I'd also like to say that on my way home today, I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Don't assume I share your prejudices.” I liked that. I usually hate bumper stickers.
I guess the question is how to deal with racism. I'm not inclined to tell people what they can or can't say. I am inclined, however, to make my opinions known when people make those comments. Unfortunately, I rarely say anything.
A major problem with so-called “Political Correctness” (I hate that term) is that it really does seem to imply that people can or can't say things. I really think that ought to change. For example, I'm not going to tell anyone that they can't use vulgar speech at a nice restaurant, but I'll certainly think poorly of them for doing so.
I assume that what I've said so far may not be universally agreed with, but it's not too crazy. What I'm going to say now, however, may ruffle some feathers. Maybe not. I don't know.
Minnesota has historically been rather liberal. Along with modern (or at least mid-to-late 20th-century) liberalism comes a certain perspective on capitalism. Capitalism gets a bad rap amongst young, quasi-radical liberals.
However, I think that capitalism, or at least a form of it, is very helpful for eliminating the more ugly strains of racism. Traditional capitalism puts a strong emphasis on free trade. Free trade involves contact with all sorts of people. It's very non-exclusionary, so long as individuals or groups have something worth trading. Eventually, people view other culturally-different people as just other people, as opposed to “weird” foreigners.
However, in practice, both liberal and conservative politics attach all sorts of strings to capitalism. We have things like protectionism, which while not necessarily racist, do little to curtail it, and in fact may create conditions in which racism can thrive.
You hear it in opposition to NAFTA and other free trade agreements. People focus their discomfort with it on foreigners. They blame “Mexicans” for all our economic woes. Never mind that we only half-ass implement NAFTA, thus not really giving it a chance to work.
I've heard stories lately about grade-school children complaining about hispanics (they call them Mexicans) coming in and taking all our jobs. They are obviously getting this from their parents.
This stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of free trade, I think. It also stems from a knee-jerk desire for a sort of isolationism, which is not only ineffective, but counterproductive. The ugly side-effect is a sort of racism.
What's my point? I wonder (though I'm not yet ready to assert) that in embracing a sort of (modern) liberalism for so long, Minnesota has come to manifest some of its ugly side-effects. Namely, a sense of distrust in others. This is paradoxical, I agree, considering liberalism in theory emphasizes compassion and understanding of others. But economic difficulty easily gives rise to a sense of self-righteousness and protectionism, which leads to distrust of outsiders. And in a state that (until relatively recently, anyway) is predominantly one ethnic group, this can lead to racism.
Am I barking up the wrong tree here?|||111465181717572340|||More on Racism
Scooter|||You should rent "The Yes Men", Joe. There are some amusing statements regarding capitalism, the third world and slavery. You'd really enjoy it (it's about a group of people who run around bothering the WTO, among other things).