(no subject)

[scarfman]

"If homosexuality being inborn is what makes it acceptable, why does racism being inborn not make racism acceptable? I’m sorry — I mean, this is the way my mind works. But apparently now we don’t choose racism, we just are racists. We are born that way. We don’t choose it. So shouldn’t it be acceptable, excuse — this is according to the way the left thinks about things."

Rush Limbaugh.

Comments

[kiri-l.livejournal.com]

Racism is taught..

Why didn't someone drown or strangle him at birth. Opining he has a mind.. or can think is just.. just.. offensive.

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Apparently he hasn't been exposed to enough musical theater:

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

[kaffy_r]

Ah, I see he's either a) not clear on the concept of the false analogy or b) a disingenuous bastard with an eye to inflaming the myopic hatred of those who weren't raised to think.

Yeah, my vote's with b.

Um... Whut??

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Where did he even get the idea that racism is inborn in the first place?

It's certainly not an hypothesis put forth by any liberal cabal I've been in contact with.

[pedanther]

There are, if memory serves, studies showing that humans have an inborn tendency toward "us-and-them" thinking, which may be what he's thinking of. This doesn't, though, make racism per se inborn - there's no inborn reason for thinking "us" is "people of the same race" instead of "people who live in the same place" or "people who wear the same football colours" or whatever.

(I've just followed the link above to see if it said what Limbaugh was thinking. Apparently he was inspired by this Newsweek article, which has a headline announcing that even babies discriminate based on skin colour. I've only skimmed through the article itself, but it's (unsurprisingly) more nuanced than the headline, and has a lot to say about the role of cultural influence.)

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

*gives article an even quicker skim*

...Of course, six months is also right around the age when babies start to be nervous around strangers, and people with an unfamiliar skin tone might come across as strange. But that doesn't mean they're racist (and there's a lot of careful teaching that can go in the first six months of life).

What I just loved [/sarcasm] was the "non-racist" parents who dropped out of the study because simply talking about race made them uncomfortable.

Can you say "Your privilege is showing," boys and girls?

[kiri-l.livejournal.com]

You'll enjoy this article How Did We Get Here? Tribal Identity and Accepting President Barack Obama
        Until fairly recently, the people we depended on lived nearby. Most human beings never traveled more than a few miles from their home. We lived and died in the same small group of people, typically, with one set of traditions and one language.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

"...apparently now we don’t choose racism, we just are racists. We are born that way."

Excuse me? That must be another of his "known facts." And if it's indicative of his reading comprehension, I'd hate to see what his grades were like!

...and what if we were "born that way"? We're born unable to walk and without potty training, too -- until we develop enough to learn differently.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

Does "known fact" = "revealed knowledge"?

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

If it's only "revealed" to Rush Limburger, then yes, probably :p

[scarfman]

...and what if we were "born that way"? We're born unable to walk and without potty training, too -- until we develop enough to learn differently.

But if you say that to him he'll start expecting homosexuals to outlearn that.