Friday, October 31, 2008

The Bradley Effect

This is a phenomenon where white people tell pollsters that they are going to vote for a black candidate, but when they get to the polls, they vote for the white one. It is a unique kind of racism. These are the same people who love to hear an articulate black person talk... as long the black person is talking from Africa.

Personally, I've always been against this kind of bigotry. First of all, it's cowardly. If you're going to be hateful, at least have the guts to own up to it. That's what bothers me about the anti-Semitic comments occasionally left on this blog. The anti-Semitism doesn't bother me nearly as much as the anonymous aspect of it. What's with this wimpy stuff? The Nazis never pulled this crap. Be more like the Nazis.

Secondly, it's a self-aware racism. These people know enough to realize that racism is bad. They also know that they don't want to be seen as racist. And then they go and be racist by voting against a candidate just because of the color of their skin (you would only lie to pollsters about who you're voting for if you think you're doing something wrong). It's worse if you know that what you're doing is wrong. I'm not sure ignorance is bliss, but ignorance does make for a more tolerable racist.

The bottom line is: if you are a rabid hate-filled bigot, don't lie about it. That's so weak.

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