based on people liking him just because of his race. I wish ATS would do something about these racists.

[edit on 13-11-2008 by Frankidealist35]

The good thing about about racists and bigots is they just about always manage to get themselves banned, or they go away when people start ignoring them.
The main problem is, no matter how much crap you shovel out, there's always more coming in.
You just have to ignore it, the voices of fools can either be entertaining or annoying, sometimes the best way to lsiten to them is with ears stuffed with cotton.

I've never understood racism or xenophobia, particularly if it's based on some weird that a particular demographic are 'less than' or 'more than' in some way.

Take, for example the idea that blacks are dumb, the stereotypical 'dumb negro'. Unless every black person is 'dumber' than every white person, it's a meaningless generalisation. The same with 'lazy' Mexicans, unless every white person is more hard working and industrious than every Mexican, it's a meaningless generalisation. The same for 'money-grubbing' Jews or Scots and so on.

As for racism in general, I can't think of a more stupid reason to hate someone than the colour of their skin. I mean, not finding someone attractive because of the way they look and not wanting to have sex with them, fair enough. But hating someone because of something as superficial as their appearance? WTF?

There's racists on here, definitely. Statistically, with a site this size, sadly there has to be. I wouldn't say that all the Obama hate has been race motivation by any means, I wouldn't even say that a lot was either. However, some of the Obama hate just seems so desperate, so dramatic and unlikely that you have to ask where the rationality is with the arguments. When it gets to that stage, you have to wonder what's driving at least some of the criticism.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


why don't you give us some examples of this increase in racism. Just because someone doesn't like Obama doesn't mean they are racist. it could just be they don't like him because of his ideas or policies he wants to impose.

I know i don't like him and have contributed in threads about him and said why i don't like him.

So since i don't know what your basing racism on Do you consider me racist because i'm white and i don't like the man?

[edit on 11/13/2008 by Mercenary2007]

I don't believe that all the rhetoric seen on ATS about Obama or otherwise is blatantly racist. Maybe there is a underlying racism, but I think some people get so worked up on certain subjects, they may just push it in the racism category. But, I believe a majority of it is just disenfranchised people who didn't really believe he would win, and are taking out that frustration in any attempt to discredit him anyway they can. It's very hard to interpret racism, unless it's blatant.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


I do not think there has been an increase in racism and my reasons for this are as follows.

Racism was much more closed doors before this election but due to Barack Obama's ethnical background and its discussion it is out in the open.
It is being discussed much more, because it has been highlighted by various outlets more people will notice it and comment be it racist or not.

I think that you are just noticing it more than before as it was not a big topic of discussion.

Cheers





[edit on 13-11-2008 by XXXN3O]

reply to post by Mercenary2007


There are plenty of threads that show examples of what I think are unfounded speculation on Barack Obama. These threads fall into a few categories:

Barack Obama is the antichrist
Barack is charismatic, he deceives people, he is like Hitler
Barack is a hypnotist
Barack brainwashed people into voting for him
Acorn voting fraud
He faked his birth certificate and he really is a Kenyan/Pharaoh
Obama is a socialist
Obama is just a marxist
Obama just brings more of the same, just more of Clintons aids into the whitehouse.

What haven't they thought of that they could possibly attack him with next?

It seems like the right is just getting more and more desperate. I would really love to see some intelligent criticism of him and keep in mind that he hasn't even taken office yet so he hasn't gotten a chance to implement his policies yet and he's already getting bombarded with criticism from the conservative right.

reply to post by XXXN3O


I might be just noticing it more... and maybe not all of this criticism isn't because of his race... but I really honestly think that a lot of this criticism is coming because it is motivated by race. I might just be noticing it more now. I noticed it before with this Jewish banker conspiracy that I've seen floating around on ATS but this stuff just seems completely race motivated. I would just like to see some sensible threads like you know not racist ones that are valid criticisms of his policy. I would like to think that we've moved beyond the day where we judge a man or women by their skin or appearence.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


The list you provided has nothing to do with race apart from the birth certificate.

I think you're racist for seeing things that aren't there and labeling them as racist.

reply to post by Chadwickus


You must not have read my post carefully.

How am I a racist for saying things which seem to be related to race?

What I find at least as disturbing as your contention that racism is on the rise in ATS, is the fact folks on this site seem to think that it is okay to sling such slurs as, redneck, cracker, white trash, inbreeders and such when refering to rural and lower income Americans. Those are slurs just as sure as the n word is and they are used to demean and disarm a debate opponent just as the charge of racism is.
I have been called all of these things throughout my life, being southern, lower income, religious, and speaking with an accent. Funny though rarely are these terms said to my face.
A good rule of thumb for Chat and Message boards would be if you are not willing to call someone a name to thier face then do not type it either.

reply to post by Frankidealist35


Not racist in the traditional sense, more like blaming racism for peoples attacks on him, which I agree is stupid. But the majority are not based on race.

You can discriminate because of his race, or you can give preferential treatment because of race as well. Do you get what I mean? It's the same thing...

reply to post by Frankidealist35


I got this quote from the BBC website as wikipedia wont load for me for some reason

"Racism is when someone thinks different skin colour or religious beliefs make some people better than others."

I do find it interesting that if I were to say "Barack Obama will have a racist agenda behind his motives during his presidency"

Even if I back this up with facts it will be called racist because I am going against his beliefs.

The reality of this is that you cannot comment on this whatsover because racism as it is now defined is a defence for any attack that questions motive on the grounds of background, beliefs and viewpoints.

This is being taken advantage of by many politicians because the greyness of this allows it to be used to defend policy and prevention of free speech.

This is when political correctness/social conditioning comes into play and that is something far different from racism.

We need to be careful not to get them mixed up.

I am against racism on grounds of skin color and I believe we all should be but I am against the use of racism as a tool for advantage in any area of life or the use of it to prevent free speech.

Please note this is an example and I am in no way stating that Barack Obama has used this to an advantage I am trying to show how it could be used.

I will leave it at that.



[edit on 13-11-2008 by XXXN3O]

reply to post by Chadwickus


That has to be one of the most ignorant statements I've seen yet on this board, "your racist for thinking other things are racist!". Where in the world do people come up with these statements...

reply to post by Chadwickus


Yeah, but there is a difference between being racist and saying certain things people say are racist.

And about what you said about someone's race getting preferential treatment, people would have been saying the same thing if Hillary was the Democratic nominee, and, the reason why Democrats won this year was not because of a race card or because of a gender card, it was because of the failed policies of the Bush administration and any other Democrat would have won too, and, it was also because Obama and Hillary were brilliant. But, if it were the case that Obama was getting preferential treatment because of his race, I don't think that's the case, because a lot of people don't like him for that very reason and have portrayed supporters of Obama as childish for that reason.

XXXN3O, I think you can talk about race without being racist. I think that people need to talk about what to do with racism. People didn't choose to talk about slavery for a hundred of years and it lead to the unfair treatment of African Americans until say the 1960s and even to today. I think it's okay to talk about race-- as long as the only thing we're talking about is the things that cause racism but not being in support of the acts of being racism (like instead of being racist showing respect for other cultures/ethnic backgrounds). Do you see what I'm saying?

Yes I see exactly what you mean and did from the start as well.

This is the very thing I posted about.

Under the defintion of racism you cannot.

I am not going to comment on whether I agree with this though but im stating fact here according to the dictionaries society agrees are the rules.

Interesting that dictionaries are updated....



[edit on 13-11-2008 by XXXN3O]

Here is another example,

Two people are having an argument,

Person A "I think slavery is right"

Person B "I think slavery is wrong"

Who is racist?

Both are racist because they are going against each others beliefs!!

Under the definition racism is going against race or belief.

Can you imagine living in a world where we were all literal in how we take things??

Maybe we did and we got it who knows?

Open your eyes people.



[edit on 13-11-2008 by XXXN3O]

reply to post by KotetsuRein


Read my next post, I probably should have explained it better initially:

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by Frankidealist35

 

Not racist in the traditional sense, more like blaming racism for peoples attacks on him, which I agree is stupid. But the majority are not based on race.

You can discriminate because of his race, or you can give preferential treatment because of race as well. Do you get what I mean? It's the same thing...

Ok, I see your point now. I do admit a bit more explanation in the first post would have been prefered. I also admit to not continueing and posting a quick response to what I saw. So, apologies and point taken.

I however, agree with what XXXN3O's post stated.

-KR

Originally posted by XXXN3O
Under the definition racism is going against race or belief.

Can you provide a link to a definition of racism that is 'going against belief', please?