Reply to Ralph Northam yearbook page shows men in blackface and KKK robe

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]Is there a test for racism? Who is the judge of racism? Should doctors, police, and teachers take some sort of a test to see if they are racist? I think we go down a huge rabbit hole when we start judging people, especially based on what they did 35 years ago.

Northam has done a lot of good in his life as evidenced by his military service, career as a doctor, and in political life so far. Judging him based on a picture from long ago seems a bit too far to me. I live in Virginia and I don't want this decision to be made in haste. Al Franken should not have been forced out either. 
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I really don't like all this calling people "racists."  No question--blackface is a racist action, though.  I didn't like on the talk shows today how so many were calling him an out and out racist--except for the fact that Northam, himself, tweeted during his campaign that Gillespie is a racist--which I do not believe to be true.

I guess I don't like calling children "bad."  I taught school and would tell kids when they did something bad--but I never called a child "bad."  I apply the same thing here.

And, yes, I do know that some people are racist--but this is being used far too often and takes away from the accusation when it is used so readily.

And, frankly, i do not believe that Trump is a racist--I believe that he is an Equal Opportunity Offender.[/quote]

I agree with you about not calling children bad, but I urge you to think more about this.

When people murder other people, they are murderers. We have a problem in our language now where the move to word things more sensitively lets the perpetrator off the hook.  We say "so and so was raped" and put the emphasis on the victim. We don't call the person who raped out as being a rapist.

It is the same for saying "racially charged" - we say that to minimize it and it doesn't put responsibility where it should be. We say "XYZ has made a racially charged statement."

Language has power, and as a former teacher you already know it. That is exactly why you didn't call kids bad. But when someone makes "racially charged statements" they are, in fact being racist.

Language is power.  
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