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[Cindi Mayweather]

Worth considering. Thanks.

 

[0coolclimate0]

I'll be direct and honest. I'm a white (Jewish) Republican, I don't have a racist bone in my body. I live in Southern California and can count the number of white friends I have on my hands.
This election was tough for me, I was a Swing Vote. I went back and forth in my mind between Hillary and Donald Trump.

I started to hear things, when Hillary called Trump supporters deplorable, I thought of my friends and family that support Trump who were also not racist. I began to lean towards Trump.

When friends and family who are liberal began to directly insult my other friends and family who are Republican, I noticed that my family who are Republican we're not arguing back but still being called out and tagged in mean videos and meme's. Again I learned a little more towards Trump.

Although I'm Jewish a lot of my family is Christian. When comments were made about Christians trying to destroy the nation. I remember that my family are good people and they don't want to destroy the nation. And every time I heard an insult along those lines I leaned a little more towards Trump.

When people started talking about Trump supporters being unintelligent and stupid, I remembered that a lot of my family members who are Republican, who work hard. Some owned businesses, while my brother is a welder who went through hell to get his certificate, spent his savings to strive to get a better position in the work force and works extremely hard. I started to get angry and leaned a little more towards Trump.

These little things and many more over time bothered me enough that I supported Trump. My vote was not set in stone, but the things this article talks about doesn't just apply to changing people who are racist. I am not a racist, I'm Jewish and I don't have room to be racist, I hear racial comments on my own enough. But after a while of hearing people I know to be good being slandered just for being in a political party, a lot of which were swing votes as well, I got fed up real quick. And it was clear where I needed to stand.

When I saw that a group of people (Democrats) who claimed their entire message is based around tolerance and love begin display intolerance and hatred, I begin doubting everything else that their messages stood for as well.

This post might make some people mad, might make me unpopular. But it is the truth, and it matters. I figured it was worth noting that there is another side of trump supporters that people keep forgetting about.

 

[Alligatorjandro]

Funny how people want to talk about this now

 

[Pie and Beans]

The amount of "white people" this and "cis" that on social media means those fighting for equality and understanding are going to have an even more upsetting time of it four years later.

The left chased away so many allies in this recent era over an insane obsession with minutia on truly meaningless shit and theres still no signs of lessons being learned. Now the pendulum swings back hard because liberals arrogantly assumed the right to rule.

 

[Kinyou]

I don't think the onus of educating should fall on the minorities themselves, but I also think most people here don't demand that.

 

[ebullientprism]

Would it shock you to find out that we don't run down the halls screaming "racist" at other people and that this problem wasn't perpetuated by interpersonal interaction? Would it shock you to find out that the findings of this study hold very little bearing on how people communicate in 2016?

It would shock me indeed. Because the reaction here and everywhere else on social media seems to indicate otherwise. People want to feel superior more than they want to fix things.

Lets face it. You have a problem. Half of your country either agrees with racism or seems to be willing to go along with it. You are presented with a possible solution to that problem. Your reaction to that solution is to scoff and deny it with nothing to back up your counterclaim and presenting no alternatives to it.

Instead you would rather feel all superior to those stinking racists.

You sweet summer child. It must be fun not go around and not reading.

Ah even better. I love a smug poster that talks about another country's issue.

Its hilarious that you are calling me smug.

 

[Eidan]

The amount of "white people" this and "cis" that on social media means those fighting for equality and understanding are going to have an even more upsetting time of it four years later.

The left chased away so many allies in this recent era over an insane obsession with minutia on truly meaningless shit and theres still no signs of lessons being learned. Now the pendulum swings back hard because liberals arrogantly assumed the right to rule.

Are we back to saying the election was lost because racists were called racist?

 

[Muppet of a Man]

Nah, better to overtly call these family members and friends fucking disgusting racists, ban them from Thanksgiving dinner, then cut off all contact with them indefinitely.

Way too many on gaf seem to be preparing to do exactly that (or already have in some cases).

It's more of a nuanced process than this obviously. Many people have started conversations civilly only for them to turn ugly. Trying to keep it civil and cool headed is preferable, but sometimes things get uncomfortable and even nasty. This is the turning point for these sort of situations. Not backing down and continuous engagement can make a person grow. Occasionally it ends in disaster, but more times than not it prompts self reflection and growth. The defensiveness and struggles with coming to terms with a shortcoming are not easy things for anyone involved.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

The amount of "white people" this and "cis" that on social media means those fighting for equality and understanding are going to have an even more upsetting time of it four years later.

The left chased away so many allies in this recent era over an insane obsession with minutia on truly meaningless shit and theres still no signs of lessons being learned. Now the pendulum swings back hard because liberals arrogantly assumed the right to rule.

Someone else did this in this very thread and never bothered to follow up. What exactly are you referring to here?

 

[LookAtMeGo]

Has someone posted the "Wont somebody please think of the racists" yet?

Should we make up a new nice sounding word to describe someone who is racist so we can make sure their feelings dont get hurt?

Cant have a bunch of racist people saying racist things and hurting people having their own feelings hurt now. Think of all the damage you are causing, people!

 

[Alligatorjandro]

I'll be direct and honest. I'm a white (Jewish) Republican, I don't have a racist bone in my body. I live in Southern California and can count the number of white friends I have on my hands.
This election was tough for me, I was a Swing Vote. I went back and forth in my mind between Hillary and Donald Trump.

I started to hear things, when Hillary called Trump supporters deplorable, I thought of my friends and family that support Trump who were also not racist. I began to lean towards Trump.

When friends and family who are liberal began to directly insult my other friends and family who are Republican, I noticed that my family who are Republican we're not arguing back but still being called out and tagged in mean videos and meme's. Again I learned a little more towards Trump.

Although I'm Jewish a lot of my family is Christian. When comments were made about Christians trying to destroy the nation. I remember that my family are good people and they don't want to destroy the nation. And every time I heard an insult along those lines I leaned a little more towards Trump.

When people started talking about Trump supporters being unintelligent and stupid, I remembered that a lot of my family members who are Republican, who work hard. Some owned businesses, while my brother is a welder who went through hell to get his certificate, spent his savings to strive to get a better position in the work force and works extremely hard. I started to get angry and leaned a little more towards Trump.

These little things and many more over time bothered me enough that I supported Trump. My vote was not set in stone, but the things this article talks about doesn't just apply to changing people who are racist. I am not a racist, I'm Jewish and I don't have room to be racist, I hear racial comments on my own enough. But after a while of hearing people I know to be good being slandered just for being in a political party, a lot of which were swing votes as well, I got fed up real quick. And it was clear where I needed to stand.

When I saw that a group of people (Democrats) who claimed their entire message is based around tolerance and love begin display intolerance and hatred, I begin doubting everything else that their messages stood for as well.

This post might make some people mad, might make me unpopular. But it is the truth, and it matters. I figured it was worth noting that there is another side of trump supporters that people keep forgetting about.

So being Jewish what are your thoughts on Steven Bannon being in Trumps cabinet?

 

[Mudo]

The likely never accepted you for who you are they just got used to it. There is a difference between becoming desensitized to something you don't like and putting up with something and real tolerance. Sorry man.

Thanks for all of the replies. The point about them just being "desensitized" to me being gay has never crossed my mind and I absolutely can see that being the case here. And who knows, maybe they do have racist views that i just never see.

My parents are in the biggest bubble ever, being massive Fox News fans - it's on 24/7 at their house it is ALL that they watch. But beyond all that, I just don't know how to confront them because if i say what i really want to say, what's been churning around in my head for a week, I honestly think I may likely never see/talk to them afterwards. This is all just so surreal

 

[Breads]

Vox Research shows that you can reduce racism by talking to people rather them calling them racists.
GAF Nah. I'd rather just keep calling them racists, thanks. I am sure this problem will fix itself.

Vox research showed that people willing to partake in a study were open to listening to a conversation.

That's just an anecdote. They didn't prove shit. In fact all it does is assume that attempts to reason have never been made. It literally states that a conversation is a radical idea!

And that's bull.

We are not responsible for the hatred we receive nor did we create racism. All we did was exist. Racism is on them. The racists. Not white people, like some people are trying to say. but the actual racists... and the moderates who leave well enough alone. They won't listen to us and yet people toy with the idea that we should stick our necks out.... even though we're the ones who are at the most risk here.

 

[Somnid]

Yeah why haven't people tried that before

Like, white people throwing around these sorts of accusations never considered that "nobody ever tried to talk to me nicely about racism" actually means "I never listened to people talking to me about racism til they stopped explaining it nicely".

If you grew up in a white stronghold, I kinda doubt you'd be confronted with it, at least anymore that in passing from television or something.

 

[Suikoguy]

When I saw that a group of people (Democrats) who claimed their entire message is based around tolerance and love begin display intolerance and hatred, I begin doubting everything else that their messages stood for as well.

Asking people to be 'tolerant of my intolerance' is insane.

 

[0coolclimate0]

So being Jewish what are your thoughts on Steven Bannon being in Trumps cabinet?

It angers me a lot. I feel betrayed. I try to remember that he has Jewish Family and try to keep faith that he will not go batshit. Like I said before I was a Swing Vote, and when it came down to it I decided to roll the dice. Maybe it was a good decision maybe it wasn't but Small Things led me to think that rolling the dice was better than taking snake eyes.

 

[CopperPuppy]

These little things and many more over time bothered me enough that I supported Trump. My vote was not set in stone, but the things this article talks about doesn't just apply to changing people who are racist. I am not a racist, I'm Jewish and I don't have room to be racist, I hear racial comments on my own enough. But after a while of hearing people I know to be good being slandered just for being in a political party, a lot of which were swing votes as well, I got fed up real quick. And it was clear where I needed to stand.

How did you feel when the candidate you decided to stand with slandered and fomented hatred against good people just because of their race or ethnicity?

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

 

[Pie and Beans]

Are we back to saying the election was lost because racists were called racist?

Nope. But think about all that murky grey area where someone who's voter soul wasn't yet cast in either side and how they reacted to constantly being told they were a hateful monster and so on for not liking some entertainment reboot, failing to see the fuss over a comicbook cover, that their videogame choices were that of a sexist manpig and so on. They got fed up of being screamed at and more than a few found themselves on the wrong side because at least it wasn't hissing at them. Thats how it works. It's not too hard to understand, but years of absolute internet insanity has obfuscated simple truths like "if you keep fucking going crazy over nothing, people will turn away".

Fighting racism and promoting equality has to also be about peaceful persuasion and not constantly whacking noses with a rolled up newspaper. It's shit yeah, doesn't seem fair to those minorities in danger, but that's the world. Alarm clocks went off a week ago, time to wake the fuck up.

 

[IrishNinja]

Nope. I am not going to a try to reason with a person that thinks or says I am a nigger, faggot etc etc.

exactly this - ain't my job to educate the woefully ignorant or those lacking empathy
some of the same liberal apologists on page 1 on that kumbaya shit, still spreading the notion that using the word "deplorable" literally once moved the dial, without anything to point at...miss me with that.

Are we back to saying the election was lost because racists were called racist?

very clearly, yes

If you want to talk and engage someone's racism, do you.

But it should not be the standard and damn sure should not be expected.

co-signed
let's just pile on the list of things we expect minorities to do in the face of all that mess, while we're at it

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

If you want to talk and engage someone's racism, do you.

But it should not be the standard and damn sure should not be expected.

And it damn well shouldn't be used to dismiss another's concerns. Frequently, i hear people say it because they want the conversation to stop.

And when i claim racism, I'm not even addressing the racists. I'm addressing the people on the periphery. The people who silently cringe when they hear their friends drop 'nigger' in conversation and normalize it or condone it. I'm talking to my younger sisters and brothers and cousins and nephews and nieces. I want them to know it's not okay or normal to be racist. They will do more than us. They won't use the word 'faggot' or 'retarded' like we did. They'll be more empathetic.

I'm talking to those who haven't found their voice.

To hell with the racists. Fuck them and their feelings. They don't utilize facts or logic.

And let's be real: the election was lost because Hillary was not a great candidate. She made bad decisions. Not because of racism. Racism is always here. Some good candidates will work around it. Others won't.

Bad Democrats haven't figured out how to run unless the president is leading the charge and we suffer every election.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Even more disturbing, personally, is the argument that by caring more about the white working class, the party will somehow abandon social and racial progressiveness.

Like, what? Who says that being more receptive to the needs of those voters will have to come at the expense of minorities? Left my scratching my head.

Because, when those jobs won't be coming back and the economy will still suffer, minorities will be blamed.

From the point of view of the GOP and its voters, caring about the poor whites and the white working class pretty much means blaming minorities. It's exactly what Trump did. The Mexicans illegally cross the border to fuck up your communities and bring drugs, the Chinese steal your jobs, blah blah blah.

What evidence is there that that comment had any impact on the election? People are trying way too hard to pin Hilary's loss on Liberals rightfully calling out Trump's bullshit, when the more likely reasons she lost has nothing to do with that.

Yeah, it's horseshit.

clinton had a few more words than "no, your jobs are gone"

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/brief...l-communities/

I knew the narrative that Clinton didn't address their concerns at all was total BS. She actually had a concrete plan about it, but the media never discussed it and just focused on emails emails emails. And well, the only thing she failed to do is to address their concerns with empty emotional appeals instead of boring "facts". Maybe she should have blamed minorities more....

Is this article trying to say that this hypothetical man's concerns are being literally and directly downplayed by a hypothetical politician or racial justice activist? Because that is ridiculous. I mean, someone please fill me in if poor white working class citizens are coming to their representatives for help and are directly being told, "Too bad, suck it up, others have it worse." Because that's what's being said here.

My guess is that this excerpt is referring to the notion that rural white communities are suffering from things like poverty and drug addiction and are unhappy that solutions aren't immediately forthcoming while social issues and similar economic issues in minority communities are being openly discussed by politicians as well. Because, and let's be clear, when poverty and drug addiction were sweeping urban minority communities, the biggest and loudest response was a cry for personal responsibility and the passage of laws disproportionately throwing these individuals in jail. Now that opioids are sweeping through predominately white rural communities, other solutions are suddenly on the table. Don't take me wrong: I'm happy that the right solutions are now being discussed, but it should have been discussed a long time ago when minority communities were suffering without a voice. So to claim that this problem is being ignored is nonsense when, in actuality, those in power have just started paying attention to it because of the nature of the communities involved.

So I'm going to have to push back at the notion that the white working class is being ignored by "politicians and racial justice activists" in favor of minorities. The reality as told to this country by the results of the election is that the white working class is realizing that poverty and drug abuse are not exclusive problems to their communities and are wondering why their needs aren't being prioritized over the needs of communities who have been suffering from these problems without help for decades.

I love this post.

It's good to feel right, isn't it? Good luck constructively changing the minds of just under half the country by calling them a racist.

If Trump enacts racist policies, I'd hope you'd call them out as racist, sure. But this idea that everyone who voted for him is automatically a racist is exactly what gave rise to him in the first place.

Enough with this nonsense. It has no basis in fact.

 

[0coolclimate0]

How did you feel when the candidate you decided to stand with slandered and fomented hatred against good people just because of their race or ethnicity?

I felt the same way that I felt when the other candidate begin calling people deplorable and describing my family as something they were not.

 

[Brawndo Addict]

I was expecting a more substantive analysis/summary of racial research as opposed to one study about transgender issues being used to widely extrapolate and make far-reaching conclusions.

The Title Should Read: "Study Suggests That Personal Conversations May Help Reduce Bias against Transgender Individuals"

 

[GrizzleBoy]

I'll be direct and honest. I'm a white (Jewish) Republican, I don't have a racist bone in my body. I live in Southern California and can count the number of white friends I have on my hands.
This election was tough for me, I was a Swing Vote. I went back and forth in my mind between Hillary and Donald Trump.

I started to hear things, when Hillary called Trump supporters deplorable, I thought of my friends and family that support Trump who were also not racist. I began to lean towards Trump.

When friends and family who are liberal began to directly insult my other friends and family who are Republican, I noticed that my family who are Republican we're not arguing back but still being called out and tagged in mean videos and meme's. Again I learned a little more towards Trump.

Although I'm Jewish a lot of my family is Christian. When comments were made about Christians trying to destroy the nation. I remember that my family are good people and they don't want to destroy the nation. And every time I heard an insult along those lines I leaned a little more towards Trump.

When people started talking about Trump supporters being unintelligent and stupid, I remembered that a lot of my family members who are Republican, who work hard. Some owned businesses, while my brother is a welder who went through hell to get his certificate, spent his savings to strive to get a better position in the work force and works extremely hard. I started to get angry and leaned a little more towards Trump.

These little things and many more over time bothered me enough that I supported Trump. My vote was not set in stone, but the things this article talks about doesn't just apply to changing people who are racist. I am not a racist, I'm Jewish and I don't have room to be racist, I hear racial comments on my own enough. But after a while of hearing people I know to be good being slandered just for being in a political party, a lot of which were swing votes as well, I got fed up real quick. And it was clear where I needed to stand.

When I saw that a group of people (Democrats) who claimed their entire message is based around tolerance and love begin display intolerance and hatred, I begin doubting everything else that their messages stood for as well.

This post might make some people mad, might make me unpopular. But it is the truth, and it matters. I figured it was worth noting that there is another side of trump supporters that people keep forgetting about.

Do your family and friends who voted for Trump accept what their vote means in its entirety? Do they feel remorseful for the negative side of what their vote means?

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

There isn't a conversation any of us can have with racists that can overcome what they see on Facebook. Read what people thought after switching to an opposite feed.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...le-us-election-conservative-liberal-news-feed

 

[Enzom21]

It angers me a lot. I feel betrayed. I try to remember that he has Jewish Family and try to keep faith that he will not go batshit. Like I said before I was a Swing Vote, and when it came down to it I decided to roll the dice. Maybe it was a good decision maybe it wasn't but Small Things led me to think that rolling the dice was better than taking snake eyes.

So the racism was okay but having an anti Semite on staff is a betrayal? I guess it's easy to ignore something that doesn't affect you huh?

 

[0coolclimate0]

Do your family and friends who voted for Trump accept what their vote means in its entirety? Do they feel remorseful for the negative side of what their vote means?

Comments like this are the exact reason that I cast my vote the way I did. Refusing to look at any other part of this election and demonizing myself and family was enough.

 

[Eidan]

Nope. But think about all that murky grey area where someone who's voter soul wasn't yet cast in either side and how they reacted to constantly being told they were a hateful monster and so on for not liking some entertainment property, failing to see the fuss over a comicbook cover, and so on. They got fed up of being screamed at and more than a few found themselves on the wrong side because at least it wasn't hissing at them.

Fighting racism and promoting equality has to also be about peaceful persuasion and not constantly whacking noses with a rolled up newspaper.

That's nice, it really is. And like I said, I'll leave it to white people to gently educate their racist relatives during Thanksgiving.

 

[Moonkid]

As a minority that had the privilege of having grown up avoiding overt racism for the most part, I see merit in reaching out and educating should a confrontation or interaction arise. Having said that, I respect and can't disagree with the notion that it shouldn't be on us to do it either. I'm also pretty young and was taught growing up to seek first to understand in a conflict. Maybe one day I'll harden up but for now this is where I'm at and I recognise that my (lack of) life experience lead me to this position.

 

[Suikoguy]

So the racism was okay but having an anti Semite on staff is a betrayal? I guess it's easy to ignore something that doesn't affect you huh?

Also his core ideal that he can't be racist since he is jewish.

Comments like this are the exact reason that I cast my vote the way I did. Refusing to look at any other part of this election and demonizing myself and family was enough.

If you really took his post that way, it speaks volumes.

 

[Akainu]

Isn't that nice it's always the job of the victim to sit people don't on their knee to talk them out of their backward views.

 

[IrishNinja]

Is this article trying to say that this hypothetical man's concerns are being literally and directly downplayed by a hypothetical politician or racial justice activist? Because that is ridiculous. I mean, someone please fill me in if poor white working class citizens are coming to their representatives for help and are directly being told, "Too bad, suck it up, others have it worse." Because that's what's being said here.

My guess is that this excerpt is referring to the notion that rural white communities are suffering from things like poverty and drug addiction and are unhappy that solutions aren't immediately forthcoming while social issues and similar economic issues in minority communities are being openly discussed by politicians as well. Because, and let's be clear, when poverty and drug addiction were sweeping urban minority communities, the biggest and loudest response was a cry for personal responsibility and the passage of laws disproportionately throwing these individuals in jail. Now that opioids are sweeping through predominately white rural communities, other solutions are suddenly on the table. Don't take me wrong: I'm happy that the right solutions are now being discussed, but it should have been discussed a long time ago when minority communities were suffering without a voice. So to claim that this problem is being ignored is nonsense when, in actuality, those in power have just started paying attention to it because of the nature of the communities involved.

So I'm going to have to push back at the notion that the white working class is being ignored by "politicians and racial justice activists" in favor of minorities. The reality as told to this country by the results of the election is that the white working class is realizing that poverty and drug abuse are not exclusive problems to their communities and are wondering why their needs aren't being prioritized over the needs of communities who have been suffering from these problems without help for decades.

highly underrated post right here

 

[Madrin]

Anecdotal evidence - Bullshit.

It's worked for me on my dad. Calling him out as a racist every time he opened his mouth to say "nigger" when he saw a black person made him stop doing it and feel shame about his behavior. Calling out and shaming bad behavior works.

We absolutely do not have to "empathize" with a lot of forms of racism. Sometimes you just need to tell someone they're being bad.

Do you feel like his attitudes actually changed, or that he just stopped expressing those attitudes in front of you?

 

[EmSeta]

Study sure is swell but there's no room for these "brief, frank" conversations in the social media space.

So let's just make it worse right? Surely it's more important to win brownie points online than actually work to build bridges and create a better society.

 

[0coolclimate0]

So the racism was okay but having an anti Semite on staff is a betrayal? I guess it's easy to ignore something that doesn't affect you huh?

I had plenty of Rabbi's and Jewish friends who warned me that Trump was anti-Semitic. I knew going in that there would be issues in my temple and among other Jews. I knew it would affect me very much, even if it wasn't the presidency I knew it would lower me in the eyes of my other Jewish friends.
So it does affect me, don't presume that you know everything about me from a neogaf post.

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

So the racism was okay but having an anti Semite on staff is a betrayal? I guess it's easy to ignore something that doesn't affect you huh?

Be kind. Don't challenge him. As a Christian, on this board, i can tell you I've never been challenged in my bullshit.

 

[DerangedHermit]

I love these "i assure you that i'm not racist" comments or posts... YOU DO NOT GET TO DECIDE THAT FOR YOURSELF!

 

[Darryl M R]

Comments like this are the exact reason that I cast my vote the way I did. Refusing to look at any other part of this election and demonizing myself and family was enough.

So instead on voting for policies you voted a certain way because your feelings were hurt?

Man us over here really don't know what it feels like to be generalized.

My vote for Hillary wasn't because Trump said mean words, it's because Trump would pass racist and bigoted laws.

 

[Bruce Springsteen]

Been arguing the same since the end of the election.

This isn't the way to change things. It only makes people back into a corner and hunker down.

yup, all the trump voters being called racists, bigots, white supremacists... only makes them more defensive and back Trump even more

I haven't seen any change in dialogue between the two sides since the election, SAD

 

[mclem]

I had to paraphrase the title because it was too long.

Research says there are ways to reduce racial bias. Calling people racist isn’t one of them.

There are also ways to make racial minorities feel bad. Failing to stand up for them in the face of racism is one of them.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Comments like this are the exact reason that I cast my vote the way I did. Refusing to look at any other part of this election and demonizing myself and family was enough.

That's not at all what the post was implying and it makes sense you reacted that way if you felt persecuted to the point of voting for Trump because of the deplorables comment.

 

[Slayven]

Jewish and voted to put Breitbart in the whitehouse..... Ok

 

[GrizzleBoy]

Do your family and friends who voted for Trump accept what their vote means in its entirety? Do they feel remorseful for the negative side of what their vote means?

Comments like this are the exact reason that I cast my vote the way I did. Refusing to look at any other part of this election and demonizing myself and family was enough.

I didn't ask you if there was another reason you or they voted.

I asked you if you, your family or friends accept that "rolling the dice" as you put it has very negative consequences regarding minority rights and such?

 

[sonicmj1]

This isn't the first time I've heard about this kind of technique. Last year This American Life had a segment about a study in California showing that people's views concerning gay marriage were changed by these kinds of conversations. Unfortunately, a month after the segment aired, one of the study's authors asked it to be retracted because the firm running the survey had been falsifying their data.

It sounds like the study that Vox is citing here comes from those same researchers running their study again, which got its own segment on the podcast.

I think there are two things wrong with how this story is being framed by posters in this thread. The first is that this is putting the onus on minorities to suck it up and pretend to be happy about all this shit, and I don't think it should be read that way for two reasons. One is that anyone can have these kinds of conversations. As the study points out, the identity of the canvasser did not effect the persuasive power of the conversation. If you are not a minority, but you care about fighting racism, you can have these conversations yourself. In fact, considering that you're more likely to be dealing with people with these attitudes, you have a greater obligation than the average minority. The other reason (and this is tied into the second larger thing) is that the conversations in the study weren't being had in response to transphobic incidents: they were presented completely out of the blue. I would suspect this kind of conversation would be less effective in response to someone calling you a racial slur, and that those individuals would be more difficult to reach regardless. Deal with racism you face in whatever way is healthiest for you.

The second thing wrong is people oversimplifying the technique based on the headline, as if to say "We can just stop racism by not calling people racists". That's absolutely false. The effectiveness of the technique depends on creating empathy while still conveying your perspective. The article emphasizes the importance of listening and allowing the other side to present their view, of looking for common ground in how you frame your argument. That is hard work, and it's especially difficult to achieve over the internet, where you have no indication of how invested anyone is in actually listening. I'm all for making the internet less negative, but real results for this are only going to happen face to face with people, in conversations presented outside of responding to a specific racist act.

That said, I do truly believe this is a worthwhile thing to do. Some of the views I see here remind me of other conversations about prison reform. And the misunderstandings are similar, too. Ultimately the question is how we create a country where everyone respects everyone else, and answering that means worrying about outcomes above worrying about proper retribution. But that is not an excuse to dismiss the problem and push it on others - it's a call to confront it head-on no matter how uncomfortable that may be. Empathy does not require accepting bigotry.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

I'll be direct and honest. I'm a white (Jewish) Republican, I don't have a racist bone in my body. I live in Southern California and can count the number of white friends I have on my hands.
This election was tough for me, I was a Swing Vote. I went back and forth in my mind between Hillary and Donald Trump.

I started to hear things, when Hillary called Trump supporters deplorable, I thought of my friends and family that support Trump who were also not racist. I began to lean towards Trump.

When friends and family who are liberal began to directly insult my other friends and family who are Republican, I noticed that my family who are Republican we're not arguing back but still being called out and tagged in mean videos and meme's. Again I learned a little more towards Trump.

Although I'm Jewish a lot of my family is Christian. When comments were made about Christians trying to destroy the nation. I remember that my family are good people and they don't want to destroy the nation. And every time I heard an insult along those lines I leaned a little more towards Trump.

When people started talking about Trump supporters being unintelligent and stupid, I remembered that a lot of my family members who are Republican, who work hard. Some owned businesses, while my brother is a welder who went through hell to get his certificate, spent his savings to strive to get a better position in the work force and works extremely hard. I started to get angry and leaned a little more towards Trump.

These little things and many more over time bothered me enough that I supported Trump. My vote was not set in stone, but the things this article talks about doesn't just apply to changing people who are racist. I am not a racist, I'm Jewish and I don't have room to be racist, I hear racial comments on my own enough. But after a while of hearing people I know to be good being slandered just for being in a political party, a lot of which were swing votes as well, I got fed up real quick. And it was clear where I needed to stand.

When I saw that a group of people (Democrats) who claimed their entire message is based around tolerance and love begin display intolerance and hatred, I begin doubting everything else that their messages stood for as well.

This post might make some people mad, might make me unpopular. But it is the truth, and it matters. I figured it was worth noting that there is another side of trump supporters that people keep forgetting about.

Ladies and gentlemen, white fragility at its finest.

It angers me a lot. I feel betrayed.

You were okay with voting for someone who called Mexicans rapists, who openly discriminated against blacks and treats them with contempt, who blames the Chinese for all the economic problems, who hired a white supremacist anti-semite as his campaign CEO (and who is now, surprise surprise, going to be his chief strategist!), who constantly objectify women and brag about sexually assaulting them, who chose the most staunchly homophobic politician as his running mate, who cheated contractors out of their pay, who bullies everyone with lawsuits that so much as look at him funny, who believes climate change is a hoax (again, perpetrated by those damn Chinamen!)...

...But I guess he never did say much about Jews, other than he'd rather have a Jewish accountant than a black one. So yeah, I can see why you'd feel "betrayed", you poor soul.

Maybe it was a good decision maybe it wasn't

The fact that you're still even pondering this boggles my mind. Enjoy Steve Bannon whispering in Trump's ears for four years.

 

[Eidan]

Comments like this are the exact reason that I cast my vote the way I did. Refusing to look at any other part of this election and demonizing myself and family was enough.

You didn't vote for Mitt Romney or some other milquetoast conservative. You voted for an ignorant demagogue who used the politics of unfiltered bigotry to win an election. Hell, you even framed that moronic vote as retaliation for people condemning voting for Trump, like a petulant child. You honestly disgust me.

 

[Lime]

The amount of "white people" this and "cis" that on social media means those fighting for equality and understanding are going to have an even more upsetting time of it four years later.

The left chased away so many allies in this recent era over an insane obsession with minutia on truly meaningless shit and theres still no signs of lessons being learned. Now the pendulum swings back hard because liberals arrogantly assumed the right to rule.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...laming-the-civil-rights-movement-for-jim-crow

 

[Foggy]

It would shock me indeed. Because the reaction here and everywhere else on social media seems to indicate otherwise. People want to feel superior more than they want to fix things.

Lets face it. You have a problem. Half of your country either agrees with racism or seems to be willing to go along with it. You are presented with a possible solution to that problem. Your reaction to that solution is to scoff and deny it with nothing to back up your counterclaim and presenting no alternatives to it.

Instead you would rather feel all superior to those stinking racists.

It shocks you because you bought into the narrative that people are more invested in emotional validation than invested in progress. Surely it's not the response of an angry generation towards a country that doesn't give a shit about them. Cool train of thought.

This solution you speak of isn't a practical solution in the slightest. It is completely decoupled from how people digest politics, discuss them, and formulate thought structures surrounding them. But it sort of fits your narrative so have fun telling the disenfranchised of this country how we're governed by petty emotional validation and not righteous anger toward half the country that just shit all over their basic dignity.

 

[SeanTSC]

Comments like this are the exact reason that I cast my vote the way I did. Refusing to look at any other part of this election and demonizing myself and family was enough.

You were not demonized. You sure as hell don't know what it feels like to be demonized if you consider the world "deplorable" to be demonizing. My god. That is absolutely nothing compared to the real consequences of the real racism and bigotry that was openly thrown out this past year.

Calling you a deplorable (and Clinton only did this once) is not now and will not ever be comparable to being called a Nigger, or a Faggot, or saying you'll BURN IN HELL for who you are, or calling people of your ethnicity a bunch of rapists. This has happened to people over and over again for their entire lives. Christ.