• sudoer777@lemmy.ml
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    15 hours ago

    My high school from a red state was like 99% white and also 99% conservative and had this attitude of racism is bad but also racism doesn’t exist anymore then proceeds to make racist jokes and support racist politics (including students who were very academically focused), although it never evolved to anything as stupid as taking a group photo holding up a racial slur. There was a lot of stuff from there though that seemed normal at the time then after I left realized how fucked it was, and I know of other people who think the same thing.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      although it never evolved to anything as stupid as taking a group photo holding up a racial slur

      The fundamental difference between the Conservative Citizens Councils and the Klu Klux Klan was the veneer of political correctness the former utilized to make the violence they doled out via the police appear legitimate.

      There was a lot of stuff from there though that seemed normal at the time then after I left realized how fucked it was, and I know of other people who think the same thing.

      Lots of code words and turns of phrase, intended to alienate certain kinds of people and entitle others. Dog whistles are very popular in conservative communities.

      We recently had a high school marching band get selected to perform at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. After the students raised $15k to pay for the trip, the Superintendent shut it down on the grounds that “New Orleans isn’t a safe place for teenagers”. Why was our city safe but the majority African American city dangerous? Who can say?