'I Don't Have a Racist Bone in My Body'

[bluewater]

Many political figures have made this statement.

Joe Biden is just the most recent to say it:
"There’s not a racist bone in my body. I’ve been involved in civil rights my whole career, period, period, period.”

I bet every public figure that has said "there's not a racist bone in my body believes it too. If you hooked them up to a lie detector they would probably pass as telling the truth.

And they would all be wrong.

Systemic Racism is real. It has not gone away. White politicians that say they don't have a racist bone in their body are wrong because systemic racism has so permeated our society that virtually no non-minority person can truly make that claim.

Especially these politicians. Systemic Racism is real and they are part of the system.

Many people are unaware of to what degree they have been affected by society's systemic racism.

Only the most extreme people openly declare their racism. Everyone else feels that they are not racists. Not racist at all? No, of course not, they are just unaware to what degree and how deeply they have been affected by systemic racism.

Reading the comments below bears this out.

[John Fante]

1. So baaically you're saying that white men are racist by default.

That's what you're going with? This board.

[Demit]

8. I wouldn't go as far as to say that. But it's such a sweeping claim to make.

Lke when (white) people say "I don't see color." It's such an unnecessary exaggeration. You can show your unbigoted bona fides without making such a high-flying declaration.

[emmaverybo]

31. "As a white person, I am inherently racist," he should have admitted. "But I rely upon Corey

Last edited Mon Jun 24, 2019, 10:19 AM - Edit history (1)

to expose my racism whenever he can.”

Further, Biden should have acknowledged that “although I meant that Eastland called us younger WHITE senators ‘boy’ or ‘son,’ context doesn’t matter. “

He should have vowed that if elected president, he would change John-boy’s name to plain John.

“No joking,” he should have added.

SARCASM

[customerserviceguy]

42. If he would have made that statement

he could kiss his candidacy goodbye. You don't win elections by calling your potential voters racist. Or deplorables, for that matter.

[emmaverybo]

47. I should have added the sarcasm emoji. Didn't have it and thought it obvious that NO

candidate can possibly respond well to allegations that refuse context, change a word not meant as racist into a racist word in any context, and demand that a candidate fight intentionally divisive battles without digging a bigger hole while they sit like vultures waiting to pounce on the next
verbal misstep.

The very point I was making is that to satisfy these kinds of charged complaints is impossible.

Biden explained his reference to Eastland’s use of “boy” to address WHITE, younger, less experienced senators, and Booker has doubled down.

[customerserviceguy]

67. I, too

have failed to use the sarcasm thingy myself. I now understand your point.

[Voltaire2]

9. Implicit racial bias tests basically

demonstrate that pretty much everyone has racist biases.

So perhaps instead of proclaiming oneself 100% racism free, our candidates should instead acknowledge that we all harbor prejudices, and discuss how we can work together to mitigate the systemic effects of those biases.

[emulatorloo]

17. I think DU should stop trying to destroy our candidates by making false claims about them.

Biden’s not a ‘racist.’ Warren is not a ‘corporatist tool of the establishment,’ Both claims are bullshit.

All of our candidates are going to be lied about by the MSM and the twitterverse.. Even your candidate, whoever it turns out to be.

I am not at all interested in amplifying that garbage.

Policy discussion is a good thing. Baseless character smears on twitter is a terrible thing.

My goal is to lift up our candidates and push back on the attempted character assasination of these good women and men.

[emmaverybo]

36. Recently, a poster smeared Buttigieg in a "not ready for prime time" post, analyzing his handling

of the black protest in South Bend.

The poster relayed what he thought he heard on MSNBC, and then added biased commentary.
His post was, unintentionally, completely debunked by another post running a story from the news,
which included praise for Buttigieg.

I am not a Buttigieg primaries supporter but I registered my outrage.

The poster more easily supported his negative interpretation with a change in tense of Buttigieg’s response to a black woman who said he would not get her vote. I don’t want to start linguistic parsing wars by getting more specific.

At DU, we must fight back against obvious “ hit posts.” They, like racism, are easy to spot.

[emulatorloo]

37. Thank you for what you did. We have to lift up these good women and men

[True Blue American]

52. Thank you!

[emmaverybo]

48. "I admit I harbor prejudices" would make a great headline for political rivals and media sharks,

sniffing the waters for blood, to feast on for the next year and a half.

If Biden seems politically to shoot himself in the foot, to you, I can only say he would be putting a gun to his head with your suggestion.

[Thekaspervote]

2. John Lewis is saying he knows a racist when he sees one and Biden is not... well

[ariadne0614]

18. Everything is relative.

An enlightened shrink shared this truth with me when I was struggling to dismiss my “insignificant” problems in contrast to people starving in Africa.

Copping to racism is hard for us bleeding heart liberals. Nevertheless, it’s a cop out to insist we are innocent. I was born in Wisconsin in 1948. Racist conditioning was baked in the cake of my cultural conditioning. It’s a high alert toxin I monitor every day.

Biden’s defensiveness is both understandable and unacceptable in a presidential candidate.

[emmaverybo]

39. I would also think, with Biden working by his side, often hours a day, Obama would

have noticed Biden’s racist shadow side or at least that he was “tone deaf” politically and racially
insensitive.

If he did, it is amazing he handed off so much responsibility to Biden and didn’t just keep him busy
attending funerals.

He handed gun control, Iraq, reviving VAWA, and many legislative negotiations to Biden.

Eight years he relied upon and trusted Biden. They are friends to this day.

John Lewis, James Corbyn...

But we can expect more racism detection to come.

Biden leads the field in black voter support.

Where else to undermine Biden. This vote, which is not monolithic, it should be mentioned, is essential to winning the election, so anti-Biden’s must go after his black voter favorables to make the case, that, contrary to what polls show and Biden supporters think, Biden is not electable.

It might work.

Unfortunately, a great voice for Democrats and Biden’s value as a campaigner for whomever will be the nominee will emerge seriously wounded.

[NYMinute]

3. How does "systemic racism" apply to a single individual who is not racist? nt

[Voltaire2]

69. Implicit bias tests demonstrate individual

racist biases.

Just about everyone has them.

[emulatorloo]

4. You should write something positive about Senator Warren. Tearing down other candidates

by claiming they are ‘racists’ when they aren’t isn’t a winning strategy. Its not morally right either.

Someone cited John Lewis above. I take his word over yours.

Maybe you should consider self-deleting your post as well.

Thanks in advance!

[blm]

13. Warren and her camp would never smear Biden like this.

This post is suspiciously overthetop, IMO.

[emulatorloo]

14. Agreed.

[HerbChestnut]

15. This is an internet forum.

The likelihood of someone working for a political campaign and posting here is pretty small. What is much more likely is someone who's voting for the same candidate as you is not the same type of person you are. It happens, that's just human nature.

[emulatorloo]

19. BLM is drawing a distinction between OP's 'argument' and the Warren campaigns views

I don’t think anyone here has suggested OP is working for a political campaign. Just that their views don’t represent Warren.

[HerbChestnut]

23. Well, they did specifically mention "this post" as being suspicious.

So maybe I just interpreted that part differently.

[blm]

35. Been here for every primary since DU was born.

You are both right. I know Warren’s camp wouldn’t put this vibe out there, and I am suspicious when someone takes it upon themself to make such a dramatic OP targeting Biden right after posting a series of proWarren articles. I’ve witnessed set ups in the past. This may NOT be, but, it has happened a number of times before.

PS: DU has had and does have quite a few members engaged in political campaigns. Most are careful to NOT post overthetop attacks against each other during the primaries.

[Lochloosa]

5. So, by your statement, Warren is a racist?

[blm]

33. Exactly. Not passing smell test.

[Lochloosa]

54. Broad nets tend to catch lots of fly's

[unblock]

6. There's a difference between being a racist and

being part of a systemically racist system.

Your point is valid, it's impossible to be in American culture for long without having the divisions and contrived distinctions between "black" and "white" etched into your brain. And it's incumbent on us white people to come to terms with that and to reject it and correct for it to the extent possible.

The statement "I don't have a racist bone in my body" is not meant to deny that our culture is racist, or that white oriole benefit from that even if they do nothing knowingly to further it.

It's just meant to deny being a racist, emphatically.

[emmaverybo]

40. Wise response.

[democratisphere]

7. Obvious Disrupter.

Ain't biting.

[blm]

10. Systemic racism IS real, but, targeting Biden as a racist here is wrongheaded

and should NOT be promoted in a primaries forum under Elizabeth Warren’s banner.

Sorry, but, your post is suspiciously over-divisive for this forum.

[AlexSFCA]

11. he used a trump's quote and that's disturbing

[Indygram]

12. Biden's gaffes have become a major distraction from issues that actually matter

And his inability or unwillingness to promptly fix them keeps them alive for days on end. That's a great recipe to get Trump re-elected. I really wish he had not decided to run. The press is spending more time talking about his missteps than kids being treated like dogs in puppy mills or worse, Trump is accused of rape by a writer, Trump is trying to start a war with Iran and no one is discussing it because of the seemingly endless gaffes. We can do better and we better or else we are going to lose.

[emulatorloo]

16. All our candidates will make mistakes. DU and twitter may wanna blow this out of proportion

but voters aren’t distracted by this. They care about policies, not “gotcha moments”

Trust me, Beto will make a mistake and you’ll read all kinds of things on Twitter that say he’s not fit to be President.

Will you be on board with that? And amplify the bullshit articles we will read in the press about how “bad”?

Or will you recognize that it is bullshit and not important when it comes done to saving our country?

I think you will do the later.

As I said to OP, tearing down Biden as a “racist” when he isn’t won’t help Beto win.

Beto is on my short list, please don’t associate him with “taking out Biden”

[Indygram]

20. If Beto were making repeated gaffes and then handled them this way

I would not be supporting him.

Beto has been getting attacked on twitter (and in some cases even here) since before he even got into the race.

I'm not trying to "take out" anyone. I'm frustrated because there are BABIES lying on cold concrete wrapped in freaking TINFOIL, sick, spoiled food around them, filthy, disgusting conditions with no soap, in THIS country! And because a candidate will not just ADMIT they made a freaking mistake and say sorry people are arguing about that instead of rallying to defend ABUSED BABIES! I'm pissed. But hey, let's make another 10-15 threads making excuses and bickering while babies die.

/rant off

[emulatorloo]

21. Agreed we should be talking about the egregious things Trump is doing.

So let’s stop rewarding the MSM for playing “gotcha games” with Democratic candidates while Trump destroys our country.

[marylandblue]

26. As a society we can't help being easily distracted.

We need a candidate who can through the distractions a d avoid making new ones.

[Indygram]

28. So you are advocating that we not hold Democratic politicians accountable when the mess up?

Do we REALLY want to go down that road? That is what Republicans do. That's how things continue to get worse and worse...because no one speaks up. We need to be better than that.

The problem is not that Biden messes up with gaffes that is an issue...it's how he deals with them AFTER the fact. He doesn't deal with them well. He is becoming defensive and does NOT listen when people try to help him navigate his way out of the gaffes. That's a real problem.

Unless he starts listening and stops being defensive this will just happen over and over again every week with something new. He's got to get it together because he IS becoming a distraction from things that are important.

[emulatorloo]

30. No, I am advocating not getting caught up in manufactured distractions like 'gaffes'

Last edited Sun Jun 23, 2019, 04:52 PM - Edit history (1)

and instead let’s focus on policy, and on defending all of our candidates from character assasination.

All of our candidates are human. They will make mistakes. I’ll argue that there is one of our candidates who is even more “gaffe prone” than Joe.

While they make mistakes, All of them are good men and women.

We have a monster in the White House. He’s clearly the actual racist here.

The stakes are too high to play gotcha games with good Democrats and pretend they are racists when they aren’t.

Agreed that Biden needs to be a better candidate. But I will never believe that we should do the dirty work for the GOP against any of our candidates by promoting false smears.

[Indygram]

45. Why is he unable to acknowledge that in hindsight it was not a good choice of words and

say that he's sorry that anyone found his words hurtful?

If he could just do that when he screws up it would not turn into what these gaffes keep becoming.

[Demit]

58. Al Sharpton tried, in his one-on-one at the SC Democratic Convention.

He tried to get Biden to understand, even with an example of the time Mrs King admonished himself (Sharpton) by saying you can't say things that hurt people. Sharpton said to Biden "It hurts when you talk about 'boy'. It means something different to us." Biden said he fully understands but that that's not what he said. (Except, of course, it was.) His tone the entire time was unpleasantly insistent. Then he went into the gish gallop thing he does, listing all his accomplishments. The clip is on Sharpton's twitter account, also a discussion of it later with a panel of people where Sharpton was visibly exasperated, saying I tried to give him every opportunity!

Biden could've nipped all this in the bud with a rueful acknowledgment that he spoke clumsily. It even could have been endearing. Instead he reacts defensively, repeating that his intentions are good. He can't seem to see that what he intends isn't always what comes out of his mouth. It's not a strength, and it is sure to happen again.

[emmaverybo]

41. You said it. In a nutshell. So important to remind ourselves.

[marylandblue]

22. Voters got distracted in 2016 to elect Trump.

Like it or not, these things do affect voters. Maybe not right away, but eventually they end up lost in a fog of minutiae, sort.of like we are right now.

[emulatorloo]

24. Our Voters are focused on Trump now though. They've see who he is and the way he's

destroying the country. Not in the mood for “gotcha games” against good Democrats or seeing any of them being “Hillaried” by the MSM.

Times are too serious for that “luxury”

that’s what I hear from people I talk to. Anecdotal I know. But I do think voters don’t want to play around w nonsense when the stakes are so high.

[marylandblue]

27. They may see that now, but Trump will do everything possible to make them unsee it

by Election Day. I'm not convinced he won't succeed.

[emulatorloo]

32. I'm not giving up

I’m sure you won’t either!

[marylandblue]

66. That's right, no giving up!👍

[lapfog_1]

29. by the "logic" in your post

why are you supporting a racist?

White women are somehow exempt from Systemic Racism?

[quickesst]

34. I'd say the only thing this OP proves....

.... as to the purpose for which it is intended is there is not a lot left at the bottom of the barrel to be scraped off and thrown at Biden.

[Scurrilous]

46. LOL

[quickesst]

50. Heh

[LakeArenal]

38. Once again parse every word to its literal definition.

As for racist bones in my body????
Neither do I.

[stonecutter357]

43. how are you Reading the comments below bears this out. without editing your POST/OP :?

[stonecutter357]

44. let's go Joe !

[Iggo]

49. I'm the product of a racist society.

I'm whatever you call that.

[Drunken Irishman]

51. I'm interested to know what your take is on the Warren Native American flap...

Do you think the attacks, and criticism, were valid?

I ask because I doubt you do. I doubt you thought she was fairly treated. And yet, there's no question Warren handled it about as badly as someone could - and there's no doubt Warren appropriated a race that wasn't her's to appropriate - even identifying it in her career. If you're going to attack Biden, or insinuate some hard truths about the situation, then you better be willing to do the same for your candidate.

It's funny how easy we forget this.

[redstateblues]

62. You can bet the Republicans haven't

[Loki Liesmith]

53. Bullshit

Speak for your own racism. I really don’t give a good goddamn about what you think about another person’s heart.

[stonecutter357]

55. How did you Read the comments below when there were no comments to read ?

[Skittles]

56. ANYONE can be racist

yes I understand the power play but ANYONE CAN BE RACIST

[Indygram]

57. I do think sometimes people assume that racism and racial insensitivity are the same thing

And they aren't. There are many times that people who are not racists say or do things that are racially insensitive without even realizing they are doing it. It really sucks if you aren't a racist but do or say something you didn't even realize would offend someone and then get attacked. I think that is part of why Biden is not handling this well at all. More than this gaffe, I see his defensiveness and refusal to listen to others as a far bigger problem.

[Skittles]

59. Biden has a penchant for saying things that have to be "explained"

always has, always will

[WheelWalker]

60. What anyone can be does not determine what a person was, is or will be.

[Skittles]

61. I was referring to a statement within the OP

not the candidate whose responses constantly need explaining

[WheelWalker]

63. I understood that. I wasn't intending criticism.

I hope you understood that. If I sounded like I have no idea what I'm talking about... well, that is sometimes true no doubt. More so with each passing birthday.

[Skittles]

64. heh, I hear you

[loyalsister]

65. "I am a racist"

White Fragility is the term Robin DiAngelo uses to describe the tendencies of white people to often interpret discussions on racism as a personal criticism when it is never about us- not even when it is about our behaviors and words.

“Today we have a cultural norm that insists we hide our racism from people of color and deny it among ourselves.” She stresses the “non-binary” nature of racism. Some racist acts are truly evil, but if we acknowledge racism as a system into which we’ve been socialized, it is easier to accept feedback and adjust our behavior rather than react to criticism with anger and denial. So, it sort of allows white people to acknowledge and correct implicit racist behavior as a mistake rather than an immoral act.

https://washcodems.org/2019/02/15/hard-conversations-i-am-a-racist/

[Buzz cook]

68. Many of my best friends don't have a bone in their body.

This is weak tea. Joe is a gaff machine, That's one of the reasons he hasn't engaged with other candidates as much as his rivals have.
The odds of Joe misspeaking reach 100% the more off script comments he makes.

But that shouldn't be held against him.

Biden has a record several decades long. If you want to go after Biden, try for substance.

[Voltaire2]

70. The gaffination will play into the need

For the trump campaign to make the ge a circus.

[brooklynite]

71. Link?

[LanternWaste]

72. I imagine you'll allege you're not racist?

Reading your comments above bears this out.

[cwydro]

73. Wasn't it Biden who said Obama was "clean, good looking and articulate."

As opposed to other black men was implied.

[oasis]

74. Joe Biden's word is good enough for me. Your "two cents" noted.

[Amimnoch]

75. "Everyone is racist. The Question is, what are you going to do about it?"

This was a quote from a Designing Women episode in the 1980's. In 1994, my husband and I were watching this syndicated rerun episode called "There's some black people coming to dinner". For some context here, I'm in a gay interracial marriage (was a very young and new relationship at the time we watched this episode, but I digress). The father of the son, near the end of the episode uttered the subject quote. This utterance caused one of the first heated debates/arguments between myself and my husband. To that point in my life, I fully and completely believed that I was not a racist.. at all.. period.. end of story. I was raised by 1960's hippies, and absolutely did not "have a racist bone in my body." There was no way that line could be accurately applied to me. I was wrong.

You see, it is not possible to exist in this society and not be racist. As a litmus test: Say you are interviewing people for a job. You have 2 prime candidates. One is a white male. One is a dark skinned male. The white male has a marginally better education background, and/or work experience. Whom do you hire?

The "colorblind" person will hire the first candidate, since they are basing their decision purely on education and experience. This completely ignores the systemic and systematic racism challenges that the 2nd candidate may have come to the table with. It ignores all the statistics and data out there on the additional challenges women and minorities face in education, and employment opportunities, and propagates the continuance of said stats and trends.

Even if you are a person who will take all of that information, and decide to hire candidate #2 based on the more complete and enlightened use of information, you are still knowingly and willingly deciding to hire a less qualified/educated candidate based on the race and background of the candidate. That is still racism, even if it is a more socially aware and enlightened version of it.

And this hypothetical is just one of MANY.. Who does/doesn't get invited to our children's birthday parties, social gatherings, PTA meetings, or whom we are looking at and weighing evidence present on in a court room.

Some of the other comments to your thoughtful post are.. illuminating.. as well.

[Blue_Tires]

76. Sounds like something Belichick or Phil Neville would say...

[IronLionZion]

77. Biden can enjoy the benefits of white privilege without being racist

Our black politicians would not have been able to have the working relationships with segregationists that Biden had.

Trump enjoys the benefits of white privilege and openly panders to racist voters.

And why stuff from the civil rights era is relevant now is that America has gotten more diverse so the GOP in many southern states have implemented systemic voter suppression to stop nonwhites from voting. In many southern states, a Democratic presidential candidate would need more black voters than white and shouldn't take anyone for granted.

[bigbrother05]

78. As a (mostly) White guy of 65+ years, I can hear the echos of my youth

The difference is that I don't repeat those terms. Growing up in a different time means remembering how things were and refusing to perpetuate them in the now.

The casual sexism/racism of the past was usually followed by "why are you so sensitive?" or "can't you take a joke?"

Wanting our leading candidate to be better than the other side doesn't mean I want Joe (or any candidate) to fail.

Everyone of them is going to drop a clinker or two, how they handle it is the telling factor.