I did NOT "defend the Klan"

[patrice]

54. I live in a state in which the Eisenhower Republicans are horrified by our Teapublican governor,

SUBSIDY-Sam Brownback. There IS such a thing as guilt-by-association and it IS an affront to the dignity of the honest and, hence, *loyal* opposition. I wish ALL of them were Socialist Liberal Democrats like me, but there's nothing I can do to MAKE them that way. They must choose.

Personally, I think there is good reason to try to separate authentic racism, especially amongst lower-economic classes, from "racism" that is more the result of things such as economic-disadvantage and ignorance. Why have more enemies than absolutely necessary? My family and teaching high school in Oklahoma made me aware of this. Authentic racism CANNOT be changed, so we need very very much to be sure that we know who is and who isn't authentically racist (compared to who is mistakenly "racist" more as a result of impermanent situational elements). Real racists will always hide amongst any convenient others and infect them. THAT is not acceptable, but we can't do anything about it if we treat everyone the same, i.e. according to the lowest common denominator. The people need to be strong and they can't get there if we don't go to them and be with them where they actually are, rather than where we assume they are and then punish them for not being what WE say they should be. They NEED choices and then they MUST choose and, dysfunctional or not, live with the consequences of their choosing, because that's their only opportunity to learn and hence their best chance to change themselves. To elicit this we need awareness, not just another form of prejudice.