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Something about politics and race

By gregladen on March 12, 2012.

I usually write about race and racism here, but about humanist and atheist stuff at The X Blog. So, I thought I'd point you to this: White Atheism and the Billboard Problem

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This is not too surprising: Cincinnati fanatics and kooks were so threatened by a billboard that said, "Don't believe in god?

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Thank you to all the bloggers and others who jumped immediately on the Heartland Institute for putting up horribly offensive billboards equating scientists with the scientist/mathematician killing terrorist Unibomber.

NOOOOOOO!

There's another billboard in Minnesota, asking if we're missing a recent American president.

What I notice is that non white commentators are very rarely used on TV except to comment on issues relating to race. How many Asian sports commentators are there? Indian Americans?

I agree with what Daniel Fincke writes here :

http://freethoughtblogs.com/camelswithhammers/2012/03/12/you-glance-out…

..now, non-African American readers, letâs engage in just a bit of empathy. Imagine you are a black American. Zooming down the highway barely processing what you are seeing, you briefly glimpse a Bible verse justifying slavery paired with a symbol of your ancestorsâ systematic brutalization, dehumanization, and oppression. Your panicked thought as you are jolted and suddenly think some racist fringe group is putting up billboards promoting slavery is that you are being threatened and targeted, and that the racism you endure personally and see growing on the national stage is escalating. Your thought is probably something like, Holy Shit! The racist backlash to Obamaâs presidency and to illegal immigration and the racism I encounter on a regular basis in my town and the local racism all over the local news is now culminating in billboards advocating a return to slavery!

And then it turns out that it was just that the American Atheistsâthose predominantly white, know-it-all obnoxious people bashing the religion which probably forms a significant part of your identity â were just taking Bible verses âout of contextâ to try to change your whole worldview. That terrorizing scare they carelessly gave you by âironicallyâ threatening you with an appeal to the Bible and a depiction of your enslavement was just an attempt to get you to change your hermeneutics!

That kinda says it all.

(Italics original, any botching up of things mine.)

I freely admit it is hard to imagine oneself as black skinned and, no doubt, I cannot fully do so accurately.