Poll: Most Americans oppose white supremacy, some express troubling racial attitudes

Linkura said:
Only 19% of whites favor removal of Confederate momuments? What the FUCK?
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I know this might sound crazy to you, but I don't think a lot of Americans understand what the Civil War was about. Many of us were taught in school that the Confederates were patriots "with some different opinions" fighting against the government for state rights. There's a passive mention to slavery if there's anything at all. Maybe schools are different these days, but that's how I remember it back in my day.
 
I feel like this is a wedge issue that stumbles democrats.

Can't ignore race, but can't talk about it too much either.
 
Extollere said:
I know this might sound crazy to you, but I don't think a lot of Americans understand what the Civil War was about. Many of us were taught in school that the Confederates were patriots "with some different opinions" fighting against the government for state rights. There's a passive mention to slavery if there's anything at all. Maybe schools are different these days, but that's how I remember it back in my day.
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What part of the country was this in if you don't mind my asking? I definitely remember slavery being mentioned a lot and I'm 35. We even watched Glory in class I think.
 
I'm not shocked or even angry at the overt racism. I'm angry at the indifference among those that felt comfortable enough to just shrug their shoulders at this shit.
 
Germany tore down monuments glorifying the Nazi regime and yet they manage to remember their history a lot more accurately than we Americans remember the civil war. The people who want these shrines to remain are the people who will tell you the war had little to do with slavery.
 
Karsticles said:
Oh, I know. I grew up learning that in school!


He considered them a parallel to Nazi concentration camps that have been preserved.

I don't think the school shooter example is a good one - that's not a national event. I agree with your general sentiment, though.
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It's a shit argument because Nazi concentration camps actually do have historical value. Some statue memorializing Lee made 60 years after his death doesn't.
 
NeoZeedeater said:
Damn. I have been an interracial relationship for over 20 years with minimal issues. It's going to be a little weird next time I visit the US with my wife knowing that up to a third of people are against us, if these polls are close to accurate.
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In the parts of the US that are worth visiting, it's completely normal. I wouldn't worry about it. I think places like NYC and LA get way too much credit in terms of being "liberal bubbles" because these cities still harbor absurd police abuses and a pretty obvious tendency for communities of color to be poorer than white communities, but they are generally pretty good about accepting gay couples, interracial couples, etc.
 
Sunster said:
Germany tore down monuments glorifying the Nazi regime and yet they manage to remember their history a lot more accurately than we Americans remember the civil war. The people who want these shrines to remain are the people who will tell you the war had little to do with slavery.
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Extollere said:
I know this might sound crazy to you, but I don't think a lot of Americans understand what the Civil War was about. Many of us were taught in school that the Confederates were patriots "with some different opinions" fighting against the government for state rights. There's a passive mention to slavery if there's anything at all. Maybe schools are different these days, but that's how I remember it back in my day.
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What school was this? Amazing. Almost incredulous if you ask me.

More people than you think are familiar with Marcus Garvey due to bands like Burning Spear.
 
And I bet most of them will say they aren't racist because they voted for Obama. A good chunk would claim to be color blind too.
 
a Master Ninja said:
This country loves participation trophies.

And I've got to say I'm pretty disturbed by how many people don't support the legality of interracial marriages.
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As a black guy in a small town, I'm not. Dated thee girls in high school and all three had one or more racist parents. It sucked. Ironically, one of them was cool with me after he met me. Said I was one of the most polite people he's ever met. Makes me wonder about how many racist people have actually met black people.
 
Aselith said:
What part of the country was this in if you don't mind my asking? I definitely remember slavery being mentioned a lot and I'm 35. We even watched Glory in class I think.
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Rural Texas. Don't act surprised. Anyways, at the risk of continuing to sound crazy, I actually think these kinds of texts in the classroom were actually more common than you're likely to think. Maybe not where you grew up, but they were definitely out there. Wouldn't at all be shocked to find out many adults in our parent's generation grew up with these lessons.
 
Extollere said:
I know this might sound crazy to you, but I don't think a lot of Americans understand what the Civil War was about. Many of us were taught in school that the Confederates were patriots "with some different opinions" fighting against the government for state rights. There's a passive mention to slavery if there's anything at all. Maybe schools are different these days, but that's how I remember it back in my day.
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That is crazy to me because I grew up being taught the Civil War was the North trying to end slavery in the South. It wasn't till later that I learned there were economic factors to limiting slavery and it wasn't just a war to free black people.
 
jwk94 said:
As a black guy in a small town, I'm not. Dated thee girls in high school and all three had one or more racist parents. It sucked. Ironically, one of them was cool with me after he met me. Said I was one of the most polite people he's ever met. Makes me wonder about how many racist people have actually met black people.
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The whole "being isolated and only around one group of people your whole life" thing explains a lot about the urban/rural divide on issues like this. (not that urban/suburban areas are perfect cause they're most definitely not.)
 
Imm0rt4l said:
White people have really done a number on black folks
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I think it mostly has to do with instinctual reactions. Most people are generally taught it's important to preserve history and thus tend to have a 'No' come to mind for the first thought of 'Should historical monument be removed?'
 
ChainedMaster said:
Of all the things frightening about this poll, their opinion on statues is the one that enrages you the most?
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Enrages me the most? No. Surprises me the most? Yes.

Extollere said:
I know this might sound crazy to you, but I don't think a lot of Americans understand what the Civil War was about. Many of us were taught in school that the Confederates were patriots "with some different opinions" fighting against the government for state rights. There's a passive mention to slavery if there's anything at all. Maybe schools are different these days, but that's how I remember it back in my day.
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I grew up in New England, so it was never sugar coated. Slavery was always taught as a huge part of it. I guess that's not the norm in the rest of the country. Perhaps if I didn't grow up in NE, I wouldn't have been so surprised.
 
Linkura said:
Enrages me the most? No. Surprises me the most? Yes.



I grew up in New England, so it was never sugar coated. Slavery was always taught as a huge part of it. I guess that's not the norm in the rest of the country. Perhaps if I didn't grow up in NE, I wouldn't have been so surprised.
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I grew up in Florida and we knew it was about slavery.
 
Earthbound64 said:
The fact that it was still illegal in sections of the country up through 1967 - only 50 years ago - always boggles my mind.
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This is important to remember when thinking about the average age of congressmen. Especially Republican. They probably think America was pretty great back then though.
 
What really disturbs me about this is the fact that there's a different side to the United States that I don't see whenever I go there.
I'm from Tunisia, an arab country in North Africa. I lived in the USA for a year 3 years ago and went back this summer to a different state and never once encountered someone who spewed ignorant or hateful comments. I guess I've been lucky so far with where I've been and who I've met.
 
I was honestly expecting worse given the era.

DonShula said:
I don't read this one as inherently bad if it was stated exactly that way. Wanting to preserve heritage of people who look like you is probably OK, if you're proud of what they accomplished and not just proud of them being white. Doing it at the expense of everyone else's heritage would be the problem. The meaning of the word "protect" is in the eye of the respondent though. It seems loaded in this context - I can see it carrying a lot of meaning for a certain type of respondent.
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That's what the Alt-Right is looking to exploit and taint just like what they always do.

Hell, I've been expecting some of that infiltration and corruption of stuff like Scottish Games, Oktoberfests, and others.
 
Extollere said:
I know this might sound crazy to you, but I don't think a lot of Americans understand what the Civil War was about. Many of us were taught in school that the Confederates were patriots "with some different opinions" fighting against the government for state rights. There's a passive mention to slavery if there's anything at all. Maybe schools are different these days, but that's how I remember it back in my day.
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That wasn't my experience at all, in fact it was the opposite. That was in the 90's too.
 
The 1/3rd disapproval/ambivalence on interracial marriage doesn't shock me. I really would rather that racists stay away from them tbh, the potential for domestic abuse is real
 
Sunster said:
Germany tore down monuments glorifying the Nazi regime and yet they manage to remember their history a lot more accurately than we Americans remember the civil war. The people who want these shrines to remain are the people who will tell you the war had little to do with slavery.
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These are the Americans who will tell you not to protest too intensely while innocent people get lynched and beaten on the streets. Can't inconvenience average people even if you are under the threat of annihilation.
 
I'm not surprised by this. When the Iraq War happened, I felt it was easy enough to divide the USA in half and write off one half as a lost cause. And it's not like the remaining half are all good people. I'm sure there's plenty in there who don't like to rock the boat because it inconveniences the status quo. This election has just revealed what was already there, but if you're a minority, I don't see how any of this comes as a surprise. You could probably do that in most countries. Even places held up as some moral bastions in Europe.
 
jwk94 said:
As a black guy in a small town, I'm not. Dated thee girls in high school and all three had one or more racist parents. It sucked. Ironically, one of them was cool with me after he met me. Said I was one of the most polite people he's ever met. Makes me wonder about how many racist people have actually met black people.
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Or got to know them on a personal level. I love my mom, she is liberal, votes Democratic on everything.

I don't remember how it came up, but she was praising a black guy from her work for being a good father(he was divorced or separated) and she said something along the lines of "Well, most of them aren't" or something similar. She's lived in Iowa her whole life and almost her entire exposure to black people is the media(news, movies,TV). Most media plays up the stereo type of the deadbeat black dad.

As nicely as I could, I explained that most men are good fathers or try to be and that the black guys I worked with over 20 years in the Air Force were no different. I went on to say that movies and TV shows like to play up the stereo type. I don't remember her exact response, but it was basically. "I suppose you're right". She could admit that maybe her world view was wrong, but without that opposing view, especially from someone who has literally been around the world and exposed a lot of different races and cultures, she might still hold that view.

I started the Air Force from a point of ignorance. I don't know if I was racist, but I said some ignorant shit. One day in class I was talking about a cute black girl that I saw that day. Only at 18 years old I said colored girl... I did not know better, but a couple of guys in the class were like "Bruh, just say black, that colored shit doesn't fly". I was like noted.

I'm not trying to defend racists, especially with how readily available information is now vs 1996, but there is something to the isolation of the rural white areas and the lack of exposure to diversity.
 
Hey to all the racists out there, my birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and I'd really appreciate you not being racist anymore after my birthday. Thanks in advance guys!
 
The interracial marriage stat is actually a positive trend. Only 16% believe in same race marriages only. Only 33% didn't tolerate interracial marriage.

Going back to 1991, 52% of people in the States did not approve of interracial marriages.

----

That's trending right along the lines of approval for same sex marriage. The marriage issue just keeps improving each decade so far.
 
Trace said:
Fuck white people.
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Why is this acceptable? I get the frustration over the topic. I don't understand how a statement like this is allowed though.

I should add that this is a question directed at mods.

PixelatedBookake said:
Hey to all the racists out there, my birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and I'd really appreciate you not being racist anymore after my birthday. Thanks in advance guys!
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Will racism ever go away? Is that even an option?
 
ThisGuy said:
Why is this acceptable? I get the frustration over the topic. I don't understand how a statement like this is allowed though.

I should add that this is a question directed at mods.
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People have gotten banned for it before. Mods aren't a monolithic entity. Different mods have different standards at which they'll ban someone. If you think a post is breaking the rules/guidelines, just PM a mod.
 
Zolo said:
People have gotten banned for it before. Mods aren't a monolithic entity. Different mods have different standards at which they'll ban someone.
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Right. For mods with different standards, ones that would allow this. What's their argument for allowing it?
 
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