This only works if Obama was the first president
Uhh,,, modern openly racist? Maybe? lol
If Biden's attempting to reference Coates's "First White President" then I don't think he messed up, I think he's bending to try to reference it without explicitly calling out white America. Because white America would rake him over the coals for it, and it'd risk whatever gains he's been trying to make with moderate Repubs over the last couple months.
Because white moderate America's just that fucking dumb.
Obviously a dumb statement... That being said if you're more riled up by this than what Trump is doing with his unidentified troops in our cities, examine yourself.
^^^^^I'm still voting for the guy, but fuck him and everyone that put us in the position where those are our only two options.
Sorry Joe, but no. If you wanted to say the first openly white supremacist president, sure.
No one is stopping you from making criticism you want to make.I'm so tired of this line of thinking. "If you think x is bad, then y is much worse." You're trying to shutout any legitimate criticism of a person. Quit it, man. This has been repeated by so many on Era.
I'm so tired of this line of thinking. "If you think x is bad, then y is much worse." You're trying to shutout any legitimate criticism of a person. Quit it, man. This has been repeated by so many on Era.
I was gonna say Richard Nixon given the tapes of him.Setting aside that every president has probably put forward what could be argued as at least one racist policy, if you're having trouble thinking of one that was an overt racist, look no further than Woodrow Wilson. Fought hard for segregation and was a vocal defender of the KKK. He screened Birth of a Nation at the White house.
Y'all in here trying to wiggle in the "openly racist" caveat, like... bless your hearts, I get where the naïveté comes from, but man, what a dire state historical education is in...
That's probably the most generous way I could see it being intended. I'm sure we'll get a clarification.
The problem is that this argument isn't productive at the current time because of how national elections work. It sows division, equivocates flaws in both candidates instead of contrasting the greater good, and ultimately leads to depressed enthusiasm. In an election system where ranked choice voting is the norm, that would all be fine – encouraged, even. But we have a system in which criticism has to come at a time after in which the greater evil is cast away, at least for a short amount of time.I'm so tired of this line of thinking. "If you think x is bad, then y is much worse." You're trying to shutout any legitimate criticism of a person. Quit it, man. This has been repeated by so many on Era.
Even LBJ with his domestic progress was pretty fucking racist in public.
You're literally saying we shouldn't criticize him at all even if the goal is to make him a better candidate. Wild.The problem is that this argument isn't productive at the current time because of how national elections work. It sows division, equivocates flaws in both candidates instead of contrasting the greater good, and ultimately leads to depressed enthusiasm. In an election system where ranked choice voting is the norm, that would all be fine – encouraged, even. But we have a system in which criticism has to come at a time after in which the greater evil is cast away, at least for a short amount of time.
Fix the election system. Then we can pile on people like Biden for making stupid comments that help no one.
For years I have been misreading what Wilson said about Birth of a Nation. For some reason I'd always thought he'd lamented the film's impact, and it was only relatively recently that I'd re-read the quote and realized how fucking wrong I'd gotten it, lol. I don't even know how I'd ever read it any other way, looking back.Setting aside that every president has probably put forward what could be argued as at least one racist policy, if you're having trouble thinking of one that was an overt racist, look no further than Woodrow Wilson. Fought hard for segregation and was a vocal defender of the KKK. He screened Birth of a Nation at the White house.
I don't believe I said that at all. I'm arguing that trying to attempt to make equivalencies between a statement like this and the actively destructive political force in power right now is potentially damaging. Call him out for it, yes. Throwing your hands up and saying "welp, guess we'll die," because of your discontent isn't productive.You're literally saying we shouldn't criticize him at all even if the goal is to make him a better candidate. Wild.