One thing all Trump-haters have in common is that they accuse him of being a racist and of dividing the country. I do not know if Trump is a racist but I do know he is not the one that is dividing our country.
The country sure as hell is being divided by those who look for racism under every rug or rock, behind every bush and around every corner. A slip of the tongue by a prominent white person will bring the wrath of racism charges down on him. The use of the words ‘watermelon’ or ‘fried chicken’ is liable to get one accused of being a racist.
Here is an example from Saturday’s Daily Mail:
Controversial HBO host Bill Maher accused of ‘blatant racism’ after asking ex-CIA black GOP congressman Bill Hurd if he was collecting intelligence at 4am outside a Popeyes Chicken
Controversial HBO host Bill Maher is facing calls to quit after asking an ex-CIA black GOP congressman if he was collecting intelligence at 4am outside a Popeyes Chicken.
Maher, 63, was presenting Real Time on Friday night when he made the comment during a discussion with Will Hurd, a Republican congressman representing Texas’ 23rd District.
He asked Hurd, who is black, why he is a Republican to which Hurd, 41, replied: ‘I’m a Republican because I believe in limited government.’ ‘I’m a Republican because I believe in the rule of law. I’m a Republican because I believe in economic opportunity.’
Maher interjected: ‘They don’t do that. I’m just asking why you’re a Republican? Because they’re not good at the debt, that was their big thing. You said limited government, they don’t do that. They took over the Congress in 2011 and they raised the debt a trillion dollars a year. ‘They’re not good at national defense—the president’s a traitor. What’s in it for you? What is in the Republican Party for you? You were in the CIA!’
Hurd replied: ‘I was in the CIA for almost a decade. I was the dude in the back alleys at four o’clock in the morning collecting intelligence on threats to the homeland.’
To which Maher hit back: ‘That’s where you’d collect it, huh? Wow. By the Popeyes Chicken?’
I’ve never liked smartass Bill Maher, neither as a two-bit movie actor before becoming famous on TV, nor on his HBO show, but calling him a racist for that smartass comment on Popeyes Chicken … what a bunch of crap!
This country is being divided not by Trump, but by the daily attacks against white people for a slip of the tongue. Popeyes Chicken indeed.
This is Black History Month. I seriously doubt that the great civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been the least bit upset by Maher’s crack. He would have ignored it as just a dumb smartass remark. He was truly bringing this country together when a racist assassin snuffed out his life. If only Dr. King were still alive today.
It’s really sad to see what is happening to our beloved country. I suspect that if we are really honest, most of us will admit we are racists. These constant accusations are meant to defuse racism and to bring us all together, but unfortunately, they are just driving us further apart.
As a conservative I quote Martin Luther King Jr frequently, the man had much to say and was a prophet IMHO. I refuse to embrace the bullspit of the left that divides us…
My favorite MLK quote…
“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
That my friends is profound!
Gotta say Howie, Trump is uniting the left in a way no one else could have. He is also uniting the right. But to say he is not dividing the country is, in my opinion, to overlook the obvious. I also have trouble with “if we are really honest, most of us will admit we are racists.” I don’t think Dr. King would agree. Can blacks be racists?
Perhaps it would have been more correct to say “… most of us whites will admit we are racists.” Dr. King, notwithstanding, we may not think we’re racist, but deep down within most of us whites, latent racism lurks.
As for “Can blacks be racists?” Of course they can … anywhere they are the majority. In the former European colonies of Africa, whites are discriminated against, deprived of their farms and hated, and that includes the late Nelson Mandela’s nation of South Africa.
“but deep down within most of us whites, latent racism lurks.” Which is itself a deeply racist statement. You realize that using your own statement, Maher is actually a racist, simply because he’s white. And, you DO know if Trump is a racist – using your own definition, he’s a racist because he’s white.
In fact, you actually have no place writing this entire article. Since you are white, you are racist, and since you’re a racist, you really can’t comment on the issue.
As for saying that blacks can be racist – what a horrible racist thing to say.
Howie, sometimes you are spot on. Other times (and this is one of them) you just sound like one more liberal hack.
Fat, old buddy, let me admit to you that I am a racist.
I have worked alongside some outstanding black law enforcement officers. I have socialized with a number of black friends and when my teenage daughter dated a nice black boy, it did not bother me at all.
But here is why I am a racist. Studies have shown that the majority of blacks harbor anti-Semitic feelings. Never mind that Jews were in the forefront of the civil rights movement and that several Jews were murdered by the KKK because they participated in the voter registration of blacks in the South.
Al Sharpton incited hatred of Jews in the Crown Heights riots and in the Freddie’s Fashion Mart incident. Jessie Jackson has made several anti-Semitic statements. Obama’s former mentor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, is a well-known anti-Semite and anti-Israel hawk, and probably influenced Obama’s hostility toward the Jewish state. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan repeatedly preaches hatred of Jews.
I realize Sharpton, Jackson, Wright and Farrakhan are just individuals, but they are recognized as African-American leaders, and as such contribute to black anti-Semitism.
OK Fat, there you have it. I am a racist. Now tell me that you do not have a racist bone in your body.
Howie,
I’m not sure I understand. Are you saying that you’re a racist because you recognize that there are African Americans who are anti-Semites? Dude, that’s not racist, that’s understanding reality. You pick out individuals who are not worthy of respect (Sharpton, Jackson, Wright and Farrakhan) and go on with your business.
“Racism: belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” That does not seem to describe your feelings.
Trust me, if you were racist, you WOULD NOT be OK with your daughter dating a black person.
And no, I’m not a racist.
Fat, your definition of racism is the original one. That has morphed into the contemporary or cultural definition which simply defines racism as prejudice and discrimination based on differences. While I try not to discriminate against blacks, I am admittedly prejudiced for the reasons I explained earlier.
Now, considering the contemporary or cultural definition, are you still squeaky clean?
First of all Howie, I tend to strongly resist redefining concepts and words simply to satisfy the PC crowd.
Second, I’m not even sure what that definition means. If it means that I evaluate people based on the color of their skin or country of origin, then no, I don’t. If it means that I evaluate people based on their actions and attitudes then obviously I do.
Once again, saying that all white people are racist is itself a virulently racist statement.
The definition of racism as prejudice and discrimination based on differences has nothing to do with political correctness. It is all about how racism is viewed by contemporary society.
Trump has never implied that he felt superior to blacks, but he is still accused of being a racist. When Virginia Gov. Northam put on blackface it had nothing to do with a feeling of superiority. And when actor Liam Neeson said he wanted to kill a “black bastard” because a black man had raped a friend of his, he was showered with a barrage of accusations that he was a racist. But where in his statement was there any implication that he felt superior to blacks?
Neither Trump, Northam nor Leeson have ever displayed or expressed any feelings that fit the definition of racism as you described it, but they are still called racists.
Howie,
I can call you an avocado – that doesn’t make you one. I absolutely refuse to simply let the insanity of what is much of “contemporary society” redefine our language.
I don’t believe that Trump is a racist. I don’t think Northam is a racist (I think he’s a idiot, but that’s another matter). I don’t think that Leeson is a racist, and I understand what he was going through – although, for the life of me I can’t understand why he that it was a good idea to talk about it to a reporter.
I agree with your original statement that the country is being torn apart by accusations of racism. But the solution is not for a bunch of people to throw up their hands and cry “mea culpa” and prostrate themselves to the dictates of idiot liberals. The solution is for each of us, when someone calls us racist is to reply, “no, I’m not a racist, you’re an idiot asshole who doesn’t know what you’re talking about.