[quote=SD Realtor]Brian what are your thoughts about the racial tensions in the USA. White racists in Mississippi… Black racists beating white people in Wisconsin (which seems was hardly reported in the press). (Sorry to go off subject) This really has nothing to do with the TP but it does make one wonder if disenfranchised feel more emboldened each day. Especially each day when they hear about those evil rich people.[/quote]

SDR, I know you addressed Brian with your post, so I hope you’ll forgive the insertion of my two cents.

Racial tensions are, as you pointed out, alive and well in the U.S. A lot of people believe that they are increasing, and, to some extent, I agree with them. However, I am also of the opinion that many people thought that racial bias became a thing of the past with the civil rights gains made by African-Americans by the mid to late 60s. Nothing could be further from the truth: hundreds of years of cultural indoctrination cannot be erased in a few decades. Even though the civil rights war had simply given African-Americans basic human rights accorded white Americans, many of these same people felt that special privileges had been accorded African -Americans, a sentiment that was cemented by adoption of Affirmative Action legislation. As new cultural and sociological landscapes evolved that did not automatically accord a superior role to white males, severe feelings of disenfranchisement took hold in this population segment.

For a time, it was easy to pretend that racial bias did not exist in the mainstream of society, particularly in areas of the U.S. outside of the southern U.S., and, indeed, many supressed racial bias due to fears of social ostracization. However, widespread use of the internet allowed these individuals to communicate with each other, and radio talk show hosts and political bloggers exploited the ingrained racial bias and the disenfranchisement of these large numbers of people to tap into their enormous voting potential. The unfortunate result has been the legitimacy that has been tacitly conferred on the irrational fears and misplaced blame regularly exercised by “hate” groups.

Unfortunately, an example of how this happens exists in your post. Your statement, “Black racists beating white people in Wisconsin (which seems was hardly reported in the press)…” caught my attention. I performed several searches for information regarding the incidents. Although I did find a few newspaper and television news reports that cited individual and mob violence at the Wisconsin State Fair (both on the fairgrounds, and outside the gates), I found far more “reports” of the event on blogs and message boards of far right sociopolitical persuasion. While none of the initial news reports described the violence as racially-motivated, every one of the blog/forum websites not only mentioned it, but focused on it.

I couldn’t help but notice was that, in virtually EVERY blog/forum website report, the wording was IDENTICAL. Two witnesses were quoted (only one gave his full name), and it appeared that the remarks were made to a radio station over the phone. This is the “news article” that passed from blog to blog.

While it may have been true that the attacks were racially motivated, there was no evidence of this at the time of the initial news reports; to have speculated that there was would have been irresponsible on the part of the news outlet. The investigating police chief acknowledged the speculation, stated that existing evidence did not support claims of such, and he requested that eyewitnesses make immediate contact to submit their reports. I saw nothing inappropriate in the behavior of the police chief or in the reporting of the news organizations.

I’m not saying that “black against white” racial bias doesn’t exist, or that African-Americans do not single out victims based on the color of their skin. Unfortunately, hate is alive and well throughout the world, and transcends nationality, religion, education, and socioeconomic status. It’s not that the amount of racial bias is increasing. It’s that our immunity to human violence engendered by racial bias has increased. Thanks to our flat-out refusal to censor media-based hate-mongers from the beginning, both the level of their vitriol and the numbers of people they managed to communicate it to have grown to astronomical levels.

The satisfaction afforded by going to a place where everyone agrees with you and where you can express frustration and hate without fear of being censored is very addictive. At some point, the flow of everyday events capable of eliciting outrage couldn’t keep up with the demand, and suddenly, the pundits and blogs and message boards BECAME the news. The upside for many was that that they could claim status as “entertainment”, thus relieving themselves from journalistic rules and ethics. So, once something appears somewhere – anywhere – it can be reported as “news”, and as “gospel truth”. From there it goes viral, reaching millions of people, creating a never-ending chain-reaction of outrage, and constant experiencing of disenfranchisement. And when stories appear on these rumor mills-disguised-as-news, and are not reported on the actual news media, the cries of “mainstream media suppression” can be heard across the land.

We will never go back to being the country we were until we can compromise and work together, which means actively seeking to breach the polarization that has infected us on every level. It is essential that we start taking the time to research things for ourselves, and not let others with vested interests to dictate the truth to us. Yes, we have been lazy and complacent and short-sighted, but we are still a great nation because we have the good fortune to be built upon a foundation laid by men of significant wisdom and foresight.