Iowa woman runs over 14yo girl “because she was a Mexican”

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I think using the cancer metaphor it might also point to deeper problems in society...America does not want the conditions to repeat themselves again in the future where another Trump type character gets elected or conditions where Americans misattribute social problems like domestic violence, unemployment, poor healthcare etc to third parties like minority groups

To say that the American ethos is a "cancer" is NOT something Americans want to hear----especially if it's not true.

This is annoying----calling people out for something that doesn't exist in their hearts. I don't have "racism in my heart." I am an American. I am not a "cancer."

People don't support being criticized like that unjustifiably.

It's "strident liberalism." I don't support that.

It's not about labels. It's about fixing a leaking tap before it becomes a flood. WW2 was allowed to happen because you had people who were not warmongers in their hearts like British prime minister Neville Chamberlain saying the problem is not with us and they allowed the real warmongers to expand their territory without fighting back.

Chamberlain definitely made a big mistake in his "appeasing" Hitler.

No doubt about that (to say the least).

So did all the Allies when he (Hitler) put troops in the Rhineland. What were we thinking?

Do you think the British people, or any people. would have responded to anybody calling into question their character? One has to be smart about this. One must appeal to the positive in people.

I feel like we must check Trump in the sense that he threatens out Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech----but, like I said, calling out people for generalities just doesn't cut the mustard. It's not good activism.

Martin Luther King had a realistic view of white people----but he didn't often call out white people on their racism. He worked with them, instead. He knew the good as well as the bad. He knew that most white people were not "cancers," were not racists. Godammit, the man was SMART!

It's stupid to question the character of a people. And expect them to respond well to that.

People aren't going to respond to being criticized in that manner with activist reactions. They don't want to be denigrated as a people because of generalities.

Americans need to grow up. 46.1% of voters elected a man who was being open about taking advice from a far right neo-nazi (Steve Bannon) and an election platform devoid of policy and relying on racist language.

I used the Chamberlain anology because even if Americans don't carry hatred in their hearts 46.1% of voters seem to be unable to distinguish racism when it stares them in the face

Americans voted for Trump----mostly because they didn't want to vote for Hillary.

They were stupid. They didn't think.

But it's not necessarily because of some "ingrained cancer" in the American ethos. The Americans, especially away from both coasts, and away from urban and college areas, are an insular people. If they feel threatened, they can be a bigoted people, too.

If you were a farm worker, and your job was taken away by an immigrant who worked a little harder, how would you feel? I would hope that you would feel that you must work harder, rather than become bigoted. I wish this always worked like that---but it doesn't.

It's because not enough Americans thought about the implications of Trump. Probably nothing much more complicated than that. Most Americans aren't like the farm workers in that example. It's not an overall "cancer" in Americans.

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 23 Dec 2019, 8:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The only thing I agree with you re: your response is the point about "stupidity" and add "ignorance" and lack of "empathy" and no "foresight" or thought about their children's "future"

Yeah...lack of foresight, too. And both willful and actual ignorance.

I feel like many people around the world, not just Americans, are a pragmatic people. Pragmatic people can seem like they lack empathy.

People, certainly, think about their children's future. But electing Trump reflects their "lack of foresight." Not that they don't "think about their children's future."

You're not going to get many allies amongst Americans-----by calling out Americans because of their history; much of which they, as individuals, did not perpetrate.

It just won't fly with them.

It's like me calling you out for the Australians' (of European descent)treatment of the Aborigines---blaming YOU, personally.

If you claim "white privilege," you are ascribing "white privilege" to the Appalachian family in a house with no plumbing, equally with some white family who lives in a ritzy area like Fieldston, New York.

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 23 Dec 2019, 9:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You can reject it, but you'll be incorrect. For starters, benefiting from systematic racism doesn't make one inherently racist, especially when they're not even aware of it because it's outside of their own experience and outside of most of their social circles experiences. People who bring up the concept of privilege don't do it to shame those who benefit, especially when many of those who bring it up have benefited from it.

Is it unfair to point out that white people in American (or Canadian, Kiwi, Aussie, British, etc) culture are unlikely to face certain forms of discrimination, excessive scrutiny, etc that people of colour are likely to experience?

If you agree with that concept, you accept the idea of privilege.

I've faced excessive scrutiny in my life. I've faced being followed around in stores. I've had similar experiences to what black people have experienced. I know the feeling. I've even been viewed with suspicion in a black neighborhood when I was holding hands with a black girl.

I've felt "white privilege" when I was granted the use of a bathroom in a restaurant, when, probably a black person would have been looked upon with suspicion.

White people didn't experience what black people did in the days of Jim Crow----that's for sure.

But I'm certainly not "basking" in my "privilege."

And I'm not going to lessen my standards when, say, I'm considering a person for a job----white or black.

Many black folks have been able to transcend their lot in life----and so have many other ethnic groups.

Was there "Italian privilege" back in the early 1900s?

I think as funeralempire alludes it has to do with accepting white privilege exists. How much of a beneficiary each of us are will vary. I don't dispute that it is marginal for some but it's existence is not disputed.

Getting back onto the thread - Another impact of this woman's decision to attempt to kill this child is the impact it has on the wider hispanic community. As a minority group they are already vigilant to look out for racism so all this does is make them more anxious to protect their children. We expect America being a civilised country should be safe for a child.

This is why I highlighted this story earlier from 2017 (well into Trump's presdiency)
https://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/27/us/g ... index.html

The couple in question are otherwise normal people yet behaved in an manner that sends a chilling message to black parents that their children (even toddlers) are not safe in public spaces. This despicable couple feeling emboldened to threaten babies with loaded weapons despite having small children themselves. The lack of empathy for their fellow Americans (and their willingness to act in a sociopathic manner) is mind blowing. This is the cancer I was alluding to.

Most people---white, black, green, or polka-dotted-----wouldn't do such a thing.

It's a "cancer" within those people alone. Prison is the fitting place for them.

To ascribe this sort of conduct to PEOPLE IN GENERAL is beyond ridiculous.

It's the ones on the fringes who only need a push...I suspect there are more....That's why trump needs a muzzle