"Stinger" wrote in message
.. .

Conservatives tend to stand on the principle that ALL racism is equally
disgusting.

I fully agree with you. You will get no argument from me. However (playing
devil's advocate for a minute) should we think the playing field has been
leveled enough on this issue on the highest levels, where the monied and
privileged policy-makers play, to state unequivocally that we need to
believe that racial minorities in this nation now have NO basis whatsoever
to suspect that racism plays into any of the decisions that our leaders
make? It's not just a matter of racism being illegal as a factor in hiring,
college admissions, housing, or lending. We all know that it is technically
illegal to discriminate on the basis of race on any of these factors. Does
that fact keep such discrimination from occuring? Ha... I could go on and on
about the abuses I've *personally* witnessed here, but that is beside the
point.

It's been only, oh, how many years since the lunch counters at your local
department stores were officially desegregated? That was before my time.
Now, officially-condoned (i.e., governmentally-approved) racism is a thing
of the past, yet personal racism is another entirely. And it's *that*
element of racism that has yet to be eliminated from our populace.

I am most concerned that personal, hidden racism may still guide the beliefs
and actions of many of us, including those who seek power.

I am fully of the belief that people should be judged by the content of
their character, and not by their race, religion, color or cultural/ethnic
background. If that's a conservative belief, great. If it's a liberal one,
great. If both parties specifically claim that tenet as their own, I don't
care. I don't subscribe to any of my personal beliefs just because some
political party may endorse them. Some of my beliefs are quite conservative,
and some might be considered liberal. I think about each issue before I
decide how I'm going to vote.

Until non-racist beliefs are personally and universally held by the most
powerful and influential in our nation, we need to be careful. Not
accusatory or paranoid, but... careful. Think, research, watch and read
about your potential representatives before you vote for those who will have
control over you and your neighbors. We have that right as citizens of the
United States (for those reading this thread who're living here, of course).

Back to shortwave. So, who's the DX? (hehe)

Jackie