Prejudice

[kvnchrist]

Up front, I would like to say, I loved my dad, but I will use my memory of him to set this debate up.

 

My dad was a small man, not over 5'5" which is not much smaller than I. He was also an angry man. His sisters, my aunts told me he was the baby of the family and was pampered, as such. What I mostly remembered of him was his anger, that would explode into instant rage, every time something happened that would not work as he expected.

 

To me he thought he was entitled to things, even taking the money I had from a settlement on a accident, I had, when I was still a minor. I don't know how much the courts gave mje, but he got a landau roof and an Italian carburetor for a 4 cylinder Pinto hatchback. I think he was trying to get peoples admiration by what he owned, instead of what he was inside. This condemned him to do the exact opposite, all of his life than that which most likely would have gained him what he sought, everywhere else. He never even contemplated working on his attitude.

 

He was a confirmed Democrat that worked a union job, that hated Black people with a passion. He always talked about their welfare Cadillac but continually voted for the same party that supported such entitlements. I think it wasn't about the Democrats, or the republicans, The Blacks, whites, reds, yellows, or greens. I think it was all about himself. He hated what he wasn't more than anything, but wouldn't take the first step in addressing that.

I think this is where hatred comes from and the bigotry is the excuse that comes out of seeing others with something they see as better than they have, like a life.

 

Has anyone got anything to add to this. I would greatly appreciate your take on just where all the hatred comes from and any experiences that you may want to provide is welcome.

[marharth]

What year did you dad vote for democrats? I mean depending on your age, I have no idea why he would have voted democrat if he hated blacks. I don't quite understand how he could be in a union job, hate blacks (depending on the time period), hate welfare, and vote democrat.

 

That seems like conflicting ideologies to me.

[kvnchrist]

What year did you dad vote for democrats? I mean depending on your age, I have no idea why he would have voted democrat if he hated blacks. I don't quite understand how he could be in a union job, hate blacks (depending on the time period), hate welfare, and vote democrat.

 

That seems like conflicting ideologies to me.

 

He was a union man and voted democrat because what they offered him, not anyone else. As far as a democrat hating blacks look up the name Bull Conner and Gov. Wallace.

I think he was looking for a scapegoat and found one in black people. He died about 20 years ago and I suppose he was politically active sometime before that.

 

You haven't responded to the questions on my thread!

[marharth]

What year did you dad vote for democrats? I mean depending on your age, I have no idea why he would have voted democrat if he hated blacks. I don't quite understand how he could be in a union job, hate blacks (depending on the time period), hate welfare, and vote democrat.

 

That seems like conflicting ideologies to me.

 

He was a union man and voted democrat because what they offered him, not anyone else. As far as a democrat hating blacks look up the name Bull Conner and Gov. Wallace.

I think he was looking for a scapegoat and found one in black people. He died about 20 years ago and I suppose he was politically active sometime before that.

 

You haven't responded to the questions on my thread!

 

You didn't really ask a qeustion.

 

The republican party voted against civil rights during that era. Even if there were a few democrats who were against it the party as a whole was for it. It doesn't make much sense that he would have voted for a democrat, hate blacks, work for a union job, and a number of other things you mentioned.

 

Your example doesn't seem to show prejudice to me as much as it shows hypocrisy, so I am kind of confused about what you are saying.

[JimboUK]

I think there are many reasons for prejudice, what causes it in an individual will vary from person to person. Fear of an alien culture replacing your own, concerns about the lowering of wages and availability of work that comes with immigration are just two.

 

What year did you dad vote for democrats? I mean depending on your age, I have no idea why he would have voted democrat if he hated blacks. I don't quite understand how he could be in a union job, hate blacks (depending on the time period), hate welfare, and vote democrat.

 

That seems like conflicting ideologies to me.

 

You're buying into the "left wing good, right wing bad" thing, there is as much racsim among left wing voters as there is on the right. In this country when traditional Labour voters felt they were not being represented by the party many jumped ship to the BNP, a party full of raving Nazis.

[marharth]

You're buying into the "left wing good, right wing bad" thing, there is as much racsim among left wing voters as there is on the right. In this country when traditional Labour voters felt they were not being represented by the party many jumped ship to the BNP, a party full of raving Nazis.

The labor party has nothing to do with the civil right era in the USA. In might of been different in the UK, but in the US civil rights were opposed by the republican party and supported by the democratic party. It would not make sense to vote democratic if you opposed civil rights. The party agenda for the republicans was to oppose civil rights, while the party agenda for the democrats was to support it.

 

That being said, I still don't understand what the OP is asking.

Edited September 6, 2011 by marharth

[JimboUK]

You're buying into the "left wing good, right wing bad" thing, there is as much racsim among left wing voters as there is on the right. In this country when traditional Labour voters felt they were not being represented by the party many jumped ship to the BNP, a party full of raving Nazis.

The labor party has nothing to do with the civil right era in the USA. In might of been different in the UK, but in the US civil rights were opposed by the republican party and supported by the democratic party. It would not make sense to vote democratic if you opposed civil rights. The party agenda for the republicans was to oppose civil rights, while the party agenda for the democrats was to support it.

 

That being said, I still don't understand what the OP is asking.

 

I was explaining that there is nothing strange in racists voting for a left wing party, very few people agree with all the policies of the party they vote for. There was nothing strange about the way kvnchrists father voted.

[marharth]

You're buying into the "left wing good, right wing bad" thing, there is as much racsim among left wing voters as there is on the right. In this country when traditional Labour voters felt they were not being represented by the party many jumped ship to the BNP, a party full of raving Nazis.

The labor party has nothing to do with the civil right era in the USA. In might of been different in the UK, but in the US civil rights were opposed by the republican party and supported by the democratic party. It would not make sense to vote democratic if you opposed civil rights. The party agenda for the republicans was to oppose civil rights, while the party agenda for the democrats was to support it.

 

That being said, I still don't understand what the OP is asking.

 

I was explaining that there is nothing strange in racists voting for a left wing party, very few people agree with all the policies of the party they vote for. There was nothing strange about the way kvnchrists father voted.

That changes if your talking about the civil rights era in the USA.

[JimboUK]

You're buying into the "left wing good, right wing bad" thing, there is as much racsim among left wing voters as there is on the right. In this country when traditional Labour voters felt they were not being represented by the party many jumped ship to the BNP, a party full of raving Nazis.

The labor party has nothing to do with the civil right era in the USA. In might of been different in the UK, but in the US civil rights were opposed by the republican party and supported by the democratic party. It would not make sense to vote democratic if you opposed civil rights. The party agenda for the republicans was to oppose civil rights, while the party agenda for the democrats was to support it.

 

That being said, I still don't understand what the OP is asking.

 

I was explaining that there is nothing strange in racists voting for a left wing party, very few people agree with all the policies of the party they vote for. There was nothing strange about the way kvnchrists father voted.

That changes if your talking about the civil rights era in the USA.

 

Why would it? people still would still vote the party that better suited them, in the OPs dads case that was the Democrats.

[kvnchrist]

I googled the voting record of the civil rights act and got this.

 

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/183344.html

 

House of Representatives:

Democrats for: 152

Democrats against: 96

Republicans for: 138

Republicans against: 34

 

Senate:

Democrats for: 46

Democrats against: 21

Republicans for: 27

Republicans against: 6

 

 

or this one:

 

 

 

civil rights act

 

Vote totals

 

Totals are in "Yea-Nay" format:

 

* The original House version: 290-130 (69%–31%).

* Cloture in the Senate: 71-29 (71%–29%).

* The Senate version: 73-27 (73%–27%).

* The Senate version, as voted on by the House: 289-126 (70%–30%).

 

[edit] By party

 

The original House version:[12]

 

* Democratic Party: 152-96 (61%-39%)

* Republican Party: 138-34 (80%-20%)

 

Cloture in the Senate:[13]

 

* Democratic Party: 44-23 (66%–34%)

* Republican Party: 27-6 (82%–18%)

 

The Senate version:[12]

 

* Democratic Party: 46-21 (69%–31%)

* Republican Party: 27-6 (82%–18%)

 

The Senate version, voted on by the House:[12]

 

* Democratic Party: 153-91 (63%–37%)

* Republican Party: 136-35 (80%–20%)

 

[edit] By party and region

 

Note: "Southern", as used in this section, refers to members of Congress from the eleven states that made up the Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. "Northern" refers to members from the other 39 states, regardless of the geographic location of those states.

 

The original House version:

 

* Southern Democrats: 7–87 (7%–93%)

* Southern Republicans: 0–10 (0%–100%)

 

* Northern Democrats: 145-9 (94%–6%)

* Northern Republicans: 138-24 (85%–15%)

 

The Senate version:

 

* Southern Democrats: 1–20 (5%–95%)

* Southern Republicans: 0–1 (0%–100%)

* Northern Democrats: 45-1 (98%–2%)

* Northern Republicans: 27-5 (84%–16%)

 

 

I don't really see where you get the idea that Democrats were for the civil rights act and the Republicans were against it.

This is not an attempt to bait you, but provide correct information on the subject you seem to think important.

 

Wither you understand my old man isn't important either. I don't understand him, but that's what me are left with

 

 

but getting back to my query.

 

What I was asking was the nature of prejudism. Where does it come from. What's it's root cause.

 

I used the best resource I could, which was my father. I tried to understand what drove him, based on what my mother told me after he died. I knew he was bitter. I asked him one time why he hated people of other races and he told me that one time he had a job, and he was replaced by an Asian guy that took the job for lesser wages. I don't know if that was an excuse, but that's what it seemed to me.

 

What I was asking is if racism comes out of small minded self interest. A feeling of insecurity, or a feeling of loosing some sort of assumed legitimacy, to those without it?

I don't think that prejudism is in one group or the other. One party or the other. It's seems to be the pet favorite of those that desire it to continue for political or financial gain. They don't care who gets hurt by it. They want what they want, which is power and influence.