gil wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 5:04 pm
Lots of food for thought here, ddraig. Thanks very much. I've got a question, though: You see to be suggesting that Democrat versus Republican is a fundamental identity, am I correct? I may have voted for Democrats recently, but I have no desire to defend Democrats who voted against Civil Rights and Voting Rights legislation. It wasn't unanimous, but yes a great percentage of Republicans than Democrats voted for all the major civil rights laws. And as Walla Walla Dawg II noted below, Lincoln was a Republican.
My point was the "conservatives" in the 1960's didn't like Dr. King. Now conservatives seem to embrace his words, as I do. The parties obviously have shifted their relative positions on many things. Environmental protection used to be a Republican priority. (Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency, and he signed the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.) Now conservatives push back against these same things, and most of these conservatives are Republicans.
I don't like how you describe CRT. I don't like it one bit. But may I play devil's' advocate here? Was I "indoctrinated" when I was taught in school that slaves were, for the most part, well treated by their masters? Was I "indoctrinated" when I was taught that there used to be discrimination but that was all in the past? (Because we had the civil rights laws and court decisions.)
I don't vote strict party line. I view most of the current crop of Republicans as not being all that much different from most of the Democrats. The main difference being that it takes the Republicans two weeks longer to come to a consensus to screw us than it takes the Democrats. That is why I am a huge proponent of 12-year term limits for both houses of Congress AND for all Bureaucrats. Then there is a stipulation that former bureaucrats and Congresspersons and Senators must stay out of lobbying for an additional 12 years. Yeah, we lose "experience" but we also get rid of those who mostly want power and to become billionaires.
I was not taught slavery was all "sweetness and light" in the 1960's. And coming from an upper middle class background, I never saw racism up close. But when I did find out about it, I didn't understand it. My take is that only ignorant, fearful individuals lean towards racism. Oh, and I don't hold the Democrat Party responsible for supporting slavery and racism that occurred in the past. Overt racism was pretty much buried in the 1970's. What I do hold them responsible for are their support for ANTIFA and BLM, and the fear they have in confronting those organizations. But as I stated above, the Republicans aren't much different.
I don't see the idiots who participated in the January 6 riot any different than those who burned, looted, and killed people during their riots. It's convenient to call the January 6 riot an "insurrection," but do you honestly believe that most "conservatives" supported it? If so, I think you've probably been watching too much CNN or MSNBC while waiting for an airplane. The riots over the previous four years were much more damaging.