Sunday, November 15, 2015

RACIAL BIAS IN POLITICS

A friend wrote a short, heartfelt response aimed at the terrorist responsible for killing of all those people in France. It was simple, “Kill them all!” The response is a remarkable display of the superficiality with which we treat all serious social issues. It may be short, but it is not understandable. The comments made suggest many readers agree with him but again, there is not an indication to what they are agreeing. From the past, I am aware this fellow is a member of a loosely defined group in the United States and Canada who want to ban burkas or other xenophobic references. This social group fades into other groups that hate minorities of some other description: black people, Native Americans, Latinos, Cubans, and Yankees. Collectively they do not make up a majority but they are a substantial group of people with the same mindset. Who do these people want to kill? Consider a hypothetical situation in which you could kill anyone you wanted to kill and do it with impunity and without remorse. As I parade people in front of you, the fellow who said, “Kill them all” and introduce them, you had to decide who to kill and who not to kill. The impression he gave with his remark and his history is that if I introduce a Muslim he will kill that person. My point is that this is the impression his remark produced; however, I know the man and know he would say that is not what he meant. He meant to kill only those who killed the innocent people in France. However, it is too late; he has made an impression, and like-minded people joined him based on that “first” expression. Our biases have consequences. Ask yourself, if gather together people who consider themselves Republican and those who consider themselves Democrats, which group would have the most people who would first agree that we should “kill them all”. Forget about what they would say if asked to reconsider their opinion after thinking about it. What I have long advocated on this blog site that our politics in innate. Which group would have the most people for banning burkas? This is another example why I believe that our political propensities are innate. When I add black people, Native Americans, Latinos, Cubans, and Yankees to the "ban burka" group or “kill them all crowd”, we have a considerable number of votes cast by people who do not seriously evaluate their positions before stepping into the voting booth, which is why it is important that we have racial issues openly discussed in political campaigns. URL: firetreepub.blogspot.com Comments Invited and not moderated

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