Is This Racist?

Sounds like an opinion to me. The question is why did he forward it? It seems like today you can't even say "black" anymore without being labeled a racist. Blacks choose the word "black' to replace Negro as the term for describing persons of African descent. I guess they need to pick a new PC term and let everyone know what it is so feelings don't get hurt. Personally I despise the term "American (insert your ethnicity here)", we are all Americans, why label yourself that way at all, especially if you or your parents never lived in that country? I think it's safe to say most blacks have historical claims back to Africa, Asians to Asia, etc. Most people can figure that out for themselves. If that information is different close friends will know, and that's the extent of who it should matter to. Besides did we all come from Africa according to paleontologists? If so why should one group of people have ownership of the continent as their heritage?

Paleoanthropologists.

As to whether that's racist?  Eh, probably a bit...it's not 'lynch the nigger' racist...but more 'look at those people' kind of racist.  I don't believe it's anything to get excited about.

~Zoo

Iguess it all depends on the reader. We all have freedom to believe what we want and some will see it as racist and others will see it as an opinion and maybe even truthful. Like Nitro, the questiojn is why did he forward it? I don't see the point in doing it, especially with everyone making any comment about Obama a racist one.

Two points:

1- replace the word "black" with white, or "republican" or "Democrats" what would you say?

2- let's assume it is not racist (i.e. not implying that all those blacks of "carloads" [as in cargo?] dont really have a mind to think and they support this guy only because he is "black" like them), then what else could it mean? ...

what else is racism other than "grouping" certain ethnic people in one lump sum and treating them in a certain way (good or bad by the way ... still the same)as if they are one person. if someone say " Jews are really smart" .. that is racism ... if someone say "poles are silly" that is racism ... if someone say "French are snobbish" that is racism ... etc.

do you have any other definition?

and by the way ... an opinion does not make it not racist ... it is a racist opinion. what else is racism ... it is an opinion... isnt it? ... spining it doesnt work

let me say this: people, all people anywhere in any country, are not that stupid. they may not be very bright or sophisticated but most of them if not all get what you mean by what you say and the way you say it .... if you say somehting and most people understand it to mean a certain meaning .... you should believe it .... you may not realize the impact of what you say or how it is understood ... but people cant get into your brain to know what you meant. and if most of them take what you say in a certain way ... you better change what you say and the way you say it IF what they understood is NOT what you meant.

so thinkaloud, if you change words in the statement its not racist, lol.. very scientific of you.

I think its borderline racist primarily because of this line"After all, he is black - no experience or accomplishments - but he is black.""

And if your forwarding emails to people, even if you didn't author them, it generally means your endosring their seniment and want to share it with others (or that you think its completely ridiculous and want to share that ridiculouslness with others, but I don't understand that to be the defense)

 ... that confirms that it is ... doesnt it?

as for scientific.... is there a scientific way to answer a question like that? ..... !!!!!

leave science alone please ....

It's not racist (in spite of what "thinkaloud" would have you believe).

Fact is, obamas black supporters have been screaming "racism" at nearly anyone who won't vote for obama.

I had an email sent to me with an audio clip from the howard stern show (of all places) in which one of his cronies went to Harlem, replaced obamas platform with McCains and the black people interviewed didn't notice the difference.

What's the point of this ? well, given that black people are screaming "racist" at those who oppose obama and they don't even know the difference between obamas platform and McCains? I say that yeah.... they are only voting for him because he's black.

Yes, I think it qualifies as racist.  Unless he could read their minds as those 'carloads' went by.  Is what it is.

I know where you're coming from, Shadow, but you're mixing apples & oranges.  Acknowledging what many blacks have admitted, that they will be voting for Barack because he is black, is not racist, even though casting a vote solely on the basis of a candidate's skin color is racist.  Commenting on polls revealing such behavior is not racist.

Claiming racism as a defense against every criticism of Obama is racist.  Assuming you know someone's motives simply because they are black (or white) is racist.

OK Zoo, scientists then.

The fact is that many more blacks are voting this year then ever before in history, by a wide margin. What would compel them to do so this year? All this in addition to Obama's lack of experience. i think isn't safe to assume here it's in part because he is black.

Carload- I've heard that term used ever since I was a kid. Carload of friends, kids, musicians, etc. Is this one of the lefts new "code words"? Again, I did get a copy of the codebook.

I don't believe that using groups in a statement is inherently racist. If I say the "French are snobbish" (which I don't feel BTW) it could be because of a personal experience and that would be opinion or observation. I also don't think it is racist to say "Germans are very industrious", even though I'm sure there are some lazy Germans too. You could look at their GDP and find truth in that statement. If I said "black people are the most beautiful people on the planet" would that be racist? No, I think not, it's an opinion. So if white were substituted in that statement, I don't think that should be considered racist either.

The chairman forwarded this to others, his intentions are unclear since he did not personally write the e-mail, nor add any comments to it to explain his reasoning. That IMO was not smart in this PC day and age, but don't shoot the messenger. Is this the type of thing we will have to worry about under an Obama presidency?

IMO yes. The person making the comment appears to be saying that the Obama supporters are only voting for Obama because he is black and so are they. Now for some supporters this is likely the case, but to apply it to all makes it racist. Of course this is assuming there isn't more context to the conent that goes against this initial implication (i.e. just after that the person making the comment said 'of course this is only the case for some of his supporters' or something along those lines). In other words, the person appears to be saying that because they are black, they don't care or know about Obama's policies.

As for the person forwarding the comment, by forwarding it (presumably without anything saying they disagreed with it's contents) they associated themself with those comments, and implicitely supported them. For someone in that position, they should have known better.

This is very disappointing ... really it is.

You asked a good fair question ... i expected you to continue along the same line.

I presented a logical definition and response to your question.

the fact that they are screaming "racism" does not justify anything let alone change the fact that the statement is in fact "racist". ...

I already said .. regardless of what one means by what they say ... if most people understood it to be different then you have two choices:

if what they understood is not what you meant ... then change the way you say what you mean .. or

if they understood you correctly ... dont try to deny it...

i am not trying to have anyone believe anything ... i presented a reasonable response to your question ... respond in kind ... anything else ..is just a spin.

being a racist or not is a state of mind... is it not? ... and that is what an opinion is ... based on personal experience, cultural environment, education ... or whatever ... does not make any difference ....

it seems that many people think that a "racist" is the one who "acts" on his racist opinion ... that is not true.

if anyone acts on his/her bad or illegal feelings or opinions .. they become criminals ... no one is criminalized based on their feelings or opinions.....

it is a clear cop-out to say it is only an opinion ... opinions are important and count ... and if they are racist ... then that is what they are ....

if that statement is not racist ... i would like to know what else does it mean?

repeating what it says is not an acceptable answer .... what does it mean that "After all, he is black - no experience or accomplishments - but he is black."

It could be bigotry, or number of things ask the chairman his reasoning, everything else is just conjecture.

Yes.  It is.

Said the Jaberwocky.  Yes, any statement not cleared by Big Brother and the Newspeak people is now racist.  And all those evil rich people are so niggardly OMG!  There goes another banned word!

What horse hockey!  I guess saying "Black Hole" is racist too.  Never mind it is DESCRIPTIVE.

Just as the email is. "A car load of indeterminate people....."  Hello 1984 We are here!

Not with ya on this one Dr. Guy.  It was a racist statement.

Not sure what's going on with the thread - I can't see the source of the quote you included.

First, just to be clear, I do not see the statement as racist.  Just descriptive.

Second, my post was meant for think alouds stupidity.  Equating car load with cargo is just idiocy, but what we can expect in the next 4 years I guess.

I agree with that.  But the presumption of motive is racist, i.e. based on nothing but skin color.

If this were a news story, how would you report it?  Just the statement quoted, not the rest of the diatribe.

What 'rest of the diatribe'?

The rhetoric going along with the quoted part.  I am reading the statement just in itself as that was the quoted part, and trying to figure out how it would be reported in the news if the object was a republican getting support.

from a german perspective  that would qualify as racist because it reduces Obama to being black saying he has no other qualities than being black which is not true. It also ignores the fact that blacks always vote overwhelmingly democrat; but then there might be no need to be as sensitive in the USA as we are here because you never had a arier-supremacy dictatorship.

It made no such statement.  It is an assumption on your part.  It was descriptive, without being derogatory.

I was refering to that "After all, he is black - no experience or accomplishments - but he is black."

Sorry If I wasn't clear enough about that, never meant to attack you, because you indeed didn't wrote anything like that