General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Ed Schultz EXPOSES Cause Of Racism In The South [View all]TroglodyteScholar
(5,477 posts)...but I think it's more about having someone to blame for all the shitty things in your own life.
You're miserable in your low paying job? There's probably some way to blame minorities for wage stagnation. You think taxes are too high? Of course, all those colored urban-dwellers are responsible for that. Scared of violent crime? It's a well-documented fact that black and brown people are the only ones capable of harming another human senselessly or otherwise.
This is the mindset I observed during my first 28 years in the south. Not that minorities are simply to be hated (although there is some of that)...but much more frequently these people feel like, in one way or another, they've been victimized by minorities. And yes, churches will find ways to blame "the other" for whatever form or moral decline they perceive around them. White people who take this bait, obviously, will give also other white people infinite benefit of the doubt in situations of conflict with minorities. It is supremely ignorant and contemptible, but I don't think it's generally driven by hatred...just fear and mediocrity.