Do you believe President Obama will transform the view of many racists?

I do!

Not all - some ignorant fools are so locked into their hate or fear that they will refuse to let go of it.

Yet having a man of color as president is a game changer unknown before in our country's history. But far more than the color of his skin, is the heart of the man himself. Over time --- and it may take much of the first 4 years for some --- people with racist views will not see their stereotypes and fears fed, on the contrary, they will hear a principled, ethical, and balanced man with a genius for building consensus.

Barack Obama will not govern the way Shrub did - from the bully pulpit. Obama will invite and challenge us all to work together to build a better and more inclusive America. And yesterday I asked a McBush supporter with racist tendencies if he was at least open to listening to the man. That's all - just listen.

He said yes. Game changed. :think:

ass off now. it's really therapeutic.

a progressive in the WH I thought Obama's best chance was being a centrist. I think the Red half of the country can only take so much change at a time. *sigh*

Of course, I'm in the thick red band that defines the South. What do I know.

When the sky doesn't fall, when time passes and he hasn't turned Washington into Moscow ( :eyes: ), when the entire budget hasn't been transferred to those on welfare ( :eyes: seriously, some of these people are critically and chronically stupid), then they'll relax and enjoy the BENEFITS of a Democratic president and congress.

"I'm not a racist, but..." types of racists, sure, Obama can probably change things. But I doubt this will do much for the KKK and Aryan Brotherhood types.

i have a hard time enough convincing people he's not muslim and asking them what the problem would be if he was. they find every little reason to justify their racism

I'm going to say around 29% of the population will never change. We can only hope they do not pass things on to their kids.

ass off now. it's really therapeutic.

That minorities and women have generally had to not only meet the bar set before them like everyone else, but usually exceed it in order to break the stereotype and move beyond the racist/sexist view that they only got their position because of some fabled "free pass."

I'm sure some may change their act, but I'd say that most will always have that poison in them.

Of course it will not completely eliminate racism or completely undo deeply entrenched ways of thinking.

In many, probably most third world countries, be they in Asia, Latin America or the Middle East - there are deeply entrenched beliefs that white skin is superior and dark skin is inferior. There is a deeply entrenched assumption that white skin represents educated and upper class and dark skin represents uneducated and lower class.

If one takes for example the Philippines, this attitude is held by almost everyone including the dark skin Filipinos who comprise at least 80% of the country. Suddenly the democratically elected leader of the most powerful empire in the history of the world is a black person. I have asked a number of Filipinos if this will effect this almost universally held way of thinking in Filipino society. They all agree that it will. Not that it will totally eliminate this deeply entrenched way of thinking; of course not. But it will effect it and will change or at the very least modify these attitudes.

There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the effect of this election on racist assumptions is revolutionary across the entire globe.

You can't fix stupid.

Stupid is as stupid does. Any Sarah Palin supporters, I hold out NO HOPE that they will EVER love black folks......especially if they are of the man gender of the human species. Those folks think with something below the belt, not with something above the ears.

internal logic to justify their irrational hate and stupid ideas - just as there are people now who are turning mental cartwheels to justify their support of Palin ant her brand of politics.

There are many people who will go to any lengths to hate - they WILL pass this on through their children as if it were genetic.
I have seen it happen, and it is scarey and very sad.

mark

For many people racism is just a form of ignorance. Depending upon where they live, there are a lot of white people who don't have much opportunity to actually know any people of color. I think that candidate Obama's exposure around the country as an obviously intelligent and qualified African American has very likely had an impact on people who have stereotypical views picked up from who-knows-where.

it's a fact