Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree
About Truth, Knowledge, Racists, and Power
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Dr. Michael Eric Dyson has taken the position that Black people can't be racist because racism requires the necessary power over the institutions of government to carry out a racist agenda. I say that's nonsense. Racism is a frame of mind, so whether or not one controls the necessary power to carry out a racist agenda is relevant.
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I've always sought to be a bottom line thinker, and never allow what I WANT to believe to get in the way of the facts. I consider that absolutely necessary to clear thinking. Truth should always be given priority over ideology, but Dyson seems to be trying to give ideology priority over truth. That's flawed thinking.
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We must always seek to follow truth wherever it leads, and regardless to whose ox it gores. Thereafter, if we don’t like where truth leads, we should change the place, not the truth. That is the road to knowledge, and as we all know, knowledge is power.
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I've always sought to be a bottom line thinker, and never allow what I WANT to believe to get in the way of the facts. I consider that absolutely necessary to clear thinking. Truth should always be given priority over ideology, but Dyson seems to be trying to give ideology priority over truth. That's flawed thinking.
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We must always seek to follow truth wherever it leads, and regardless to whose ox it gores. Thereafter, if we don’t like where truth leads, we should change the place, not the truth. That is the road to knowledge, and as we all know, knowledge is power.
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The bottom line to this discussion is, Black people and White are as much alike as a Black poodle and a White poodle. No one group of people, as a whole, are innately any better or any worse than another. Thus, anyone who claims that their group is better or superior, is a racist, because there are only two kinds of people in this world - good people and bad people - Period.
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So institutional racism is not representative of a flawed race, but is brought about as a result of power and opportunity. If Black people had the power and opportunity, we’d discriminate against White people, and if everyone in the world was of the same race, right-handed people would discriminate against left-handed people, or vice versa, depending upon who was in a position of power.
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But while the opportunity to EXPRESS one’s racism, or bigotry, is enhanced by power, that doesn’t mean that power is NECESSARY for one to BE a racist or bigot. "I THINK, therefore, I am." Thus, thought ALWAYS precedes action. So since a racist society, or INSTITUTIONAL racism itself, is setup by RACISTS, that’s prima facie evidence that racism is a frame of mind, and racist behavior is only a result of that frame of mind.
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If one takes the position that a person cannot be a racist without power, the logical extension of that argument would mean that a person cannot be a sexist, a homophobe, a xenophobe, or an asshole unless they control the system, which is patently ridiculous.
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Any clear thinking person should recognize that the system doesn’t create racists, it is racists that create the racist system. Thus, a racists mind-set must exist prior to racists gaining power, which completely destroys the argument that one cannot be a racist without power. Anyone who disputes that is guilty of convoluted logic, since, again, it takes a racist to create a racist society or institution in the first place.
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In short, since it takes a racist to build a racist power structure, racists and racism, must exist prior to, and independent of, gaining power.
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If one takes the position that a person cannot be a racist without power, the logical extension of that argument would mean that a person cannot be a sexist, a homophobe, a xenophobe, or an asshole unless they control the system, which is patently ridiculous.
.
Any clear thinking person should recognize that the system doesn’t create racists, it is racists that create the racist system. Thus, a racists mind-set must exist prior to racists gaining power, which completely destroys the argument that one cannot be a racist without power. Anyone who disputes that is guilty of convoluted logic, since, again, it takes a racist to create a racist society or institution in the first place.
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In short, since it takes a racist to build a racist power structure, racists and racism, must exist prior to, and independent of, gaining power.
http://wattree.blogspot.com/2013/07/black-people-cant-be-racists.html
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Eric L. Wattree
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.
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