Ooooooo, do I ever hate people like this guy! Some people just can’t leave a bi-racial couple alone. Just tell him to close that ugly racist mouth of his!
EJ: excellent comment. I also applaud the cartoonist for recognizing that racism comes in all colors.
And it’s not just between the races. I once saw an autobiographical play about the discrimination of light-skinned against dark-skinned blacks. The playwright told of not being allowed to join a black church because she could not pass the “paper bag test”: Put your hand in an ordinary brown paper bag; if your arm is darker than the bag, you couldn’t join the church.
I was no fan of Martin Luther King’s politics, but he was absolutely right about judging people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.
By the way: Ayn Rand wrote an essay called “Racism” in “The Virtue of Selfishness” that is the most thorough condemnation of racism ever written. The cure for racism is individualism.
MJB: Of course bigotry is not a matter of color since it can exist between and within races, nations, regions, religions, classes, etc. But in American history it is racism that has killed hundreds of thousands, far outweighing the evil of all other forms of bigotry, so racism gets a powerful focus.
I tend to agree with you about the attitudes of at least some American blacks as stemming from white racism. But I think there is strong evidence that bigotry in general and racism in particular are prehistoric tendencies that are deeply entrenched in human societies. Fortunately there has been much progress in the last few centuries (the founding of the United States being the biggest step yet), but in the long run only an emphasis on individuals can overcome the ancient evils of collectivism.
As for MLK’s politics, I’m all for defending the oppressed, especially when the oppressor is the government whose task is the protection of rights, not their violation. It’s the redistribution of wealth I’m against.
ejcapulet over 15 years ago
Ooooooo, do I ever hate people like this guy! Some people just can’t leave a bi-racial couple alone. Just tell him to close that ugly racist mouth of his!
pschearer Premium Member over 15 years ago
EJ: excellent comment. I also applaud the cartoonist for recognizing that racism comes in all colors.
And it’s not just between the races. I once saw an autobiographical play about the discrimination of light-skinned against dark-skinned blacks. The playwright told of not being allowed to join a black church because she could not pass the “paper bag test”: Put your hand in an ordinary brown paper bag; if your arm is darker than the bag, you couldn’t join the church.
I was no fan of Martin Luther King’s politics, but he was absolutely right about judging people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.
By the way: Ayn Rand wrote an essay called “Racism” in “The Virtue of Selfishness” that is the most thorough condemnation of racism ever written. The cure for racism is individualism.
pschearer Premium Member over 15 years ago
MJB: Of course bigotry is not a matter of color since it can exist between and within races, nations, regions, religions, classes, etc. But in American history it is racism that has killed hundreds of thousands, far outweighing the evil of all other forms of bigotry, so racism gets a powerful focus.
I tend to agree with you about the attitudes of at least some American blacks as stemming from white racism. But I think there is strong evidence that bigotry in general and racism in particular are prehistoric tendencies that are deeply entrenched in human societies. Fortunately there has been much progress in the last few centuries (the founding of the United States being the biggest step yet), but in the long run only an emphasis on individuals can overcome the ancient evils of collectivism.
As for MLK’s politics, I’m all for defending the oppressed, especially when the oppressor is the government whose task is the protection of rights, not their violation. It’s the redistribution of wealth I’m against.
pilotx over 15 years ago
Redistribution of wealth? No, Dr. King just worked to give everyone the same opportunities. The wealthy can’t have ALL of the priviledges.
Alia Noora over 2 years ago
Is that the finger?