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Anti-racism ad campaign in Minnesota town called 'racist' by critics

GPS_Flex

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Link: Fox News

Link: Un-Fair Campaign

A controversy over an anti-racism campaign some local critics say is itself racist is roiling the Iron Range city of Duluth, Minn.

The Un-Fair Campaign addresses what it calls ‘white privilege’ with billboards, posters and online videos assigning guilt to people with taglines like, “Is white skin really fair skin?” and “I am a white man. That’s unfair.” The ads are plastered across a city where 90 percent of the population is Caucasian.

.........

But some critics in the region say the ads make a blanket generalization of all white people.

“You can't open a discussion on race and hope to see it move in a positive direction when you raise the topic by stereotyping an entire race,” Phil Pierson wrote on the Facebook page he started and dubbed STOP Racist Unfair Campaign, started by local resident Phil Pierson.

“It will be perceived as biased and accusatory. Instead of spreading love and togetherness, it spreads animosity and hate, teaches a new generation to point fingers and focus on the color of our skin instead of the idea that we're all human, and we're all in this together,” Pierson added.

I’m so sick of this kind of sanctimonious mental flatulence. Do they really think they are going to encourage solutions based dialogue by being racist toward people with white skin color? Are white people the only racist people?

I’m all for the elimination of racism but constantly playing the race card and being racist yourself won’t reduce racism.
 
I’m so sick of this kind of sanctimonious mental flatulence. Do they really think they are going to encourage solutions based dialogue by being racist toward people with white skin color? Are white people the only racist people?
Well said. Don't these folks have anything else to do?
 
Link: Fox News

Link: Un-Fair Campaign

I’m so sick of this kind of sanctimonious mental flatulence. Do they really think they are going to encourage solutions based dialogue by being racist toward people with white skin color? Are white people the only racist people?

I’m all for the elimination of racism but constantly playing the race card and being racist yourself won’t reduce racism.
Meh, they went for shock value above content so while I appreciate the message, I think the way they packaged the message is going to push people away from thinking about or accepting it.
 
They're trying to draw attention to racist stereotypes by using racist stereotypes. That's an eyeroller, even for the lefties. "I am a white man. That's unfair" reads one billboard. Seriously. I thought this was satire from The Onion when I first saw it, I really did.

So let's say I put up a billboard across the street that said "It's hard to see personal responsibility when you're black." Or maybe "We wouldn't all be racists if you people weren't all such lazy welfare leeches." Would that be okay? Yes? No? Why not? Because they are racial stereotypes? Ah. Eyeroll again.

We need to have a series of national conversations regarding race. Now, we can't have productive conversations about race when one side is hurling racial stereotypes, can we all agree on that simple, obvious fact?

Racism towards whites is still racism, bigotry towards Christians is still bigotry, and leftist hypocrisy will always be hialrious.

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My two cents is that pointing out the existence of white privilege isn't racist - although it's often characterized that way by critics of anti-racism. And I have no doubt that campaigns are like this are bound to piss people off. Racism is a sensitive topic. If people aren't being challenged to think about it, then progress isn't being made.

As for the un-fair campaign being "hypocritical" - maybe so. But I'd argue that once again, maybe that's the POINT. It's intentional because challenges people's assumptions and sensibilities about race and racism. Don't like how white people are being characterized in this campaign? Then maybe it's because you haven't taken the time to put yourself in the shoes of a racial minority and experienced the generalizations, the discrimination, and stereotyping that they face in society all too frequently.

There's all too many folks that think "anti-racism" simply means ignoring racial distinctions, sweeping them under the rug, and pretending they don't exist and not talking about racism as if we're already a colorblind society. Most of you know that as an adherent of critical race theory I pretty much reject that approach. :twocents:
 
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It's just sick that any of you are so morally depraved to object even to something as innocuous as this. The kneejerk reaction of the right to attack any attempt to lessen racism is just sick. You should be ashamed of yourselves. The Republican party is flat out turning into a white supremacist party. Disgusting.
 
It's just sick that any of you are so morally depraved to object even to something as innocuous as this. The kneejerk reaction of the right to attack any attempt to lessen racism is just sick. You should be ashamed of yourselves. The Republican party is flat out turning into a white supremacist party. Disgusting.
Speaking of silly and unfounded accusations of racism :roll:
 
Speaking of silly and unfounded accusations of racism :roll:

You're on a thread of right wingers calling one of the tamest, least controversial, anti-racism campaigns you can imagine "racist" and you don't see a problem with that?

The sad reality is that whenever anybody tries to fight against racism, you have the right spazzing out and calling the people trying to fight against it "racist". 100% of the time, without exceptions. They are just not ok with people fighting against racism. You tell me why that is if not that they're white supremacists?
 
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Are you kidding me? You're on a thread of right wingers calling one of the tamest, least controversial, anti-racism campaigns you can imagine "racist" and you don't see a problem with that?

Actually I can understand why some would characterize the Un-Fair campaign as racist. Doesn't mean I agree with them, but I don't see their motivations as racist. And to say that th campaign is un-controversial is simply false.
 
Are you kidding me? You're on a thread of right wingers calling one of the tamest, least controversial, anti-racism campaigns you can imagine "racist" and you don't see a problem with that?
I think it's absolutely harmless, but why would I have a issue with others taking offense to it? Your post, however was a giant, laughably false accusation. I have a problem with labeling an entire group as racists because of the actions of a few which were dubiously and frankly doubtfully racist to begin with.

The Republican party is flat out turning into a white supremacist party. Disgusting.
 
Actually I can understand why some would characterize the Un-Fair campaign as racist. Doesn't mean I agree with them, but I don't see their motivations as racist. And to say that th campaign is un-controversial is simply false.

They only controversy is that it acknowledges white privilege. Denying white privilege is, obviously, white supremacist. Just because this kind of thing has become acceptable on the right doesn't mean it is a reasonable viewpoint. We live in a country where the average white household has 14 times as much wealth as the average black household. In this country, today, if a white person and a black person apply for the same job with the same resume, the white person is 2.4 times more like to get an interview. A black person is 28 times more likely to be the victim of a racially motivated violent hate crime in the US today. This funhouse mirror notion on the right that even to acknowledge that, or to fight against it is "racist" is just sick. It doesn't matter how many of them do it, it is still sick. It's just cruelty and hate and nothing more.
 
They only controversy is that it acknowledges white privilege. Denying white privilege is, obviously, white supremacist. Just because this kind of thing has become acceptable on the right doesn't mean it is a reasonable viewpoint. We live in a country where the average white household has 14 times as much wealth as the average black household. In this country, today, if a white person and a black person apply for the same job with the same resume, the white person is 2.4 times more like to get an interview. A black person is 28 times more likely to be the victim of a racially motivated violent hate crime in the US today. This funhouse mirror notion on the right that even to acknowledge that, or to fight against it is "racist" is just sick. It doesn't matter how many of them do it, it is still sick. It's just cruelty and hate and nothing more.

No it's not. You could perhaps characterize it as ignorant or "head-in-the-sand." but just because someone has a problem with the concept of white privilege doesn't make them a white supremacist. You're engaging in serious hyperbole here.
 
I think it's absolutely harmless, but why would I have a issue with others taking offense to it? Your post, however was a giant, laughably false accusation. I have a problem with labeling an entire group as racists because of the actions of a few which were dubiously and frankly doubtfully racist to begin with.

You should have an issue with people "taking offense" to fighting against racism because what they are trying to do is to make it socially unacceptable to fight against racism. It's no different than the folks that have always done that. The people who characterized black civil rights leaders as "uppity" and white civil rights leaders as "n-word lovers". The people who tried to paint equal rights as "communism". All that disgusting part of our history used to be fading away, but now it's back full force in the Republican party. Sure, they use the code word "racist" instead of the n-word, but it's exactly the same people doing exactly the same thing.
 
It's just sick that any of you are so morally depraved to object even to something as innocuous as this. The kneejerk reaction of the right to attack any attempt to lessen racism is just sick. You should be ashamed of yourselves. The Republican party is flat out turning into a white supremacist party. Disgusting.

LOL. The GOP is SO worried about losing their 2% of the black vote.
 
They only controversy is that it acknowledges white privilege. Denying white privilege is, obviously, white supremacist. Just because this kind of thing has become acceptable on the right doesn't mean it is a reasonable viewpoint. We live in a country where the average white household has 14 times as much wealth as the average black household. In this country, today, if a white person and a black person apply for the same job with the same resume, the white person is 2.4 times more like to get an interview.

This is America. I don't have to socialize with people that I don't want to. My company can hire whoever they want, not who YOU deem to be the most qualified. The private school my children attend is free to accept and reject whoever they want. You libs need to deal with it.
 
No it's not. You could perhaps characterize it as ignorant or "head-in-the-sand." but just because someone has a problem with the concept of white privilege doesn't make them a white supremacist. You're engaging in serious hyperbole here.

No. The whole "Republicans aren't racist, they're just too stupid to understand why what they are doing and saying is racist" defense does not hold water with me at all. They know exactly what they are doing. They are trying to suppress any attempt to level the playing field. Stupidity is random. They would error in random directions. This isn't random. They fight against every single attempt to counter racism. Every single time. That isn't stupidity, it is evil.
 
This is America. I don't have to socialize with people that I don't want to. My company can hire whoever they want, not who YOU deem to be the most qualified. The private school my children attend is free to accept and reject whoever they want. You libs need to deal with it.

This is also the America where it's illegal to discriminate on the basis of race.
 
You should have an issue with people "taking offense" to fighting against racism because what they are trying to do is to make it socially unacceptable to fight against racism. It's no different than the folks that have always done that. The people who characterized black civil rights leaders as "uppity" and white civil rights leaders as "n-word lovers". The people who tried to paint equal rights as "communism". All that disgusting part of our history used to be fading away, but now it's back full force in the Republican party. Sure, they use the code word "racist" instead of the n-word, but it's exactly the same people doing exactly the same thing.
Not even remotely the same thing. You painted yourself into a corner with your over the top rhetoric. It was poppycock, in its purest form. Doubling down on it now just makes you look more foolish.
 
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No it's not. You could perhaps characterize it as ignorant or "head-in-the-sand." but just because someone has a problem with the concept of white privilege doesn't make them a white supremacist. You're engaging in serious hyperbole here.

There. You see? It isn't stupidity. They are doing it intentionally:

LOL. The GOP is SO worried about losing their 2% of the black vote.

This is America. I don't have to socialize with people that I don't want to. My company can hire whoever they want, not who YOU deem to be the most qualified. The private school my children attend is free to accept and reject whoever they want. You libs need to deal with it.
 
Not even remotely the same thing. You painted yourself into a corner with your over the top rhetoric. It was poppycock, in its purest form. Doubling down on it now just makes you look more foolish.

Oh course it is the same thing. They automatically attack anybody who is trying to counter racism. Just like the folks did the jim crow days. What's the difference?
 
LOL. The GOP is SO worried about losing their 2% of the black vote.

In elections decided by 2-3% - I really don't see that as a laughing matter. ;)
 
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