Why We Need to Pick Scabs

[Lakal]

The ADL (Anti Defamation League) "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all". In the past they have been perceived as being ‘over the top’ in some issues. They have been perceived as ‘overly-sensitive’. My understanding is that they feel the holocaust should never be forgotten lest it happen again and therefore, even an apparently minor anti Semitic slur will not be ignored but faced head on and addressed

Slavery and its' aftermath was dreadful and therefore any perceived racism must be addressed and not allowed to fester. That’s why we see the articles under discussion in some of these threads. People of goodwill should not be content to allow racism to hide under a scab. As Cuey said if you ignore cancer it does not go away. If we ignore racism which is a cancer , not a scratch , it will not go away.
Clearly we can’t totally legislate morality. But we can be aware of racism around us and at the very least try to understand why people see signs of racism even if unfounded



I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. (Anne Frank)

[Vito]

I can understand certain people seeing racism even when it is unfounded based on their experiences but when others use it as a tool to try and quell dissent that for the most part is not racist then we have to recognize it and not allow it. Why? because it is just as dangerous as actual racism. Why? because those of us who actually stand up to racist thoughts and people feel less inclined to do so when we stand up for other things that will result in being labeled as a racist.

[swampfox]

All that it would take is for people of good will to make affirmative statements about racism; that they do not endorse it, they don't believe in it, and they find it to be repugnant and immoral. Making such statements should not hurt anybody.

But there seems to be an extreme reluctance among many people of demonstrated good will to make such statements, which I understand to an extent but which I mostly do not understand. We live in a state that is famous for its racist past. Forget the Civil War. In recent decades one of the most famous South Carolinians has been an overtly racist barbecue baron whose insane rants have helped perpetuate the perceptions that people around the world have about South Carolina and racism, and those perceptions have been perfectly understandable and, of course, irresistable to national and world media. We need to change that. We need to say what we really feel. Is that what we're doing now?

What if we don't? Not only will we continue to be the butt of the world's jokes about backwardness incarnate, we will continue to lose in more tangible, even more substantive ways. We will hurt our chances for outside investment in new industry. We will accelerate our slide into third-world status within our own country. We will screw ourselves. Our young people who have the opportunity to leave will do so in ever-increasing numbers. And we will deserve it all, just because we're unwilling, for some reason that I cannot fathom, to let people know that we're better than what our public image suggests.

All it would take would be words. We are at a low ebb right now. Our health care (expressed in infant mortality rates, low birth weight, teen pregnancy, failure to vaccinate against common deadly illness, etc, etc) is among the worst in the country (as usual, it's between us and Mississippi), yet we are fighting the hardest to oppose meaningful reform in health care. Our politicians can't seem to stop embarrassing us. We have dismal records when it comes to environmental issues and all kinds of conservation issues. And then there's education.

What in the hell are people supposed to think about us? And if they do come to negative conclusions about us based on what they see and hear, are they right or wrong? I'll just be danged if I know anymore.