Stop waiting for racism to die out with old people. The Charleston shooting suspect is 21.

[KamaAina]

http://www.vox.com/2015/6/22/8810539/racism-generational-american-views

Dylann Roof has been charged with murder for killing nine black people at a Charleston, South Carolina, church on June 17 in an attack that's being investigated as a hate crime. He's 21 years old. His birth year — 1994 — means he's not just a millennial, but one of the younger ones.

The accused killer's youth is a reminder that the cultural myth of racism eventually dying out along with an aging, backward-thinking generation is nonsense.

Obviously, as time passes, many of the elderly people who were alive and just fine with it when legalized segregation was enforced, who took full advantage of the days when saying the n-word was normal, and who could publish a racist rant in the local paper without any consequences are leaving the Earth and taking their brand of stubborn, proud bigotry with them.

But to look for comfort in the idea that their departure will make America a place where black people can enjoy equality and peace is a piece of American fiction that's as dangerous and lazy as it is seductive.

[Behind the Aegis]

1. This is way too popular a meme to die.

Things have changed, for sure. However, this silly, if not idiotic, notion all we have to do is wait for one group to die off demonstrates the true ignorance people have when it comes to racism, specifically, and bigotry, in general. The idea is blind in its understanding of what racism really is, what it was, and what it will become. One only need to read message boards to see racism (and other bigotries) are thriving, if not flourishing. No one can tell me it is just a bunch of "oldsters" having their final say before they shed the mortal coil. Overt racism is seen as "impolite", not PC, but it still exists, but it's nasty cousins, micro-aggressions and passive bias are doing quite well for themselves. They leech into everyday situations; they are used to "justify" stereotypes; they amplify situations which are complex as it is.

No, it isn't a matter of "waiting for the old folks to die", it is a matter of education. It is reaching out to others and helping them understand others, not to just tolerate or "accept" others. For bigotry to end, we must move past tolerance, past acceptance, and reach understanding, for without it, bigotry will never die.

[Number23]

2. TELL. IT.

For bigotry to end, we must move past tolerance, past acceptance, and reach understanding, for without it, bigotry will never die.

I need a cigarette after that. PERFECTLY said. I know you and I have talked about this before. But it's great to see Vox doing a story on this because I am beyond sick and tired of the "racism will die out with old people" meme.

Racism is LEARNED. It is taught and it is shared. And there is enough of it floating around even today to last a hundred generations if no one does anything about it.

[madfloridian]

3. Not all old people are racists.

[Betty Karlson]

4. There are two kinds of racism:

1) institutionalised racism, which comes from ignorance: the steady instilling of prejudice through community meetings, schools, and general segregation from "the others", hearing about "the other" but never meeting him or her. This type of racism is dying out in large parts of the country, along with the elderly who grew up in a segregated world.

2) racism from hatred, as exhibited by the late Jesse Helms and the young Mr. Roof. That is the type of racism that doesn't die out, and it flares up whenever there is economic turbulance. Niall Ferguson (historian) has explained that economic volatility and income disparity inspire a desire to blame and hurt "the other" among some of those who feel that the cards have been stacked against them. They feel cheated and are looking for a scapegoat, and one or more of them will attack the scapegoat in the mistaken belief that will make the problem go away.

The second type of racism cannot be made to go away, but it can be subdued. What you need is policies to decrease economic volatility (both the ups AND the downs) and limit income disparity.

As one presidential candidate said at the time: "It's the economy, stupid."

(And we can start by killing the TPP, which would create the bright opposite of what we need! If I might add: all those things we talk about - racism, poverty, TPP, Citizens United, misogyny, homophobia, health care costs - they are all connected to the same systemic perversion that has been going on for three decades. We need a big overhaul.)

[malaise]

5. Institutionalized racism is local, state and federal policy

not ignorance

[Betty Karlson]

6. This might be a semantic discussion.

By institutionalised I mean: any way that a meme, thought or habit is upheld by authority, group pressure, a belief system, or a sense of tradition. Ritualising and consolidating and passing on to the next generation.

Local, state and federal policies would certainly fall under that definition, but the definition would also include the upholding of racist attitudes by religious institutions, social clubs, and so on.

By ignorance, I mean that the segregation from "the other" / the unfamiliarity with "the other" breeds racism in individuals who would never consciously choose to hate "the other".
(Compare this to my great-grandfather, who was a wonderful man except for being a homophobe. He didn't choose to be one, he just never knew anyone gay until he was in his nineties, by which time he was rather set in his opinions.)
This ignorance (just not knowing "the other&quot is different from hatred (wanting to blame and hurt "the other&quot . In that case, you DO know the other, and consciously choose to infer him / her.

That's all I meant.

[malaise]

8. Racism is very different from prejudice or discrimination

By definition it is the practice of depriving others socio-economic and political equality based on their race or ethnicity.

Racist attitudes by religious institutions, social clubs and so on are forced to change when policy changes.
When the bastard act and the use of the word bastard was removed in Jamaica, schools had to admit children who they excluded for over 100 years.

Likewise when policy was changed regarding domestic helpers, no longer could employers treat them like slaves.

The real problem in America is the nod and wink re racism. Fundamental policy changes do make a difference.

The truth is that the Federal government was never strict enough re those who resisted integration. These changes require vigilance and the appropriate sanctions for violating law.

I understand your point re ignorance versus hatred, but many folks are ignorant by choice.

[Betty Karlson]

9. You made me understand better why you formed your views.

First of all, thank you for that. This is an interesting opportunity for me to advance my understanding.

I would ask you if you can conceive a situation wherein someone unwittingly / subconsciously deprives someone else of socio-economic and political equality (based on race or ethnicity).

In other words: would you argue that such deprivation is ALWAYS the result of a conscious choice?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

7. I'm curious to know how anyone could imagine bigotry will pass just because time has passed.

The formulation seems to be: If only we remove preconditions X, Y and Z then all shall be well.

Nonsense.

At the end of the day all people are unique individuals possessed of free will. They get to decide who they want to be. Believe it or not some will choose to be bad. They may believe themselves to be right or even acknowledge they are bad with no sense of remorse but ultimately they choose.

Yes, circumstances can break a person but we ultimately it is our nature to choose our nature.

In fact, I can find no greater example than the Charleston shooting. Roof considered himself slighted. He turned inward on himself and became a man of darkness and hatred. He chose to transfer his hatred on an attribute that is literally skin deep. We know what he did.

Now look at the AME congregation. What they endured is a far greater tragedy and injustice than anything Roof could have dared to imagine. Yet, they responded with love and togetherness and reaching for something higher than themselves.

Bad people are bad because they choose to be bad. Good people are good because they choose to be good. Each should be paid the dignity it deserves.