How a 'Discussion on Race' Looks in 2020

August 31, 2020 By Bob Weir

The term "racist" has been tossed around so often and so frivolously that it has lost its effect as a true statement about bigotry. If you're white and you haven't been called a racist, you're either afraid to disagree with blacks on any issue or you just have no contact with blacks in person or on social media — which, incidentally, probably means you're a racist. For the purposes of this column, I'm going only address only what occurs during dialogue on social media.

Before I begin, I want to recall what Mike Tyson said, "Social media made y'all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it." There's more than a bit of honesty in that statement because some people have a level of keyboard courage that they couldn't imagine having in a face-to-face confrontation.

Even if you left out the violent aspect of it, most people would decline to engage in a heated debate about race during a family gathering or a dinner party with friends. However, once you sit in front of that computer, communicating from afar, you can figuratively take jabs at your opponents without fear of physical retaliation. Hence, if you live in Maine and caustically disagree online with someone from the West Coast, you're unlikely to end up with a fat lip.........To Read More...