No, there is no more racism in the United States. It's just a figment of your imagination. 

The good news is that the racist morons are losing because they're so effing pathetic.    This is a great article....especially when you reach the part where the box broke.   The entire article is worth reading.

The Traditionalist Worker Party, which at its height operated in at least eight states and had about 1,200 paying members, according to its leaders, also collapsed last month. It was perhaps the most institutionally organized of all the groups making up the alt-right. It had a clear hierarchy: Paying members reported to regional commanders, who in turn reported to the top leaders living in a trailer park in Paoli, Ind., where everything came apart last month.

The dynamic between co-founders Matt Parrott and Matthew Heimbach has always been unconventional. Heimbach is married to Parrott’s stepdaughter from a former marriage, and the two men lived in neighboring trailers, where they promoted traditional gender roles in addition to white-supremacist beliefs.

But according to a police report obtained by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Heimbach began sleeping with Parrott’s wife. In early March, the two told Parrott and Heimbach’s wife that the three-month affair was over, but Parrott didn’t believe it, so he concocted a plan to catch them. Heimbach and Parrott’s wife fell for it while Parrott was outside, standing atop a box, looking in through a window. Then the box broke, and, his cover presumably blown, Parrott went to confront Heimbach, who allegedly choked him. Parrott lost consciousness, then fled to a Walmart, where he called police, who reported that Heimbach later violently grabbed his wife’s face.

Heimbach was charged with felony domestic battery, the Traditionalist Worker Party disintegrated, and Parrott, speaking on the phone earlier this month, sounded different than the triumphant white supremacist who in the days after the Charlottesville rally promised that he and the alt-right were here to stay.

“I’m unplugged from politics,” Parrott said. “I’m done. I’m out. I don’t want to be in The Washington Post anymore. I don’t care to have this humiliating and terrifying ordeal be more public than it already is. . . . There is no more Trad Worker.”

Heimbach, citing the advice of his attorneys, declined to comment.

washingtonpost

Actually we have 2 teachers in two schools doing something stupid. I think we are in agreement that this should never happen in our schools. 

We have a federal department of education.
I ask you, John - wouldn't it be a good idea to have that department set some guidelines on American History with the input and consensus of the states?

I ask you, John - wouldn't it be a good idea to have that department set some guidelines on American History with the input and consensus of the states?

You mean a government controlled history curriculum?

Yup

1.  Number one good thing about slavery - it happens to someone else. 

Free labor means the productivity index is very high and the owner earns more money.    That's why Trump refused to pay the undocumented workers he hired.

time

That's why Trump refused to pay the undocumented workers he hired.

And refused to rent apartments to them because he knew how little he was paying them...

Great Hearts is a charter school ... and the Wisconsin one is a private school ... and people wonder why we think Betsy's ideas about vouchers suck so badly.  

Great Hearts claims to produce "great-hearted leaders" - is this how they go about it?

The work was steady, so you could tell everyone the unemployment was zero!

All jokes aside, like yeah I'm glad it wasn't me type stuff, I imho , think even as a critical thinking exersize , was a little too deep for 8th graders , might even be too deep for a junior or senior in HS.

But the question is a valid one and there were  at least some positive aspects.

 One is the issue was brought before the national attention  and  the nation had to decide if it was going to be like all other nations and allow such a situation to persist, to me that is a good aspect, to question the norm and how things had been done in the past.

 A hundred and fifty some years later , I could almost bet, that 99.999999 percent of the people asked would agree that slavery was and is an abborent institution,  even though there are places it still exists today. that is a good thing as well , public attitude changed , and the view of the institution changed .

 So there are at least 2 good aspects of slavery, even if they are directly related , because they call into  question  the institution of slavery , not just in this nation , but world wide.

I guess its how the discussion is framed and nurtured along, and I cant really see anyone disagreeing with what I have said , because those 2 things I mentioned were ultimately good for ending the institution , at least in this nation , and can be used to end it where ever it still exists.

A hundred and fifty some years later , I could almost bet, that 99.999999 percent of the people asked would agree that slavery was and is an abborent institution

Note that in 2011 both Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum signed the anti-gay and pro-slavery pledge of the Iowa Family Leader, the main lobbying group of the Iowa GOP. 

forbes

Note that in 2011 both Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum signed the anti-gay and pro-slavery pledge of the Iowa Family Leader, the main lobbying group of the Iowa GOP.

Ok , also note , I am not GOP, or from Iowa , or would vote for Bachmann or Santorum if they did run within my congressional district.

 So your point is? to me nothing but racebaiting continuation of bigotry but for your own ends with whom you choose to "expose ", frankly its people that do that that continue to retard the advancement of race relations they so vehemently espouse to champion, it simply makes me want to say , well I never owned any slaves , was never a slave , will die before I become a slave , so you can blow it out your gas pipe.

Oh and since you want to bring obscurely connected subject matter to a discussion , I will simply ignore you from now on , frankly I don't mind you do that because , to me you and your opinion don't matter, simple mind over matter son. consider this my last direct discourse with you.

d pro-slavery pledge of the Iowa Family Leader, the main lobbying group of the Iowa GOP. 

I'm often amazed by liberals ability to murder the English language in service of their obsessive to desire to denounce anyone who doesn't parrot their party line as evil. I mean that's just a fucking embarrassing butchering of plain English.  Sorry to use such language, but that sort of blatant disingenuouses actually deserves even stronger language.

As any person who passed fourth grade should know that simply pointing out a fact about slavery doesn't make a statement "pro-slavery." That a black person born in slavery was more likely to be with both his mother and father than one born today is not "pro-slavery."  It's just a FACT emphasizing how serious the breakdown of the black family is in contemporary America. This should be obvious and not need to be said but THERE IS NOTHING IN THE STATEMENT ADVOCATING for  or PRAISING SLAVERY!  How hard is it to understand that "Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families" is not an endorsement of slavery? I honestly hope no one who actually reads it is dumb enough to take it as "pro slavery."

It's simply embarrassing how eager liberals are to parrot  and promote dishonest talking points they are spoon fed because their leaders know they can't or won't think for themselves.  Even if you are not, I'm embarrassed for you for peddling such transparently dishonest tripe. 

As any person who passed fourth grade should know that simply pointing out a fact about slavery doesn't make a statement "pro-slavery." That a black person born in slavery was more likely to be with both his mother and father than one born today is not "pro-slavery."

That's the same sort of abject ignorance which caused Bachmann and Santorum to sign that racist and homophobic pledge.   As the article I cited notes: "....the institution of slavery didn't recognize the very concept of "family" among captive Blacks. Marriage between slaves was, after all, illegal. And parents and children were routinely separated, forever, at the auction block."

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The article also notes that the author of the academic citation which the Family Leader used to justify their racist Pledge condemned it being misconstrued in that way and said: "That's just wrong.   It is a serious error."

ze the very concept of "family" among captive Blacks. Marriage between slaves was, after all, illegal. And parents and children were routinely separated, forever, at the auction block.

NO kidding! That's the whole point!! How are you missing this?   

It's understood that slavery was terrible and slave owners forcibly separated family members from each other. That's why slavery was used, to emphasize the serious nature of the problem facing the black family in contemporary America.  Slavery was referenced because everyone understands how terrible it was and the atrocities that were committed during the slavery era. It's impossible for a literate person to read it any other way.

 Here's a tip going forward, authors often use seemingly incredible facts that are not intuitive  to emphasize the point they are making. 

NO kidding! That's the whole point!! How are you missing this?

Ummmm......it's the bible-babblers in the Iowa GOP and at least two bible-babbling GOP presidential candidates who missed that.    In fact it seems like a plague of ignorance which is common to the social conservatives in the GOP.

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Slavery was referenced because everyone understands how terrible it was and the atrocities that were committed during the slavery era.

No, that's not why it was referenced.   It was referenced because the GOP's base is racist and incredibly ignorant.     As my citation went on to say:

Blackman, an associate professor at Indiana University's School of Social Work, pointed out that she wouldn't have objected if, instead of 1860, the pledge Bachmann endorsed had selected a year sometime after slavery ended.

"As soon as they could," Blackman said, "former slaves rushed to get married." This led to a relatively high -- and quickly growing -- rate of marriage among African Americans.

According to the study Blackman co-wrote, by 1880, 56.3 percent of  Black households were what we now call "nuclear families." (For Whites, that figure was 66.9 percent.) By 1950, nearly 80 percent of Black families were headed by married couples. By 1996, that figure had dropped to just 34 percent.

This is a serious problem, argues Blackman, but it won't be solved by rewriting history to make slavery appear to have any redeeming qualities.

Not everyone who supports the GOP is a scumbag racist, Mark, but every scumbag racist supports the GOP.  

Exactly.

I could almost bet, that 99.999999 percent of the people asked would agree that slavery was and is an abborent institution,

Yet, it's not difficult at all for someone on one of these fora to suggest that slavery here was better than life back in Africa or that they were given the "gift" of Christianity.   I've seen it multiple times here and, NV and others.   Maybe it's just one troll showing up all over or that it's an opinion held by more people than you'd like to believe (which would be just over 3 people) in the country.   But you did write "almost" so there's an out. 

I get the intent behind it, to try to show students that usually something isn't entirely good or bad, but the exercise was seriously misguided in this instance. There isn't anything good about slavery, at least not by any commonly used moral standards. 

There isn't anything good about slavery,

I never really gave it much thought but the way the question is asked in the title a correct answer could be nothing. 

Nothing is the correct answer. Like I said, I get the intent behind it but slavery is probably not a wise topic to have students try to name pros and cons. 

Because you get them all hung up on the pros and cons from the different viewpoints of the slaves, the slave owners the people who were making money transporting the slaves, the people who were making money buying and selling slaves once importing slaves was made illegal into the United States and the people who felt that they needed slaves to run their plantations and were raised with slavery and saw nothing wrong with it and those who leaned on the bible to justify slavery and who looked at Africans, even those who had become mixed with White blood through rape or intentional breeding were sub human and why they felt it was their right to keep owning these other human beings because before the Civil War the United States was not really the United States but was actually a collection of different States many of whom thought of themselves as independent and answering only to themselves before the government in Washington...

And from there it gets complicated.

Not knowing how the teacher presented this assignment or reading the material in their textbook it's impossible to determine if racism was at the core or was critical thinking the goal.  Students in the 8th grade should be capable of musing the subject matter and present a cogent response. 

We can talk about slavery all we want, but there is nothing redeeming about it. It is a moral outrage and a crime against humanity. People may want to talk about pros and cons of slavery, but that is always a thinly disguised brand of racism or religious bigotry.We want children to know that slavery is abhorrent and something that they should always detest.

You would think the left would encourage people to put a good spin on the Democrats history of being the party of slave owners.

And the republicans were the party of sanity.......things do change.

Have you seem the insanity on the left? They riot, pursue unproven conspiracy theories and file frivolous lawsuits that will boomerang back on them.

And the republicans were the party of sanity.......things do change.

Yep.   I can't imagine either Abe Lincoln or Frederick Douglass choosing to be Republicans today......especially with the racist King of the Birthers as the party leader and with the "good people" in the KKK doing phone banking for the party.     No wonder the GOP is so blindingly white today.

Lincoln was about liberating people from the bondage of servitude. Since LBJ the Democrats have been all about keeping people dependent on the govt and turned against each other. Also the GOP gets around 30% of the Hispanic vote- not as white as you think. 

Hispanic vote

Clinton won 65% of the Latino vote to 29% for Trump.    That must mean that 29% of Latinos are almost as brain dead as 8% of blacks, but I suspect all of Trump's xenophobic rhetoric since 2016 will have adverse consequences for the GOP this year.

You are the party of Donald Trump, Roy Moore, Jeff Sessions, David Duke, Richard Spencer, the KKK, and every racist hate group in this nation. Your leaders support institutional inequality, walls to keep out people of color. Your republican cohorts are blind to the hatred that is coming out of your candidates and you would rather throw out as many red herrings as possible. Red Herrings only swim in calm waters....they will drown in the wave.

Actually it is the democratic party which has always been about racism. From the 1850's to the 1920's it fostered hatred for blacks and from the 1990's to the present day it has fostered hatred for whites.

That must mean that 29% of Latinos are almost as brain dead as 8% of blacks

No maybe they're smart enough to realize that Illegal Immigration is the reason their rents are skyrocketing and their Wages are stagnating.

So because minority voters don't vote the way you like they are automatically brain dead. Your "compassionate liberal" card is going to get revoked for daring to question the competence of non white voters.

"You are the party of Donald Trump, Roy Moore, Jeff Sessions, David Duke, Richard Spencer, the KKK, and every racist hate group in this nation."

I can play that game too. You are the party of Farrakhan (who had his photo taken with Obama no less), Bill Maher, Robert Byrd, Hillary "Super Predator/ CP Time" Clinton, Bill Clinton who once observed Obama would've been serving him coffee not long ago and Joe Biden who was surprised by Obamas cleanliness.

And I would compare the living conditions and personal safety of minorities in Republican run cities over Democratic high crime corruption nightmares any day of the week.

So because minority voters don't vote the way you like they are automatically brain dead.

It's hard to imagine why any member of a disfavored or unprivileged group would vote for a party which despises them, be they LGBT, Muslim or other non-Christian, Asian, Latino, black or female......but that's why only a minority of those groups will ever vote for the party of bigots and misogynists   By the way it seems that even farmers in the midwest are waking up and realizing that the GOP doesn't represent their interests at all.

nbcnews

You are the party of Farrakhan (who had his photo taken with Obama no less)

FYI, not only hasn't Farrakhan supported Obama since 2012 because of Obama's support for the overthrow of the Libyan regime, but in 2016 he praised Trump because they both share the same antisemitic views.

politico

From the 1850's to the 1920's it fostered hatred for blacks and from the 1990's to the present day it has fostered hatred for whites.

Sounds like you're one of the whiny butt hurt white folks who became accustomed to a sense of privilege.    No wonder the GOP opposes equal rights for all.

Yeah, I'm sure a minority voter who went through the arduous effort to immigrate legally really loves it when the Dems want to give amnesty to people who sneak in here and commit crimes. I'm sure minority voters who are legal gun owners and tax payers love it when Dems say they want to confiscate their self defense protection and tax them more to support people who don't want to work. It's only in your mind that Republicans are against any group based on their race, religion or gender. Leftists have gotten so far into their delusions they can no longer see reality.

"FYI, not only hasn't Farrakhan supported Obama since 2012 because of Obama's support for the overthrow of the Libyan regime, but in 2016 he praised Trump because they both share the same antisemitic views."

Oh, so it's okay to have your picture taken with a vile racist who actually called Hitler "a good man" as long as you're not on speaking terms with him anymore. And where is the photo of Trump and Farrakhan? The closest I can find are photos of Trump and guys like Jesse Jackson back when Democrats used to praise Trump for his civil rights support.

Sorry, but your man Farrakhan is the leader of a racist hate group.

Obama wants to kill whites too.

Source?

Farrakhan is not and has not been a democratic activist and is probably not even registered to vote. You do fail to indicate that this racist anarchist endorsed Trump in 2016. As to Bill Maher, I enjoy his political comedy and have no trouble with his far left views, just as I'm sure you have no problems with your comedians in chief, Hannity and Limbaugh.

Obama and Biden were individuals who I am proud to be associated with. These were and continue to be fine people and were excellent public servants. Historians have rated the Obama Presidency as the eighth best in the history of this nation. Biden is rated among the top five vice presidents. Just as a matter of comparison, Trump was unanimously rated 45th {last} among presidents and Pence next to last {ahead of Agnew} as vice-president.

As to Clinton, I condemned his sexual activities from the beginning and thought that he should should have been more thoroughly investigated for the allegations against him. Given that, as a President, he was considered an excellent one. The historians rate him as number 12. When we talk about Secretary Clinton, we see a woman who has had more congressional investigations done against her by an opposing party than any person in history. Through all of these investigations, NOT ONE indictment. As much trumped up mud as they could find and throw, not one piece has stuck. Maybe it's time that you guys give up the ghost on that one.

Don't throw the city crap out there......The answer to that is simple......Flint, Michigan......Democrats trying to improve the living conditions, while the republican governor has done everything possible to keep their water poisoned.

Sounds to me like you like to associate the GOP with fringe elements or claim people are racist who aren't (Sessions, Trump, Etc.) Then you gloss over things Democrats actually did or said (Maher using the N word for example) and deflect to something else. If you're going to use extreme examples then be prepared to get them in return.

Sounds to me like you like to associate the GOP with fringe elements or claim people are racist who aren't (Sessions, Trump, Etc.)

Yeah......who would ever accuse a bigoted neoconfederate or the racist King of the Birthers of being racist morons?   After all Trump merely refused to rent to black folks, it's not like he's racist or anything.

And didn't your good buddy Trump praise the good people marching in the "Jews will not replace us!" rally in Charlottesville not long ago?

Stupid people would!

Sessions was not approved for a federal judgeship because of his racist views. They have been well known and documented for years. Trump has been thrice fined by the New York City Housing Authority for refusing to rent apartments to people of color. He also was the person who called some of the neo-nazis and kkkers at Charlottesville fine people.  They are what they are.

Maher is a comedian. He is not an elected official nor does he advise presidents, formally or informally. He can say what he wants, just like Limbaugh or Hannity.

Since LBJ the Democrats have been all about keeping people dependent on the govt and turned against each other.

Right wing myth made up to make themselves feel better after the influx of Southern racists who deserted the Democratic Party when the Voting Rights and Civil Rights Act's were passed and Nixon saw the chance to scoop up all of the disaffected votes, known as "The Southern Strategy".

Johnson was right. When he signed the Voting Rights and Civil Rights acts he said the Democratic Party would lose the South for a generation and we have, but it was more then worth it to stop being the party of the White Supremacists and the Klan and segregationists and to watch them all become Republicans. And to watch the Democratic Party become the Party of Civil Rights, not just for Blacks, but for Hispanics, Natives, Asians, LGBTQ'S, etc. To watch the people who need help and protection from those that would try to still try to deny them equal rights come to the Democratic Party where they belong and where they will find Bother and Sisterhood. 

It made us feel a lot cleaner from the racist sins of our past and yes we as Democrats had many racists sins to make up for! Now they are the Republican's Party problem to decide if they are worth holding onto so much that they will vote for anyone with an (R) after their name, even a man who has been credibly accused of pedophilia, simply because he is not a Democrat. Now that is shame. Are their numbers worth the disgust and hate and lack of any values at all they bring to your Party. We decided they were not. Are there really "good people" on both side of a Nazi March? We don't think so. So why do you?

Democrats history of being the party of slave owners.

180 years ago, sure they were. But then, Lincoln was a republican and by today's standards would be considered a far left wing liberal. Parties have swapped ideologies several times over the decades. To imply that today's democrats are racist slave owners is just plain stupid. David Duke is a republican, former KKK grand wizard and die hard trump supporter. Same with richard spencer and chris cantwell. The vast majority of racists in this country support trump. Deal with it. 

Source?

I will assume you support education.

Does that make you a teacher?

It does when you seek their approval and refuse to condemn them.

I suppose you just need to learn how to read the thing.

I don't need a source for BS the party's ideologies  haven't changed or swapped several times that is plain BS.

So you are saying the current Democratic party supports slavery? 

Trump never seeked the support of David Duke and disavowed him several times. It's only the liberal lapdog media that kept bugging Trump about it.

Does that make you a teacher?

Actually I was a teacher for 5 years... Didn't care for it, too boring. 

Your whole statement is BS nice try.

Actually it's true, maybe you should pick up a history book. 

For a former teacher, I m rather surprised at your answer. 

Supporting education didn't make you a teacher.

No I don't believe anyone short of a couple racist knuckle heads support slavery. I do know democrats started the KKK.

Yep, and today they vehemently reject the KKK, the party has changed significantly from then to now.

Actually I was a teacher for 5 years... Didn't care for it, too boring. 

A teacher never feels that teaching is "boring". Challenging, yes. Boring, no.

You would think the left would encourage people to put a good spin on the Democrats history of being the party of slave owners.

Why? 

There is only one good thing regarding slavery, that we ended it in this Country (just not soon enough).

What's good about slavery (AKA Government dependence)?  Ask any Democrat.  It builds the constituent base!

Was this actually a racist teacher or was the teacher just asking them to consider opposing sides of a sensitive issue? Despite there only being one real answer, which is that slavery is wrong, that alone doesn't imply that you shouldn't look at the other side, if for no other reason that to confirm what you already know while still expanding your capacity for debate and rational thinking.

I'm just curious if this teacher was actually racist or was simply trying to get the students to broaden how they look at every issue by actually looking at both sides of an issue, which is really the only way true change happens anyway.

I doubt it was racism on the part of the teacher, I think it was just a misguided effort to have the students critically examine multiple sides of an issue. I completely agree with the exercise in theory, but there are certain subjects where it is best not to travel that road, like slavery. You are really just asking for trouble and that trouble ends up overshadowing the actual point of the lesson.