Category Archives: Racism

Donald Trump – In Trouble Again

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Like almost everyone else outside the Republican Party, I find myself staring in stunned disbelief at the popularity polls.  How could anyone consider Donald Trump to be in the Top Ten Million for consideration as the Leader of the Free World?

But I have to interpose my body between Mr Trump and the howls of protest that his latest reported remarks have drawn.  He said that refugees could be “the greatest Trojan horse of all time.”  Whatever the motives and prejudices that may underlie that statement, it is undeniably supported by two very obvious precedents.

First, US foreign policy has for many years been hostage to Zionist lobbyists, whose power depends on a Jewish population (only 2% nationally, but disproportionately influential) which derives in large part from past flows of refugees from persecution in Europe.

Second, the recent outbreak of sanity with respect to US-Cuban relations has been delayed for decades by the Cuban exile population – refugees from Castro and his communist regime, implacably opposed to détente.

Name-Calling

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If you want to put someone in a really bad light, call them a racist. This is what’s happening in Australia (and elsewhere) to people who express criticism of Islam.  I don’t get it.  Anyone can be a Muslim, regardless of their race.  Islam is an ideology, not an ethnicity.

A lot of people, especially people in advanced secular societies, don’t much like the beliefs and values that followers of the various branches of Islam adhere to. As an atheist I can understand why. What I can’t understand is why people should be howled down or insulted for expressing an honest opinion.

Racism

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If you want to damage a political opponent, call him or her a racist. But when I use the word it may mean something quite different from what you understand by it. I like to be precise, so let’s look at the Concise Oxford Dictionary’s definition:

Racism:

  1. the belief that there are characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to each race.
  2. discrimination against or antagonism towards other races.

So we have two quite different definitions, both with a respected stamp of approval. Am I a racist if I say that many Jews are clever, musical and entrepreneurial? Am I a racist if I point out that black Africans commonly excel at physically demanding sports? Am I a racist if I mention that the Vikings had a hugely disproportionate influence on European history?

Under the COD’s first definition I suppose I am. But under the second definition, unless I go further and believe that the innate qualities that I have observed should be the basis for either promoting or subjugating one race in relation to another, I am not.

Please notice that I used the word ‘believe’ in that last paragraph. Racism is a state of mind, an attitude, a belief. Hitler would have been a racist even if he had never breathed a word of what he thought about Jews, Africans or Gypsies, or taken action against any of them. Conversely, a political leader might have no racist beliefs but find it expedient to adopt racially discriminatory policies.

What about you? Are you a racist?