What exactly is racism nowadays?

[jonb]

Racism nowadays is a punchline. If you're a racist, people make fun of you, and the racism of the past is something to scoff at with the lenses of hindsight.

If only, it still sneaks along underground.

[Dee Dee Ramone]

Allthough not racism, I'd like to add the sheer discrimination of gay people. Born with their sexuality, they are still outcasts among lots of people. I fucking hate it and allthough I am not a nationalist, stupid flagwaving is bullshit, but I am quite happy I live in a country that legalized gay marriage as the first in the world. More and more countries are luckily enough joining.

[CapnAwesome]

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.

[Minimalist]

It's hard to determine what exactly is racism because we have certain white people switching from attacking a minority outright and instead going for the stereotypical religious affiliation of that group because they are afraid of political correctness.

It isn't all that hard, lad.

[Faith No More]

Anyone who wonders what "modern" racism looks like only needs to spend a day in the panhandle of Texas. Their racism is pretty much indistinguishable from that of the past. I'd be willing to bet most of them are conservatives, too, but I don't know if the two are related.

[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.