how many white DU'ers can relate to this quote?

[boot@9]

Leonard Pitts writes..."The wealthier and more powerful in this country have historically played a cool con job on impoverished whites. It sold them on the notion that they might be poor but they were by God, white, and thus, members--albeit junior ones--of that exclusive club of prerogative and privlege. ...when the going got though, the privleged got going. And the poor were left where they always are. Behind"

[phantom power]

1. You might be interested in this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=156145&mesg_id=156145

[boot@9]

3. thanks

[ClassWarrior]

2. That's so true. What's the source of this? Link?

NGU.

[boot@9]

5. dallas morning news sept 9 column by nancy kruh

[etherealtruth]

4. Make sure the poor are divided ...

... so that they will never join forces (the perfect merging of racism and classism) and you've got a permanent (and obviously disposable) underclass ---- It's the Neocon dream; I don't think they thought it would be highlighted this way and met by such national and international disgust.

[bertha katzenengel]

6. Not this poor white woman.

I never had anyone rich people, or even better-off people, tell me, "there, there, at least you're white."

I was left behind because of my parents, not society. Once free of my parents, I bootstrapped it out of there. I'm still poor, but I'm not helpless.

[boot@9]

11. perhaps the post

should have been worded ...how many of us have(had) kinfolk that this quote applies to. i know i did.

[bertha katzenengel]

18. The post was clear enough.

If you get to know me you'll find I can be rather sensitive and thin-skinned. :shrug:

:hi: welcome to DU :)

[NNN0LHI]

7. This is Rush Limbaugh's script he uses to BS the knuckledraggers

Lou Dobbs uses just a slightly more polished version of this to pull in gullible liberals. Works like a charm too.

Don

[kwassa]

8. The white poor are privileged over the black poor

I don't think that most whites are even conscious of the privilege that white skin gives them....

[ComerPerro]

10. But its not matter of white privilege in this case

Unless I misunderstood the poster, the mentality seems to be not one of "Well, I may be poor, but at least I am not a minority", but rather, "Well, I may be poor, but I'm still better than those blacks and mexicans".

Like I said, I could have just inferred that twist to it, but I have seen that very mentality on display and it makes me sick.

[NNN0LHI]

12. White people all "bootstrapped" it for themselves

The fact that so many people actually believe that line of crap is disheartening to say the least.

Don

[Name removed]

66. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[boot@9]

71. well said

until all middle class and all below join together we will be discussing this forever. oh i forgot there is abortion, school prayer, gays, 10 commandments, the "meskins" to talk about and divide us. oh well at least we may be poor but we are white and "Christian"!

[NNN0LHI]

78. You said: "Did being white give me an advantage? Fuck if I know!"

You should know! You sound educated enough to be aware of the disparities between blacks and whites in income, education, health care, life span, infant mortality rate, etc.

Maybe not? Regardless of that, you know now.

Don

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. Agreed.

------------------------------------------------------
URGENT yet easy! Hold the government accountable for Katrina's aftermath
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4736062

[hootinholler]

50. Maybe I was (am) privledged...

But it sure as fuck didn't feel like it back then. Desn't feel like it now either, but I can no longer be counted as poor, for now.

-Hoot

[meow2u3]

76. That's true of poor white racists

The "I may be poor but at least I'm white" mentality seems rampant in white supremacist terrorist organizations. Poor whites are easy recruits for such groups.

Nonracist poor whites don't think that way, IMO.

[ComerPerro]

9. Well, I can certainly relate to it, in a sense that I am familiar with

this mentality.

That seems to be how the conservatives always used to race-bait, and they still use this tactic, just in a more subtle form.

It seems to me that a lot of people tend to think that if you are poor and white, its ok because at least you are white. But, somehow, if you are poor and black you have two things going against you. White people, as you mentioned, just figure, "Well, I'm white, so I am at least better than someone". A lot of White Supremacists seem to take pride in the fact that they are white, as though that were all they needed to be elevated above any other race.

I have seen this attitude on display many times and it makes me sick. For some reason, to these whites, black people have to go the extra step just be seen as equal to poor whites.

One of the worst things I have ever heard was by a conservative I know who, after watching Chapelle's shows sketch "racial draft", commented, "Well, fine, Condi Rice is too smart to be black anyway".

Its sick.

[MojoXN]

52. "...Condi Rice is too smart to be black anyway."

No, she's too much of an "Aunt Tom" to be black, anyway. Say what you will, I stand by my words.

MojoXN

[Marr]

13. I don't think it's solely a matter of manipulation by the wealthy.

I'm white and I grew up well below the poverty line in Los Angeles. I knew lots of racist whites who were in the same economic boat my family was in.

I think that alot of these poor whites feel like they *should* be "above" blacks, somehow. But they aren't. They live in the same types of houses and make the same amount of money. So they blame "liberals" for pushing equality. To them, "equality" means being dragged out of a priviliged seat and into the ghetto. Doesn't matter that their families have been poor for centuries- they feel like they ought to be living in luxury, and would be- if not for liberals.

There are alot of non-racist poor whites, too, of course. My own family was dirt poor until my dad got a union job in my teenage years. While there was always racial tensions in my hometown, none of my neighbors ever approached the level of "other" the way el jefe did.

[laureloak]

43. I also know many poor whites that are too proud to accept

public assistance and resent those that do.

I also know poor whites that don't know what or if assistance is available to them.

[NNN0LHI]

51. Then obviously these poor whites don't need public assistance bad enough

They have some other way to get by. Mooching off parents, friends, or whatever. Lets face it when someones kids get hungry and there is no food in the house only an idiot would be too proud to request assistance to feed their kids.

Don

[laureloak]

54. Of course they need it. But their problems just get

brushed aside by unfeeling selfish people who only have their own interests and greed at heart.

P.S. I don't know of any 85 year olds that mooch off parents and friends but I do know some that have eaten cat food because it was cheaper than a can of tuna.

[ultraist]

60. There are far more whites on welfare than Blacks

What are you trying to imply with the, "many poor whites are too proud to accept public assistance." I detect some white code BS in that statement.

[meow2u3]

75. You hear that attitude on some country songs

The I'm-too-proud-to-accept-help theme.

One country song has this line: "...if I can't get it on my own"

Some poor whites would rather steal or sell meth before they'd accept welfare.

[ultraist]

95. Yep, another myth: Whites are better than black, they have "pride"

and self respect. Blacks, of course, have no shame and are lining up to leach/mooch off the system. They are lazy.

That's a spin off of the "welfare queen" myth.

Lame.

22.9 MILLION WHITES are receiving welfare assistance.

[Fescue4u]

14. Yea, its amazing what you can buy, by showing white skin

I understand the thought process behind this idea, but I really think its stretching an ideology to the breaking point.

Poor people are poor because they don't have money or physicial possessions. If just having white skin got them somewhere, then they wouldnt be poor anymore.

[ultraist]

55. "If white skin got them somewhere..." Well, it does.

It makes their chances of being in poverty 3x less than if they were Black, it opens all sorts of doors including better health care, lower infant mortality rates, & longer life spans.

White skin prevents them from being targeted by the police to the degree Blacks are and it protects them from many built in racist ways of the judicial system...the list goes.

The fact is, whites do not face institutionalized and systemic racism. Period.

If they did, we wouldn't have huge gaps in income, health care, & education between Blacks and whites. We wouldn't see 24% of Blacks in poverty, while 8% of whites are. We wouldn't have a disproportionately large number of Black babies dying, Black children in special edu, Black youths in jail,& Black males on death row.

Whites, rich or poor, ARE privileged in our society.

[meow2u3]

77. Whites get away with more drug use

drug dealing, and crimes in general. Police seem to assume that whites are law-abiding citizens unless their behavior is egregious. It's what I call reverse racial profiling.

[chalky]

105. "If just having white skin got them somewhere..."

From a June 17 article in NYT:

White men with prison records receive far more offers for entry-level jobs in New York City than black men with identical records, and are offered jobs just as often - if not more so - than black men who have never been arrested, according to a new study by two Princeton professors.

The article is in NYT archives if you're interested. This site has the article in its entirety:

http://realcostofprisons.org/blog/archives/2005/06/no_surprise_rac.html

edited to add: I still believe wholeheartedly that class is the big divider. But the above is a result of centuries of our nation being programed with "the big lie".

[Karenina]

106. Race simply helps to identify

class.

[boot@9]

107. on your edit

you are so correct.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

15. Great info on this

In either "Lies My Teacher Told Me" or "People's History of the United States". It presented several letters from Thomas Jefferson advocating that the Powers That Be hype up the "dangers" that black people present to whites and their subhuman status. Apparently, poor whites (particularly those who had come to America as indentured servants) were showing sympathies toward blacks as well as anger about slavery. The PTB were scared as hell that poor whites and blacks, if working together for justice, could knock them down from their position as feudal lords.

[mitchum]

17. Any socially aware person who grew up in the south has always...

been aware of this tactic. This manipulalation by "the gentry" is more nakedly apparent down in dixie.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

19. In a Poly Sci class a couple of years ago we studied how during

the early years of the country slaves outnumbering slave owners was considered a serious problem. At the time there were many white slaves that were in the same situation as African Americans. Both groups were joined in their struggle to overthrow slavery for everyone. White owners, knowing that they could never protect themselves against such numbers, decided to divide and conquer. Slave owners gave white slaves rights that weren't enjoyed by African Americans. They let them work off as indentured workers, made them crew and field bosses, treated them better, etc. Held out the hope for freedom for some to control all. Just a little bit of privilege for a select group of people in a class with no rights or privilege effectively split the group. And this technique has been used effectively ever since. Many dirt poor, disadvantaged, uneducated whites will always settle for very little as long as they can think to themselves, "We'll at least I'm not black."

sigh....

[misanthrope]

38. Damn straight, and even more outrageous...

...is that the people down here eat it up, hook, line and sinker. In fact, they institutionalize it so strongly that it's a good chance segregation would still be in effect today were it not for federal intervention.

[Codeine]

20. We need CLASS WARFARE, people

Recognize that we're all being screwed and bond together for living wages, unions, consumer protection, and educational fairness. Fuck White vs Black, it should be Rich vs Poor, and we outnumber the Rich by a longshot.

[misscoko34]

21. you got that right.....

nm

[mitchum]

22. Absolutely! THAT is a tyranny of the majority I CAN get behind.

[laureloak]

73. Amen. That's what I've been trying to get across.

It's all about the "HAVE NOTS" and the "HAVES" in every aspect of our lives. The race issue is a catch-22 for which there is no solution - it just inflames and divides.

[Karenina]

79. The denial of white privilege

is the glue that keeps racism stuck in place. I thought of you when I read this, you might find it interesting:

http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2003-10/05wise.cfm

October 05, 2003

Collateral Damage: Poor Whites and the Unintended Consequences of Racial Privilege

By Tim Wise

A few years ago, a young woman who was an anti-poverty organizer in rural Kentucky asked me how she could infuse her work with an anti-racist analysis.

She knew there was a need to address the connection between institutional racism and white privilege on the one hand and economic oppression on the other; but at the same time, she was aware of the difficulty of relating these issues to the lived experiences of the mostly white poor with whom she was working.

After all, how does one explain--indeed is it even proper to bring up--the existence of white privilege among poor whites, for whom the idea of privilege must seem remote and even absurd? And how could she make poor whites realize the need to fight racism against people of color when they have, to put it mildly, their own problems?

<snip>

Of course, to suggest that poor whites reap the benefits of skin color when they suffer so terribly in class terms seems preposterous to some. But privilege is not merely a monetary term, nor is it solely an absolute concept; rather, it is also relative, and it is this relative meaning of the term "privilege" that concerns us here.
The white poor, for example, clearly reap certain privileges vis-à-vis the poor of color: benefits about which we must be honest. First and foremost, is the more positive way in which they are typically viewed relative to poor folks with darker skin, and how this translates into differential treatment...

[laureloak]

85. I don't believe that's true. I see many poor whites that don't

know where to turn for help and no one reaches out to them because they are white. To say that we must be honest and say they are "priviledged" is simply an excuse not to help them.
Shame. Shame.

[Karenina]

88. Did you read the piece?

[laureloak]

102. Sorry, I overlooked the link. Trying to do several things at once.

I just read the snips.

[Karenina]

103. Do read the entire article

then let's have a heart-to-heart.

[Karenina]

104. Unless you simply

"can't find the time."

[ultraist]

89. An "excuse not to help them." Where did that come from?

That makes absolutely no sense, whatsoever. The article, in no way, implies that poor whites should not be helped out nor has anyone here suggested that.

The fact is, if whites let go of their racism and joined ranks with people of color, against oppression, they would stand a better chance of improving their lot in life. The same powers that perpetuate the denial of racism, are using those lower income white people as a tool. Those whites are so caught up in their white supremacy, they are harming themselves by supporting policies that keep them down.

What is so difficult to understand that by denying others rights and opportunities, you are also denying yourself rights?

[BiggJawn]

23. Yeah, I've heard that.

It was rather difficult back in the Bad Old Days to consider my self as having "Perogative and Privlege" when I was freezing my ass off on the driveway of that gas station I worked at (Before the days of the clerk sitting behind thick glass in the warmth while YOU froze YOUR ass off).

Shopkeepers were pretty keen on trying give me the bum's rush out of their establishments, too. Watched me like a hawk, too.

Only STUPID White Trash believes they're better off "Becuz at least Ah'm WHITE!"

[bleedingheart]

24. yes...there are many poor that vote GOP - Affluence by Association

sad but true...

[melody]

25. that's the sham the Reptilicans have used for years

Poor whites need to know that the black people are our brothers and sisters, not those peach-skin clowns in high office.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

26. And if poor whites were not bigots, it would not have happened

They have no one but themselves to blame for the fact that their hatred of people different than them had them vote against their own interests.

[melody]

29. not all poor whites are bigots...in fact, only a bigot would think so

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

39. Please point out where I used the word ALL

The point of the OP was that poor whites bought into the divisions planted by rich whites...part of that divisiveness was Nixon's southern strategy..and the nouveau version of that strategy was George Bush's anti-gay marriage amendment.

[melody]

40. When you generalize, you specify all

>And if poor whites were not bigots

The opposite of that is to correctly point out that not all poor whites are bigots. I know a number who aren't.

To assert a given personality aspect to all persons of one group on the basis of race is racism, no matter the target. It should be objected to on all levels, when it happens. What makes it irrational on one level, makes it irrational on all. That was my point.

As it happens, most black people suffer more from racism in this country I think because of their economic disadvantages, but that wasn't the topic at hand.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

45. Well if that's the case then pick on the OP too..the quote generalizes

ALL RICH.

To assert a given personality aspect to all persons of one group on the basis of race is racism, no matter the target

You have NO CLUE what racism is then. Racism is distinct from prejudice. Racism is a belief in the superiority of your race. That is how a bunch of idiotic poor white people got DUPED into voting against their own interests. By sticking with the club that told them in spite of the fact that they don't have a pot to piss in they are better than blacks.

Frankly, your defensiveness and sensitivity of this issue has me view positions such as yours as part of the problem.

There is a VERY big difference between the driving force of prejudice and the driving force of racism.

[melody]

47. quibbling with semantics and not delving into structure

Also, your putting words in BOLD CASE doesn't improve your argument. I wasn't attacking you, my friend, just your argument. As the late Justice Marshal said, "I don't claim to be without prejudice...we all have them...I claim to sit hard upon my prejudices." And that's what we all should do, no matter what they may be.

>Frankly, your defensiveness and sensitivity of this issue has me view positions such as yours as part of the problem.

LMAO! Somehow I knew you'd use that as a rhetorical device.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

48. It's only quibbling over semantics if you didn't bother to read my post

I distinguished the two fairly thoroughly. I clearly never meant ALL WHITE people but the humorous thing is that when one points out the many white people that have been tooled everyone jumps to THEIR defense. If only minorities were so fortunate.

And on another fine point, THIS IS UPPER CASE this is bold.

[melody]

49. look I'm not going to get into an argument with you

What you meant is what you meant. Only you know the inside of your head. I was responding to the text you wrote as I read it.

There are far more important "enemies" out there without attacking each other over silly offenses.

Peace.

[mitchum]

42. I agree with you; it's "bigotry as a consolation prize"

a very sick prize

[TahitiNut]

68. To prove you point in general, one need only cite the FACT that ...

... for one 'poor white' to call another 'poor white' a "n_____-lover" was regarded as one of the gravest insults of all with very, very, very few exceptions. That's how deep and widespread this evil was - and is. :shrug:

Unless and until "bigot" is an insult more grave and every bit as deep and widespread or more, we're nowhere near healed as a society (or as humans).

[ultraist]

91. It's still an insult

They just use more white coded language.

[Akoto]

27. These days, the color doesn't make the difference.

It's whether or not you were one of the lucky few to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

Anyone not born to a family of privlege under this administration is a whole heck of a lot closer to poverty, regardless of their race.

[melody]

30. exactly n/t

[ultraist]

58. Color doesn't make a difference?

:wow:

Then explain the disparities between Blacks and whites in income, education, health care, life span, infant mortality rate, incarceration rates, death row percentages, etc.

If color doesn't make a difference, then racism doesn't exist. Do you ACTUALLY believe that?

[TahitiNut]

28. A lot of poor whites would rather be poor whites than rich blacks.

They think they're 'better.' For me, that tells it all -- and it's appalling.

[laureloak]

56. And you know this first hand?

[ultraist]

59. Yes

I've met many people who believe they are superior because they are white.

You are surprised that there are white supremacists in our society? (And I'm not referring to only those who belong to hate groups).

[TahitiNut]

65. If my late father and one of his brothers counts as "first hand" ... yes.

Needless to say, my relationship to my father became quite distant and infrequent. :shrug:
Sadly, he was not all that unusual - even today.

Or ... did you mean to infer something else, not quite as illuminating? :eyes:

[laureloak]

69. I guess I don't like to hear someone's account of how

someone else thinks or feels because it's made up. First hand accounts are expressing one's own viewpoint or experiences and not imagining them.

[TahitiNut]

74. Funny ... in school I was told that was called "first person."

Shows what they knew, huh? :eyes: Oh well, what can I expect from a public school?

So, I guess you only read autobiographies, right? None of them "made up" biographies for you! No siree! Talking about "imagining them," how about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, huh?? Wow! Something else, huh? And how about that Mohammed dude? Wow! Not to mention all those damned newspapers these days! Yep!
:silly: :dunce:

[laureloak]

86. First person and firsthand are not the same.

To decide how someone else "feels" or "thinks" is just BS.

[TahitiNut]

97. Really? Just in this thread alone, you've said ...

"I also know many poor whites that are too proud to accept public assistance and resent those that do."

"I also know poor whites that don't know what or if assistance is available to them."

'But their problems just get brushed aside by unfeeling selfish people who only have their own interests and greed at heart."


Your argument seems to be one of convenience, a position that your own posts contradict. While I generally agree that we're not mind-readers, I also believe it's reasonable to induce a belief from a person's behavior backed by what they say. When the press reports what Smirk "believes" merely because he claims it and ignores his behavior that's contradictory to such proclaimed beliefs or finds no behavior to support the veracity of such claims, I see complicity rather than journalism.

For example, you've proclaimed a belief, but your posts contradict that proclamation. I would, therefore, not presume to cite your proclaimed belief as fact. Make sense?

In the case of people (whites), including my own (bigoted) late father and one of his brothers (also now deceased), their behavior matched their stated preferences. Their candor was probably attributable to the notion that the color of my skin and my last name made me "trustworthy" - a "member of the bigot's club" - a position I've found myself placed in on many occasions. It's really tragic and bizarre how often white bigots have seemed to assume I share their attitudes.


I've said before that the infectious disease of bigotry is spread, in large part, by those who have an economic interest in the perpetuation of this plague. It is not, therefore, surprising that one of the symptoms of this disease is the relegation of their own ambition to a subordinate position to the fever of the bigotry.

[ultraist]

94. "imagining them"

Is it worth it laureloak? What is your payoff for clinging to denial?

Are you really gaining anything by that?

I'd suggest you think long and hard about that and decide what would really benefit you and the people you so adamantly defend.

[TahitiNut]

99. Nice catch.

Engaging in 'mind-reading' to eschew 'mind-reading' seems to be somewhat self-contradictory. :shrug:

[Karenina]

80. I recall reading about a college professor

who tasked his students with setting a monetary figure they would accept to live the rest of their lives in black skin. "No amount of money" was a frequent response...

[TahitiNut]

101. Indeed. I vaguely recall such a study many years ago.

It's an interesting mental exercise ... for self-examination. I'd guess it's most useful where the respondants are young. The older I get, the less I'm able to imagine or aspire to be other than who I am, for whatever reason. It's taken me so long to just make some progress in being a better me, I have a hard time "retargeting" and assessing whether I'd do an even worse job in being someone else - even if I were them.

[RepublicanElephant]

31. In the movie Mississippi Burning,

Rupert Anderson (played by Gene Hackman) quips, "What has four eyes but cannot see? Mississippi." A native of the Mississippi and an FBI agent sent there to investigate the disappearance of activists who had gone there to register black voters, he tries to explain to his partner why so many white people in Mississippi hate Blacks. He recalls a time when his own father had deliberately, but secretly killed a mule belonging to a black neighbor because it was helping the man improve his economic status. His father never told him that he had killed the mule, but Rupert instinctively knew that he had. "If you ain't any better than a nigger, son," his father told him, "who are you better than?" Rupert rightly observes that his father was so full of hate that "he didn't know that being poor was what was killing him." White supremacy/racism, it turns out, is also rooted in economics as a mechanism with the capacity to cover over the pain of low economic status---hate directed at a racialized other acting as justified compensation for the injury.

http://www.msu.edu/~chrenkal/portfolio/pprojectspigments.htm

[JohnnyCougar]

33. The race/poverty card is our country's Israel/Palestine.

It is simply used to distract the underprivledged from their real oppressors: our government!

[sandnsea]

41. And there you have it

I really don't know why this is so hard for white Americans to grasp or admit to, particularly when we hear variations of it on at least a monthly basis by some racist idiot or other.

[boot@9]

44. that's what i'm

talking about. sad to say but that what most poor white people who grew up in the South in the last century believed(still believe?). as stated earlier my family(other than blatant racism--very good people)seem to always take a certain amount of comfort in that while we have things bad at least we are a step above of the blacks.

[Beam Me Up]

92. The crumbs of a collapsing empire: Elites want to see the lower classes

struggling over them rather than uniting and turning their full force and power against the now off shore wealth of the elites themselves.

[applegrove]

32. Disraelie wrote about this almost two centuries ago. Another

19th Century hero of the neocons.

[trof]

34. Can I? Yes.

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. Link??

[NNN0LHI]

37. here is one

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/balance/stories/090905dnedicyberpitts.6343a47.html

[Zenlitened]

36. Let us now turn to The Book for a reading...

The Bob Dylan songbook, that is:

"... A South politician preaches to the poor white man,
"You got more than the blacks, don't complain.
You're better than them, you been born with white skin," they explain.
And the Negro's name
Is used it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid,
And the marshals and cops get the same,
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool.
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game..."


From Only a Pawn In Their Game
1963

http://bobdylan.com/songs/pawn.html

[boot@9]

67. seems like

all of us, even now, are but pawns to this administration.

[Zenlitened]

70. Could be, if we let ourselves. I've always heard that song as...

... saying "they're only pawns" in an ironic way. Even accusing.

As if Dylan, by repeating that line over and over, was showing how hollow an excuse it is. Reminding us that we need to stand up -- and aim a few kicks if need be -- and reject being used as someone's pawn.

Thus ends our reading from the Book of Bob.

:hi:

[MojoXN]

46. I can relate...

Because I saw THAT particular lie for what it is, years ago. All too many of my poor white WV brethern bought into this myth hook, line, and proverbial sinker. And, as Pitts says, they've all found themselves right where they started: poor. I don't have a lot, but I'll NEVER feel priviliged just because I happen to have white skin. I feel privileged to have people who love me and care about me, few though they are, and to have the few material things that I DO own.

Like I said before, I can relate.

MojoXN

[ultraist]

61. You'll never feel privilieged for being a white male?

Did I understand you correctly?

[SoCalDem]

53. My dear Republican friends,

SoCalDem (1000+ posts) Sun Aug-15-04 06:52 PM
Original message

My dear Republican friends,

Edited on Sun Aug-15-04 07:38 PM by SoCalDem

Updated and reposted , upon request...


My dear Republican friends,


So, are you done being "played"??.... Have you "seen the light"??

Right about now, some of you must have noticed that your "boy" is tap dancing as fast as he can, yet he seems to be getting boos instead of rose garlands..

For over 30 years, you have been "played". The people to whom you have trusted your futures, and your children's, have let you down...again..

....These fat-cats at the top of your "party" know full well that some of you don't like "dark people", so they have carefully crafted language that you lap up with a "wink, wink, nod, nod". They have no intention of carrying through with their carefully couched plans to re-segregate and return to the "good ole days" that they pretend to long for.. They like the days NOW.. They are making tons of money by rotating in and out of industry and government.

....The republican-masters at the top of the heap, got that way because THEY control the taxes that they pay. They throw the peons a bone now and then, and let them think that they too are getting a tax break...finally.. But Look at those utility bills, your insurance co-pay, that college tuition bill, the grocery bill...look at the latest rent increase or the increase in property taxes.. That $10 extra every week in your paycheck doesn't BEGIN to cover the increases in the things you pay "hidden" taxes on. Roads are not free, power plants are not free,bridges are not free, city government is not free.. Taxes pay for these things, and when the revenues go down, the COSTS of those public services go UP. It's a fact of life.The extra money you were supposed to have , to help boost the economy, just ends up in another rich man's pocket...along with the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tax cuts HE got.

....They know that some of you are truly religious, so they came up with a "bone" for you all too.. They ooze "faith" from each and every pore when they are talking to you all and asking for votes, but behind closed doors, they continue to cheat on their wives, abuse their kids, and do all the things that they profess to hate. True faith is more than carrying a Bible around, or saying "God Bless Anerica every time a microphone and camera are near. Faith is what you have in your heart, your soul...not what dangles from a shirt sleeve or drips off a lying tongue.


....They know how you all loathe the "welfare queens" ..Ronald Reagan told you all about them.. The ones with the fur coats and Cadillacs, out to collect their food stamps..She was a made up myth.. The real welfare queens are visible when the fat cats look in the mirror. They "rent" public land for pennies to graze their cattle...they take kickback subsidies for their corporations, and then they lay you and your friends off.. They tell you about all the wonderfully diabolical things they have in store for those "damned immigrants" , but they are the ones who offer jobs to them.. Why?? Because they know that the immigrants will be too afraid to dare ask for a raise, or bathrooms or decent wages, or health insurance..These workers get hurt on the job, and then have to go to emergency rooms. which raises the cost for all of us.. The reason they get hurt is because these same fat cats have bribed our legislators to "ease" the safety requirements on the job.. If they end up blind in one eye, it's no biggie to the bosses.. immigrants have TWO eyes..

....These same politicians know that if you ever got some truth , you might see through their lies, so they have made sure that the airwaves are chocked full of people who "sound reasonable", yet seem to always agree with only their ideas.. Didn't it ever strike you as odd, that no matter what time of day you turned on the radio for all those years, you rarely (if ever) heard an opposing opinion? These fat cats at the top, have tons of money, but they still needed to "push your buttons" and "ring your bells" to get you out to vote for them. They had to have a perpetual way to get your attention..and they needed to keep you "upset and angry" enough to turn out on election day.

About those buttons and bells:

....Abortion is always a bell they can ring, and their Pavlovian supporters start salivating. Whether your unknown-to-you neighbor has an abortion, or does not, should be of little consequence to you, but over the years, they and their preacher friends have somehow convinced a lot of you, that by inserting yourselves into the crotches of all women, you are endearing yourselves to God Almighty. Do you really think that you are getting "extra credit" for screeching epithets at women who may be entering a clinic for a pap smear, or that God will praise you for encouraging "physicicide"?
Ask yourselves , truthfully, if you would welcome the child of YOUR 13 year old who was raped..or would you just quietly call a doctor-friend, who would "help" in such a situation?

....Guns are always a fun issue for them too. They know that a lot of their supporters are gun aficionados, so they try to scare you into thinking that the next knock on your door will be Ted Kennedy coming to collect all your guns.. Cars are registered, and yet, unless you miss payments,no one is coming to take your car away from you. In case you haven't noticed, there are democrats who like guns too.

....School vouchers are another interesting wedge issue, since it hits on several of their "issues". "Upper-Crusty" Private schools probably see the government vouchers as valuable as toilet paper for their little scions who attend, but for the storefront Bible oriented schools, these are manna from heaven.Vouchers themselves are not the problem, as much as they are a clever way to funnel public tax money into private enterprises, while weakening the public schools that most people choose for their kids.. This should be an issue for you to be on the "other" side. Taking public money for private use seems like something that fiscal conservatives would be against. Somehow, they have managed to convince a bunch of you that with that $3,000 voucher in your hand, it's "next-stop-Exeter" for little Jim Bob , jr... What that voucher will do for you is allow other fat cats like Bill (the Gambler) Bennett to sell some of his software so he can hit Vegas in style..Neil (Asian girls have sex with him for free) Bush also is into the private school scams, so your vouchers help him pay his alimony and child support.

....School prayer is always good for a few hoots too. Every religious kid on earth has prayed in school, but organized prayer in school (unless it's a religious school) is NOT OK. This does not mean that God has no place in school. God can be in each student's heart and soul. Teacher-led or school sanctioned public prayer is NOT for public school, and deep down you know it. It's an interesting issue to drag out of the closet every election year.

The flip side of "your" issue is this... If Susie Jones can lead the Lord's Prayer, and all are expected to chime in, how will YOUR child feel when Mohamed leads the prayer from the Koran, or a Jewish child leads the prayer, or a Hindu child, or a Sikh child, or a Buddhist child? Will your child behave respectfully, or will they come home and after telling you, will YOU run to complain to the school board?? Like it or not, we ARE a pluralistic society, and the "new people" who have come here with their faith and customs, are allowed to have the same rights as you have.

....What if you found out that the two elderly "sisters" who have lived in your neighborhood for 30 years, are really not sisters? What if they had babysat for your kids, and you had invited them to Thanksgiving Dinner? What if you had liked them for all those years, and THEN you found out that they were gay? Does that make you a bad judge of character? Does that mean that somehow your children will "turn gay" because you found out about them? Will your marriage suddenly crumble to dust because someone you thought was an old maid, turned out to be a lesbian? Will they now expect you to "join them"?? or will they just be what they have always been...your neighbors. Ask yourself about your own children.. What would you really do if your own child was gay? Would you disown a 12 year old who told you he thought he liked boys "in that way"?? Does that make you a bad parent for raising him "wrong"??

....That brings us to the "wacky environmentalists" and their "junk science". Have you ever wondered why so much energy , money and attention is paid to discredit scientists who have spent their lifetimes trying to figure out how to save lives and make our health better? Why WOULD that be?? Hmmmm ..Maybe it's because the tale they are telling us contradicts the corporate masters of your politicians who allow these same companies to pollute your water, air and soil. Is it OK for your baby to get "a little" mercury, arsenic,plutonium, or any other toxins out there?? Do you know what your baby's "upper limit" is regarding tolerance of toxins.?? The "slow" child at 5, may have been poisoned as a baby, and you will NEVER EVER get an answer.. Isn't it better to try whatever it takes, to eliminate ALL toxins from our food chain, and from our air and water?? How is that a BAD thing?? To hear Rush & the gang, one would think that people who legislate for money and corporations who are in it for the money, actually do have your best interests at heart.. Do they?? Is it worth your health or the lives of your children, if they are wrong?? If the environmentalists are wrong, all you get out of it is cleaner air, cleaner water, safer food.. That's a BAD thing??

....Last but not least , we have that "icky" war thing.. I know that most of you wrapped yourselves in the flag-cocoon with him, and probably thought that we did "need" to attack Iraq, but isn't it a shame that nothing has turned out the way he said they would.. Flag worship is NOT the same as Patriotism..True Patriotism is a mature love of country.. Patriots love their country, but they are grown up enough to support their country with full knowledge, that their country can make mistakes. Flag worshippers love their country like a jealous lover, ready always for vengeance and spite.

Soldiers keep dying, and we are no closer to the Iraqi Dream that they told you all about.. You know the one.. The one where they race alongside the Humvee, throwing kisses and flowers.. Here are a few facts.. There never were WMDs..(well there were, but those were the ones that his Daddy gave Saddam, and Clinton destroyed 99% of them, and the rest were rusted pieces of junk).. The only things thrown at the humvees were rocks and bombs.

Bush KNEW there were no WMDs.. He LIED.. You all jumped for joy when Clinton was coerced into a lie about sex, yet can so easily ignore a BIG FAT UGLY LIE that has gotten almost 2,000 soldiers, and untold Iraqis killed..Shame on you !..There were ZERO Iraqis on the planes that crashed into our buildings..ZERO..ZERO..

Do you really believe, deep down in your bones, that George W cares one iota about the welfare of the Iraqi people?? Of course he does not. It's about enriching his contractor friends, and his daddy, and of course, himself..when he leaves office. It's about the "Grand Plan"..the one where the US controls the world.. It's almost a James Bond-like fantasy, only it's NOT A MOVIE.. Real people are spilling real blood,thousands of them, and the end game is not one that he could have predicted. He failed to plan for what happens after the tanks, and choppers, and Humvees "won the war"..

The Iraqi people have been a civilization for thousands of years, and they are very capable of handling their own affairs. Lots of people around the world feel that OUR leader is a dangerous man. Should their feelings count for nothing?? If they had the military strength, what would happen if they decided to "remove" our leader? Would you take up arms against them?? Of course you would. This mis-adventure is turning out badly because it was unnecessary from the beginning.He was hell-bent to have his "war", even though he had a perfectly appropriate opportunity many years ago, but was too scared to go. He needed to be the wartime hunky president in a padded flight suit.. It's always about the photo-ops.

....If you sit down and play a game of "pretend" you will see the light.. Here's how you play.. Read any article and every time the word "Bush" appears, substitute "Clinton".. Do a "gut-check"..Tight, uneasy, angry, conflicted?..

You have been "played", but it's not hopeless. Imagine YOUR job out-sourced.. Imagine YOUR insurance gone... Imagine yourself homeless.. Imagine your own child stricken with a preventable cancer.. Imagine your own freedom ...gone.. It's almost there.. But there is still time..

No one is telling you that you MUST vote for Kerry, just that you take the time to think for yourself..analyze what you read.. Read foreign papers.. There is actually "news" in other places, and things that happen here DO affect them too.. They have a stake in what happens here..

It's called empathy.. Look it up.. It's helpful and it really does not cost that much.. The returns far outweigh the cost.

[boot@9]

62. you are

exactly right. "what's the matter with kansas" stated again.

[SoCalDem]

63. I was even BORN in Kansas

:evilgrin:

[scarlett1]

64. I read the Quote and thought 'That is Kansas'

Even though I wasn't born in Kansas, I have lived in Kansas since 1969

[laureloak]

57. What are whites supposed to do?

Sarcasm not intended.

[Zenlitened]

72. Um, stop being conned, for starters?

Side with those who have the same interests at heart, not merely the same skin color?

[sendero]

81. Spot on...

... using race to mask the class war has always been effective mostly due to white racism.

[Brewman_Jax]

82. Tim Wise wrote about this

the article is here at http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2003-10/05wise.cfm One line from the article:"For poor whites, as I’ll explain below, are victims not only of a class system that views them as expendable, but also a racial caste system that favors them, and yet whose favors come at an enormous cost."

[Karenina]

84. That is a fabulous piece, L_A

I took the liberty of posting it upstream. ;-)

[ultraist]

93. The crumbs they get, are not worth the price they pay.

"also a racial caste system that favors them, and yet whose favors come at an enormous cost."

I think the word, "privilege" is just too hard for them to wrap their minds around.

Perhaps, different framing would help to break through the denial. I don't have any good suggestions, but something that spoons feeds them the fact that by supporting conservative philosophies and policies, they are cutting off their nose to spite their face.

Maybe something that helps them to relate to and to connect with people of color who have been oppressed, would be the first step in getting past the us vs. them mindset.

[blindpig]

83. yup

That's how it works. Oldest game in the book. It's one of the reasons they killed MLK, the fear that he would unite the poor.

I don't think that this habit of behavior is natural to our species. It is rather a de-evolution, a fall back to earlier behavior of our more ape-like ancestors. The adoption of agriculture disrupted the egalitarian life which our ancestoral hunter gathers had practiced for millenia. And here we are.

[ultraist]

98. MLK, Jr's uniting poor and Blacks

http://www.mecca.org/~crights/dream.html

excerpt

"The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. "

Sad, that four decades later, many whites still fail to understand that "their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom."

[newportdadde]

87. I see a different con job as well. The "you will be rich someday" con job

It plays off classim. Its one of the big reasons I believe the republicans start to pickup a lot of votes around that 50k salary break point we saw in the Nov elections. You get into that band of money and the "You will be rich soon" matra starts to work on you. You vote Republican for two reasons... .1) because you someday believe you will be rich and you want less taxes.. and 2) you no longer feel you 'need' social services because you have enough you will never need to fall back on them.. therefore cut away and send me the tax break.

Its the "you will be rich too" con game.

[boot@9]

90. unfortunately

it also parallels the "i've got mine now and and anyone with less can have the ass end" mentality that i see so often.

[txaslftist]

96. Very True...

...how you get a white man in a double wide to vote Republican is beyond me.

[ultraist]

100. Really, it's any whites that earn under 200k, which is 90% of Americans

Only the top 10% income earners benefit from conservative poliicies.