Electile Dysfunction (Current students plz look!)

[G.Irish]

My favorite part of yesterday was when Mark Meadows paraded a black woman who works for Trump onto the committee floor in order to prove Trump isn't racist. And then got absolutely livid when he was accused of pulling a racist stunt. Honestly, what did he expect? That is probably the oldest trick in the book to try and prove you are not racist. "Well I got a black friend! Definitely can't be racist because of that."

Then of course twitter digs up a video of him telling Obama to "go back to Kenya or wherever you're from". Lulz

I find these kinds of situations hilarious.   First, you have the whole, "He can't be racist, because a black person works for him," bullshit.  I mean, even the worst woman-hating, misogynist serial-killer has a mother.  You can be a terrible person with terrible prejudices that happens to make exceptions.  I find it funny how there a lot of people that have that huge blind spot.

Then those same people break down into hysterics when they get called racist.  Like it is the worst affront to their dignity ever to be called racist because of the racist things they do.  To a degree I understand it, and really it's part of the first phenomenon.  There a lot of people out there that think 'racist' means you're someone who puts on klan robes and bombs churches.  They know those are/were bad people.  

But they don't understand that if you harbor and act upon prejudices against another race, you're on the racist continuum.  Not as bad as a Neo-Nazi, but still kinda somewhere on the spectrum.  So they lose their shit if someone calls them racist.  'This is not who I am!'  'I am a good person!'  'That word is not part of my vocabulary!'  'How dare you accuse me of being racist for my racially clueless jackassery!'

And to be fair, if you grow up and live in an environment where you never have to think about America's history of racism, and you don't have anyone in your social circles to help you see your biases and blindspots, you might have no idea that the things you've always said and done in your own little world, might get you roasted today's wider world.