Wow, I found out this weekend that the majority of my family is really racist

[greenbriar]

I knew they were mostly repuke and they went out of their way to talk about putting a "witch" in the whitehouse,

but then they talked about sending all the "illegals" to iraq and all sorts of things.

WOW

I left our family gathering becasue I didn't want to start any issues


I was just sick

[gateley]

1. Seriously - I'm sorry for you. That must have been difficult and distressing.

You took the high road - you did what was best. Give yourself serious kudos for that! :headbang:

[Hekate]

8. I agree that greenbriar took the high road. There's no point to a family war.

It's a really sad situation though. Sometimes you have to declare a "no politics zone" around yourself...

Hekate

[barbtries]

2. my brother's

the same way. we holiday apart. i love him, but can't spend too much time talking to him, because his head is so far up his ass about so much...apparently (this info comes from the other liberal brother) he keeps faux news on around the clock. oh well

[Catherine Vincent]

3. That's good that you left early.

But how could you not know they were racists? What about family gatherings in the past? Doesn't race ever come up?

[greenbriar]

4. we all grew up in a town with little diversity

of course I knew that the sentiment was there, but their out right comments Thursday just blew my mind




especially about illegal immigrants and iraq.


I teach in a school with a majority of illegals and it just hit me

[magellan]

17. Had a similar encounter with my dad T-day

He told me he's a creationist, believes evolution is nothing but a theory, and Islam is dangerous because "they run schools that teach their children nothing but the koran". Oh, and he thinks Bush** is terrible but also thinks he's only doing what he believes is right.

I was CHILLED TO THE BONE. The man was a teacher of math and science. I knew he was racist (I learned that long ago, and that also shocked me at the time), but I had no idea he'd gone this far off the logic track.

So I admitted I'm an atheist, told him he knew better than to use 'theory' in that way, and asked if he'd ever seen the film 'Jesus Camp'. I also told him Bush** is a lying psychopath who uses the righteousness of Christianity as a cover for his crimes.

Let's just say we parted with a new perspective of each other.

I'm still sick over it, partly from the shock of learning he's so close-minded in areas I hadn't suspected, and partly because I love him and he has a history of shutting me out when I don't behave as he likes. I hope he doesn't go there because I'm too big and ugly now to back off my principles for ANYONE, even my own father.

[Bobbieo]

11. Cat-girl - I have long time friends who are Republicans and you know

what - race and politics never came up until Bush got into offie and that's the truth.

[yardwork]

5. That's always a bummer.

Two distinct sides of my family are racist bigoted losers. I can't go anywhere near them.

[greenbriar]

7. but I love them desperately

Christmas they will be at my house as we always do


"we have the most money and the biggest house"


I will just tell them I don't appreciate that kind of talk as they are talking about 90% of my students

[Hekate]

10. Sometimes you just have to declare a "no politics zone" in these situations

You are doing your best -- keeping family peace is a value, too.

Hekate

[yardwork]

12. Good for you! Show them love by example and insist that they speak kindly of others.

I think that a lot of people don't really believe some of the ugly things they say. They just say them because "everyone else" around them talks that way. Insisting on a higher level of consciousness and behavior sometimes works.

The family members I referenced above live a long way away and we have never been close.

[Basileus Basileon]

6. Congrats on not fighting it. You can't win there; it will just make everyone upset.

Sucks to find out the people you like have beliefs you hate.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

9. One person in my family is a big-time racist

His mother didn't raise him to be a racist. She raised him Christian but not right wing. He met some friends in college who were Republican and the rest is history. The fact that he took to Republicanism so easily despite his upbringing to the contrary leads me to think that some people are just born shallow. He's into war, football, being unpolitically correct for fun, ridiculing the homeless and blaming them for their plight, the death penalty, getting rich, and thinking of himself as a Christian. That's pretty much the totality of his life. If ever a profound thought entered his brain, it'd be because it fell in there by accident and he'd quickly remove the offending thought and move on to some more shallow topics.

[kestrel91316]

13. Sounds like my ex-BF got to be over time. But he didn't even have

the Christian thing going.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

14. Do you have a theory?

Did you ever discuss with him what was happening to him? Was he maybe unwilling to talk about it?

[kestrel91316]

15. Personally I think he watched way too much Faux Snooze and listened

to Rush Limpballs. It rotted his brain.

He actually thought the Repukes were trying to pass laws and enact policies that would benefit him, a megacorporation office cube rat with middle class wages. He couldn't see how everything they did was for the enrichment of the ALREADY filthy rich at the expense of people like him. I did what I could to be a good example of what liberalism is about but he chose to put blinders on.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

33. You know, I think it's like football, where the fans of a team somehow think....

... that when their team offers mega-zillions of dollars for a great player to play with the team, it somehow benefits *them*. ;-)

[Clark2008]

16. I like football and I'm liberal enough to consider voting for Kucinich.

Liking football isn't a rightwing trait.

[ljm2002]

29. Amazing, isn't it...

...some of these folks ought to go and re-read the New Testament, particularly Matthew, and the words that Jesus had for the Pharisees. Most of the loudly self-proclaimed Christians in our culture today fit right into the very mold that Jesus railed against.

If only I were a believer, I'd believe they will get their just deserts. Well I do believe in karma, but it doesn't always work out in this lifetime. But I still find comfort in one method: I simply ask myself, "Would you want to BE that person?" Invariably the answer is "Not only no, but HELL NO!". Then I feel better. :-)

[Bright Eyes]

18. My Mom is sadly.

Watches Faux News all day long, and has said some pretty nasty things about Muslims.

I try my best not to get into arguments about it because, well, i love her.

[onelittleindian]

23. Bright eyes racist mother

Bright eyes, Muslim is religion not race. Here again some people mix all things into racism that isn't. In this case religious predjudice and bigotry are called racism. This takes away from the real cases of racism and weakens the fight.

[marmar]

24. But to the hateful idiots, "Muslim" is a race and a religion.....

... they hear Muslim and get a very vivid image of what such a person looks like. Race or religion, it's the same hateful energy.

[onelittleindian]

25. muslim

Greenbriar's post claimed muslims as a race, not her family! You use the term (they) to bash the hateful idiots when it was Greenbriar.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

30. I think we can assume they're talking about arab muslims.

Arab would be a race, and hatred of them racism.

Hence the term "sand niggers."

[LeftHander]

19. Tell them....why you left...and that you care not to be around it...

If they really think the attitudes they hold are worth losing you as a member of the family then they are not worth wasting any more time on.

[DangerDave921]

28. not worth wasting time on?

Come on, we're talking about family. I would ask the counter question -- is politics really worth ending a family relationship over? I like politics, debate, social issues, etc. But family is forever. There can be so much common ground with another person totally independent of one's political views. My family has hard-core socialists and Rush-lovers. Sometimes we have heated discussions and sometimes we laugh at each other's foibles. And sometimes we put politics aside and talk about kids, work, movies, books, hobbies, family, etc. And we have a lot of common ground too - we're good parents, we work hard at our jobs, we laugh together. To me, politics is an interest of mine, but it doesn't rule my life and dictate who I want to be around.

I find it sad that someone might throw away a family relationship based on political disagreement.

[YvonneCa]

20. I am sorry...

...for what you and your family are going through. The Bush/Iraq era is dividing families like VietNam did in the sixties. Even though you didn't ask, here are my suggestions:

1. Understand that Fox has purposefully distorted and mislead its audience...and sometimes the audience includes people we love. It is not all their fault.

2. 'Fighting' the issues doesn't work...family comes first.

3. Standing up and teaching about the issues...slowly, over a long period of time...can make a difference (not overnight and not for ALL family members). If they are open to reading, give them articles, books, etc. (And be prepared to reciprocate.) :)

Good luck !!!

[EFerrari]

21. My father is and once I let him know my own position,

we just do not go there because he knows I will speak up and he really doesn't want that fight. Neither do I.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[NashVegas]

26. Ah, The Holidays

It's understandable that you didn't want to challenge anyone at this time. At some point though, you really ought to let them know you feel differently.

[deaniac21]

27. I hate it when people have a different point of view than mine.

I don't know how you got through it!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

31. Do you hate racists?

:shrug:

[Lex]

32. So racism is merely a "different point of view?"

Interesting.