Religious political hypocrisy

[LukeMC]

"Racist" is quite a scare-word. I was going to make a similar point to you Bozo, only I wasn't going to say "that's racist" straight up. What I was intending to say was "are you making a direct link between skin colour and ability to perform large scale management tasks?"

Implying it without saying it. I'm not sure I agree with such a pussy-footing method, but I can see what Adrian is saying, the word can be taken way too seriously and lead to the end of rational debate. Depends how maturely Josef can handle the word.

[Meatball]

JR's post was racist and anti-intellectual. This is supposed to be a place for intelligent discourse. Why point out that these various leaders were black and failed? He clearly made a a connection between their political failure and the color of their skin. The color of a politician's skin means absolutely nothing about his ability to do his job. To even hint that it is a valid point is insulting. I don't care what he meant to say. What he posted is blatantly racist and he should get around to apologizing immediately.

The list of failures by black politicians coud go on.

Seriously? We're going to tolerate this way of thinking and give him the benefit of the doubt that it was a misunderstanding?

A man's race has nothing to do with his intelligence, his trustworthiness, or his ability to do his job. It makes me so blind with rage that someone claiming to be open-minded and intelligent would even dare to hint otherwise. The fact that Adrian (our admin) sees nothing wrong with it is also mindblowing.

Fuck this place.

[Tiberius]

A man's race has nothing to do with his intelligence, his trustworthiness, or his ability to do his job.

I say it does in at least a cultural way. If a certain race of people are undereducated then that group aren't going to be very good at doing certain jobs. This is not primarily to do with their skin colour, but the fact that their skin colour led to a differing treatment which meant they were undereducated. Like I said, there are multiple ways of looking at it, but I think that certainly making a generalized statement about race without backing it up or explaining it is quite racist.

The fact that Adrian (our admin) sees nothing wrong with it is also mindblowing.

Fuck this place.

This is why playing the race card always ends badly. Already we have people misinterpreting people and getting pissed off. Let's just wait for JR to explain himself shall we?

[lukec]

What else can we do? I find it hard not to get irritated though, since I think the only way we'll be done with racism is to stop talking about it. A man is a man is a man, regardless of skin color. Also why black history month is a bit silly.

[bozo]

What else can we do? I find it hard not to get irritated though, since I think the only way we'll be done with racism is to stop talking about it. A man is a man is a man, regardless of skin color. Also why black history month is a bit silly.

Luke, not sure we shouldn't talk about racism.
In the uk, there is a debate to be had, linking in to immigration into this country, but it hasn't yet properly happened. In its absence the gap ( on the immigration issue ) is exploited by the right-wing press to fuel resentment against the immigrant population.
On purely racism, the chattering classes ( including black people ) will no longer use the word " nigger " at any time, for any reason ( good or bad ). instead they refer to " the n word ". Now don't get me wrong here, I dislike the word and its connotations as much as any non-racist, but for the life of me I can't understand the logic of trying to airbrush it out of existence! In the right context, it can be used powerfully for good reason.

[Tiberius]

In the right context, it can be used powerfully for good reason.

Rappers tend to use it all the time.

[josef rosenkranz]

Certainly not, but calling someone racist or a post they made racist is pretty offensive, hence why I wanted everyone to "cool it" and take a few steps back. When accusations of racism come up anywhere, things tend to chaos; I was only trying to stop that from happening.

I think maybe you are being a tad protectionist! I'm sure JR can explain his post, which to me is racist. Hopefully JR can clarify whether it is or not?
I think racism is pretty important and not to be skated around.

Hi all who undestood my post as racistic.
I fully and definitely apologize to all who interpreted my saying about black politicians as a hint of them as being undereducated or under intelectual or any 'Under" whatsoever,and I'm declaring loud and clear that it was not my intention to make any offense to non-white people.
I plainly stated in both my posts that I am antiracist which is not an understatement but a true trait of my thinking.
I mentioned the failure of Mandela and other black politicians as a fact
of a personal matter without any connection to the colour of their skin,they could be from that point of view one-eyed or three-legged
or else.
I truely believe that my statement wil bring us back to friendly debates
about the problems of atheism,against religious hypocrisy which is the real issue of this thread

[GSARider]

Personally being of Indian descent and born in Glasgow in Scotland, I'm all for bringing things into the open. However (and it has to be said) many people use vague & ambiguous statements, which, when they are challenged are suddenly not meant in the tone implied.

I'm not saying that is the case here, as I haven't read enough posts from the people posting yet and can't say about their style of writing at this point either way.

What I will say, there is no point skirting round the race issue as religion and race are tied together to a large extent - i.e. the East / West Divide.

In the 40 odd years that I've been born & bred in the UK, I've faced both religious & racial discrimination, but some of the 'solutions' foisted upon us by the powers that be are more ridiculous than the problems that they were supposed to solve...examples such as renaming Xmas holidays to Winter Holidays cause friction and resentment in the majority Christian population, who see it as an attack on them.