[hermit22]

Originally posted by Cairo

Those who think that they are Black no matter what are oppressing and enslaving(by denial of existence) the Hispanic,White,Asian, or Other DNA/Culture in them...in effect, being racist to themselves. Sad. I wonder who teaches them this nonsense?

So it's racist to be proud of your heritage? You've mentioned earlier that you're Jewish, and, as far as I know, you have to have Jewish blood in order to be Jewish. So are you racist simply because of your religion?

No...as you grew older you were taught to see color, and you were taught to attribute any roadblocks or failures in the "real world" to color
because we are also taught to blame anything but ourselves. Personal responsibility and accountability are often buried in a "feel good" society.

Uh..wow. Nice assumption that I blame problems on race. Isn't that how the Lott thing came up in the first place? Blaming "roadblocks or failures" (problems) on color? I bristle at your implied suggestion that I'm somehow racist. If you look at my post, I was talking about the discussions on race that permeate our society. Child rearing, no matter how great, isn't going to protect children from national debate.

O.K...either you are pro-affirmative action and pro-segregation, or you are against BOTH! Are you saying that affirmative action quotas don't end up making people feel oppressed?

See how bigoted you sound? The point of affirmative action is to attempt to make things equal (not 'separate but equal'). Segregation served no noble purpose; it existed only to make dirty racists feel cleaner. Of course there are problems with affirmative action, but there are problems with any social institution. That being said, I'm not one of those people who think affirmative action is failproof, or should last forever. But I do think your comments are evidence of the sentiment behind Lott's remarks: not to say you're racist or he is (even though the evidence on him points otherwise, despite the ass-kissing in the links you posted), but that it shows a great insensitivity for the real race problems in this country, and the only way to fix them is to end any discussion, and return to an idyllic fantasy of the past.

Apologize for what? Wanting America to keep a strong defense? Or for trying to pay tribute to a 100 year old man's life?

No, the issues he was elected to hold are Republican issues...now, it seems, that you are calling me and Lott's constituents in Mississippi racists????? Take a look in the mirror, bud...

Hmm...I'd say Truman did a pretty decent job on defense. This was post-WWII, and America only wanted its boys home. He was able to recognise the growing threat of Communism, and started to take action to combat it. Or maybe you don't like Ike's job? He did cut the military back a bit (a lot) in order to streamline it. Any president since then would not have been directly effected by a Thurmond presidency.
No, the real problem is Lott's embodiment of the Southern Strategy, which has been key to the national Republican strategy since Nixon. It means, at the very least, paying lip service to racists, and, at the worst, running anti-black ads like Helms did. There's a lot of such sentiment in the Republican party, and that doesn't mean that every Republican's a racist - it just means that nearly every Republican figure that relies on the Southern vote pursues this strategy - even John McCain. And this is just wrong. Racists shouldn't be coddled, and neither should Trent Lott. What he said boils down to a racist remark, no matter what he claims to have meant by it, because it evokes a campaign that was built almost entirely on racism. His reformation isn't as evident as Thurmond's, so he had little to stand on. No, Lott got what he deserved. There was no trap set against him. No reporter asked him any pointed questions - he was giving a speech about an old man he thinks is great and got carried away with his exuberance, nostalgia, or some similar emotion.

I'm not the one insisting that this is a race issue and putting words in mouths that aren't there!!!

No, you're trying to insist that it isn't a race issue and trying to take words out of mouths that are there. This isn't a conspiracy against your beloved Senator. "Personal responsibility and accountability are often buried in a "feel good" society" - seems you've fallen victim to this in your analysis of Trent Lott.