What exactly is racism nowadays?

[TaraJo]

I'm not going to deny that there is racism, but some of the examples given in this thread are a stretch. Racism is so broadly condemned by society, that tying it to people you disagree with politically is a tactic. Being against immigration, regardless of it's validity, isn't a racist position. We know this because this position has existed almost identically in the US, with almost identical arguments being made, when the majority of immigrants to the US were European.

I think most accusations of racism against republicans are a stretch, but they are much easier to make than actually studying and breaking down the positions, understanding why people take them and then countering them. It also serves to demonize your opposition. If you believe your opponents are nothing but a bunch of racists rednecks, rather than real people who live similar lives to you, they aren't even worth debating.

On their own, immigration concerns wouldn't be racism. If they simply want to keep immigrants out, that's one thing. If they want to keep Mexicans out of here, that's another. Former immigration concerns would have fallen under the same category if it was suspected that they wanted greater immigration control so they wouldn't have to live with Germans/French/Spaniards.

Also, given some of the other garbage from the Republicans such as their ample use of racism against Obama, the racist incident at the RNC and the fact that they oppose pretty much every program there is that benefits minorities, your view starts to shift.

I don't think all of them are racist. I don't even think that most of the ones who are racist even know they're racist, if that makes any sense. It's possible they're more xenophobic than they are racist, true, but either way, it's stupid.