Trump supporters: Tell me why the President *isn’t* super-racist.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

I understand what you're saying here.  The response to this would be in how one defines "multiculturalism".

If by "multiculturalism" one is speaking of "pluralism", that's one thing.  The idea of persons from diverse backgrounds contributing to a common culture, making that common culture richer and more varied, is a good thing.  I have lived most of my life in multicultural environments; Greater New York, Tampa Bay, and now the East Coast of Florida.  I don't live in the part of Florida that is the rural South, but I have lived in parts of Florida where the old and the new intersect.  This kind of multiculturalism is a good thing, in that it brings into a common culture a variety of traditions, while making an area diverse.  And while I believe that everyone emigrating to America needs to learn English, I'm not bent out of shape by the degree everyday business offers the option of dealing with Spanish-Speaking (or even Creole-Speaking) persons.  

If, however, one is speaking about multiculturalism as a concept with no common culture, that is another issue.  This strain of multiculturalism is what is in Europe, where Muslims are poorly assimilated into their nations.  The outcome has not been good over there, and such a multiculturalism over here is the sort of thing that nurtures long-term racial and ethnic resentments and keeps centuries-old grudges alive.  My reasons for despising this brand of "multiculturalism" are many, but the main reason is that its development would preclude the basis of a common culture by which our leaders can appeal to all Americans AS Americans.  We have a complicated history as a nation, but out of a complicated history came, I believe, a GREAT and a GOOD nation, and that principle is an indispensable ingredient in any American common culture that can be a basis for the national unity of a diverse people.  This type of "multiculturalism" will permanently block any kind of national consensus to move to solve even the most important issues.

I'm very much for the former.  Not the latter.

Thanks for your response. Even though we disagree a lot I enjoy reading and engaging with you.

In my experience, the type of multiculturalism we experience in this country very much is your former, and not your latter. For one thing, unlike in Europe, America has a (relatively short, but still significant) history of cultural assimilation and mixing. For good or for bad (and some of it certainly was bad, like forced enrollment of Native American children in culture-erasing boarding schools) I don't see any reason why this would reverse itself. I grew up in an diverse suburb of D.C., with neighbors next door who were black, families on my block who were Chinese and Korean, and Afghan and Indian families living the next street over. I rode the bus with all of their children; we talked about NFL football, Family Guy, our favorite pizza place, and whose parents were getting deployed to Iraq. My High School was exactly 25% Asian my freshman year, and somewhere in the mid-teens for Hispanics. I had a great, diverse group of friends in high school; interracial dating was common, we went over to each other's houses and ate chinese takeout and played video games. I had class with Hispanic kids when local news was warning us about MS-13 and we had mandatory class sessions about the dangers of gangs. Those kids I had class with talked about youtube videos, soccer, smoking weed, but they were never anything like what the News or the Adults told us.

The point is, I grew up in a super cosmopolitan area where people of many cultures were thrown together, and coexistence and exchange happened naturally. Aside from the fact that my high school had different pigmentation in the average American school, we all lived typical, peaceful middle class/upper middle class lives. What's wrong with that? A common culture emerged in the children pretty naturally. They lost some parts of their parents identity, which I am sure was difficult for them and their parents to go through, and there were times where I was made aware of how my "whiteness"  led to characteristics that not all of my friends shared, which was weird. But, my argument for multiculturalism is that I'm the product of a multicultural neighborhoods and suburbs, and I love my friends and neighbors, we all turned out fine.

Also, this doesn't fit in with the rest of my post, but re: nurturing long-term resentments... did you see that thread a couple weeks ago about the Civil War? That stuff is going to happen regardless in this country, whether it's racial, political, cultural, historic, etc.

[Saint Milei]

I get that honest conversations about racism are virtually impossible these days, but wow... this thread was a *fun* read. I think this thread was doomed from the start though, since I really don't think Democrats are convincing anyone to join their side with accusations of racism, or trying to catch people in the act of racism. Now, I do personally think that Trump is racist. What I'm saying is that trying to prove that he is isn't going to turn people who support him away from him. Either they're convinced that he isn't, and nothing is going to change their mind, or they don't care (as Santander pointed out.)

This is a bone I have to pick with the "pro-diversity/multiculturalism" ideology of the Democratic Party. I'm saying that as a left-winger who likes diversity and thinks multiculturalism is not only a wonderful thing, but necessary in the world of today. Unfortunately, I think too many liberals only promote being "multi-cultural" or "anti-racist" for the sake of their image, claiming moral superiority, and enjoy chewing people out as racists. Calling someone out as a racist is hardly ever helpful, even if it's accurate.

Democrats have to do a better job of selling multiculturalism (often through the form of immigration) as something positive, and not coming across as wanting to label everyone as a racist. It's going to be tough, because accepting other cultures and understanding people with very different backgrounds is most often not easy. Speaking as someone who's lived in another country before, coming into direct contact with other cultures can be very uncomfortable at times, even if you think you're the most forward-thinking progressive on the planet. I think we need to understand that a lot of Americans are not immediately going to be in love with the idea of a multicultural America, and instead of denouncing anyone uncomfortable with that idea as a racist, we need to sell the idea to them, and understand their hesitation to get behind it.

Some Democrats want to reach out to Americans who have been turned off by the left recently, others want to double down on being pro-immigration and multicultural. I want to do both.

Best post itt

[All Along The Watchtower]

There really isn't a relevant discussion to be had on this, PR knew exactly what he was doing when he made this thread and worded the subject as he did.  

Let's dispel with this fiction that I don't know what I'm doing. I know exactly what I'm doing.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

There really isn't a relevant discussion to be had on this, PR knew exactly what he was doing when he made this thread and worded the subject as he did.  

Let's dispel with this fiction that I don't know what I'm doing. I know exactly what I'm doing.

Purposely picking a fight over an intentionally inflammatory issue isn't particularly brave.

[Person Man]

There really isn't a relevant discussion to be had on this, PR knew exactly what he was doing when he made this thread and worded the subject as he did.  

Let's dispel with this fiction that I don't know what I'm doing. I know exactly what I'm doing.

Purposely picking a fight over an intentionally inflammatory issue isn't particularly brave.

Because if something you come across isn't  pleasant, we all should just sit down and eat some strawberry ice cream and not worry about it

[All Along The Watchtower]

There really isn't a relevant discussion to be had on this, PR knew exactly what he was doing when he made this thread and worded the subject as he did.  

Let's dispel with this fiction that I don't know what I'm doing. I know exactly what I'm doing.

Purposely picking a fight over an intentionally inflammatory issue isn't particularly brave.

And you know about picking fights with people.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

There really isn't a relevant discussion to be had on this, PR knew exactly what he was doing when he made this thread and worded the subject as he did.  

Let's dispel with this fiction that I don't know what I'm doing. I know exactly what I'm doing.

Purposely picking a fight over an intentionally inflammatory issue isn't particularly brave.

And you know about picking fights with people.

Do you smell your own farts too?

[Progressive Pessimist]

So all these replies and no one disproved the OP? LOL.

They seem to be excusing his racism more than refuting it.

[All Along The Watchtower]

There really isn't a relevant discussion to be had on this, PR knew exactly what he was doing when he made this thread and worded the subject as he did.  

Let's dispel with this fiction that I don't know what I'm doing. I know exactly what I'm doing.

Purposely picking a fight over an intentionally inflammatory issue isn't particularly brave.

And you know about picking fights with people.

Do you smell your own farts too?

Very clever for a third-grader.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

There really isn't a relevant discussion to be had on this, PR knew exactly what he was doing when he made this thread and worded the subject as he did.  

Let's dispel with this fiction that I don't know what I'm doing. I know exactly what I'm doing.

Purposely picking a fight over an intentionally inflammatory issue isn't particularly brave.

And you know about picking fights with people.

Do you smell your own farts too?

Very clever for a third-grader.

I'm just noting how smug you are. Nothing low-brow intended.

[All Along The Watchtower]

There really isn't a relevant discussion to be had on this, PR knew exactly what he was doing when he made this thread and worded the subject as he did.  

Let's dispel with this fiction that I don't know what I'm doing. I know exactly what I'm doing.

Purposely picking a fight over an intentionally inflammatory issue isn't particularly brave.

And you know about picking fights with people.

Do you smell your own farts too?

Very clever for a third-grader.

I'm just noting how smug you are. Nothing low-brow intended.

Well you're pretty smug too, so maybe we can meet in the middle.

[Fuzzy Bear]

There really isn't a relevant discussion to be had on this, PR knew exactly what he was doing when he made this thread and worded the subject as he did.  

Let's dispel with this fiction that I don't know what I'm doing. I know exactly what I'm doing.

Purposely picking a fight over an intentionally inflammatory issue isn't particularly brave.

And you know about picking fights with people.

Do you smell your own farts too?

Very clever for a third-grader.

I'm just noting how smug you are. Nothing low-brow intended.

Well you're pretty smug too, so maybe we can meet in the middle.

Ah, the spirit of compromise permeates Atlas!