Racism

From dKosopedia

A philosophy that views humanity as divided into races, usually with the idea that one race is superior to others and entitled to rule over them. In U.S. history racism is closely associated with the legacy of slavery in the American South, including

• Southern Christian support for slavery as Biblically ordained
• Secession and formation of the Confederate States of America
• The Civil War
• The Ku Klux Klan and related White Supremacist organizations
• Jim Crow Laws, allegedly under the theory of Separate But Equal
• Massive Resistance to desegregation
• The Dixiecrats and the Republican Party Southern Strategy
• The Republican restructuring as the Party of No since President Obama's election

Each of these stages was accompanied by virulent propaganda, stirring up fear of Blacks among the White population. The War on Drugs has been racist, originating with stories of "Cocainized N-----s" out to rape white women and kill white men.

In many other parts of the world racism is closely associated with a history of Colonialism.

Racism is widely condemned, except by fairly small White Supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in the US and relatively small political parties in Europe. It is fundamental to politics in much of the rest of the world. Progressives tend to focus on redressing a history of inequality in their approach to undoing the effects of past racism. Some others emphasize attaining an absolutely "color-blind society". However, for many this is a code phrase for doing nothing.

The Republican party is currently associated with three ideas.

• Support for corporate interests and the rich, including tax cuts, deregulation, and opposition to Health Care Reform
• Support for the Christian Right, whose issues are abortion and gay rights.
• Support for resistance to civil rights for minorities and immigrants, especially Blacks. This is expressed in code as States' Rights.

See Also

• Anti-Semitism
• Profiling