This post suggests -- I think inadvertantly, but nevertheless -- that Paul or I are racist, or have engaged you in a way that suggests racism. If you are talking about commenters you believe to be coming over from our sites, you should make that clearer.

Thanks.

Pat Buchanan is now considered fringe by the conservative movement and by Republicans. Trent Lott got kicked to the curb for idiotic comments.

The entire "they're secretly racists in their heart" mentality is one of the things that drove me over the edge and out of the Democratic Party and away from the left. Especially because so many on the left are so viciously and nakedly racist and don't even bother apologizing for it.

Not that I'm really a conservative anymore--I was for a while--but seriously, pot meet kettle dude.

Well Jeff, that was not the intention in regards to you, but yeah I think Paul is a racist. Just a personal opinion based on some of his writing. But then again, it is hard to judge Paul because he is so filled with hatred for so many people, that it is hard to pigeonhole him. As for you, you have never given me any reason to think you are, but some of your readers are another story altogether.
Dean, you have some good points. The racism on the Left is a bit more subtle, but it does exist, mostly in the form of patronizing behavior, but yes I have seen it. It is why I identify myself as a progressive more than a liberal.

Well that's reasonable enough.

I think a lot of it also comes from our frame of reference and the limited worldview we all have. But I'll also point out it's wrong to think you can judge someone by what's in their heart, which you can never know, but what they do and say. And you know, we're all flawed and we all have our little prejudices and bigotries too. As the Christians would say, we're all sinners, which is I think a healthy mindset even if I'm not a believer.

Dean, I am not exactly sure what that last comment means, but I will say this. I do believe in judging people by what they say or do, since as you said you can not really ever know what is in someone's heart, you can only judge their actions. But I will add, that opinion can change. When I first met you I thought you were a dick. I came to find out that you are a very reasonable guy who I can get along with, even argue with, without rancor, and that to me says that you are a cool guy in my book.

Same here. All I meant was that we've all done or said things we've come to regret later, so for example I don't hold anything against guys like Trent Lott (or Robert Byrd) anymore.

I grew up in a very racist area (south side Chicago) where pretty much everybody was either racist or pretended to be racist just to avoid getting in trouble. Flip side, I've worked in Detroit, a majority black city, and I've seen people hate me for being white. I've encountered that occasionally in the workplace too. My wife got beat up as a kid by a group of her black schoolmates in revenge for racism and slavery, even though her family didn't even arrive in this country until 1968.

But we're talking about events here that transpired 20, 25, 30 years ago. (Well, not my working in Detroit, but all the other stuff.)

One of the reasons Mandela's a hero to me is that I find him humbling. In his shoes I would have gotten out of that South African jail breathing fire and looking for blood. But he didn't, and look how amazingly far they've come in 20 years. Just amazing.

With The Conservative BrotherhoodI've put together the first interactive portal for black conservatives on the net and I expect that over the next year we're going to have a good chance to represent what holds us together and what the differences are between us.

It should be fascinating. The problem is going to be getting a consensus. In fact I think it's going to be harder for black conservagtives, because black liberals believe that simply being radical and 'militant', puts them on the same agenda. In fact, they don't have a practical agenda, and you can see that by looking at all the policy formulations they have, ie none.

Black conservatives tend to be more independent minded - almost to the point where every one has a completely different set of raisons d'etre.

Still, the whole idea of 'white' conservatism is problematic. Why can't everybody just say 'mainstream' conservatism. After all, half the states are red. It's not like GWBush didn't win the election.

"It should be fascinating. The problem is going to be getting a consensus. In fact I think it's going to be harder for black conservagtives, because black liberals believe that simply being radical and 'militant', puts them on the same agenda. In fact, they don't have a practical agenda, and you can see that by looking at all the policy formulations they have, ie none."

Now see you have just gone and ruined my perception of you being fair minded Bro. To say that all Black Liberals think alike or even share the same agenda is no better than me saying the same thing about Black conservatives. You and Rambling are like night and day as far as I am concerned.

No we do not all share the same agenda, and you are not all Uncle Toms, though a few of you certainly meet that definition in my eyes. You dissapoint Cobb...

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