Welcome to Is It Racist? In this column, we take a handful of topics and have two of our commentators debate/decide whether the particular issue is racist. Has society gone too overboard in labeling people or actions racist, homophobic, xenophobic, etc., or have we evolved as a society to where we must be politically correct at all times? Let’s start below.
Is It Racist?
BB: With the recent documentary American Murder: The Gabby Petito Story airing on Netflix and the decades-long fascination with JonBenet Ramsay amongst other cases, does racism play a role in elevating the stories of pretty-looking blondes (or white women)? Why does nearly every national missing person or murder case that makes major headlines not involve a person of color? Is this Racism or something else?
Zeke: I know you think of me as the “Conservative” voice on this site but I believe I will surprise some of you here. Yes! Yes, boss, it is RACIST! I can’t think of a missing person or murder of a minority person that has made headlines in the way that multitudes of stories involving white women have. You can also include Lacy Peterson in your list as a story we are still speaking about today.
A murdered pregnant black or brown woman possibly makes the second page of the New York Post. But they better be pregnant otherwise forget any coverage.
One might argue that the circumstances surrounding these disappearances of the white women make for national media attention. I don’t buy it though.
Do you mean to tell me no black or brown woman has disappeared or been murdered in such a way that would be headline-grabbing in my nearly thirty-five years on earth? Is it because we value black or brown lives less? I don’t know I’m hesitant to make that claim but I think the scumbags that control the media know stories about white women will resonate with more viewers who can identify with them so they push these stories.
Kate: Wow a shockingly progressive view from you. A little bit more of this and you’ll be welcomed at the young communists club. Many studies have shown that missing and murdered white women get substantially more news coverage than people of color.
The journalist Gwen Ifill coined the term Missing White Woman Syndrome to describe this specific issue we are discussing. I think it cuts even deeper than just color though to class structure as well. A poor white woman won’t get near the coverage an upper-middle-class woman would get either. Subconsciously we put more of a value on these lives.
I think if you asked most people if they valued the lives of some more than others 99% would say no but subconsciously they will take more of an interest from those of a certain background.
Let’s even look at genders nearly every national missing person case involves a woman. Nobody takes any interest when a man goes missing. This is likely due to our innate belief that men can defend themselves and handle themselves better so it doesn’t pique as much interest. But to get back to the point of race, White lives have had more value attached to them throughout the whole history of America so it really shouldn’t be any surprise nobody cares when a black girl goes missing. Yes, it is RACIST!
BB: Surprising agreement here between two individuals with generally far different opinions. Hopefully, this spirit of congeniality can continue into our next question. Elon Musk not too long ago raised his hand in what some called a Nazi salute. Others claim it was just an innocent gesture of an awkward individual. Is it Racist?
Zeke: No, this was not racist. The first piece of evidence I present is even the anti-defamation League came to his defense in that it was just an awkward gesture and not a Nazi salute. This is the same anti-defamation league that labels the Ok sign a hate symbol, Pepe the Frog a hate symbol, and White Lives Matter a hate phrase. So if they claim that this was not a Sieg Heil I have to be inclined to give Musk the benefit of the doubt.
There was an article from a professor in academia who claimed to be the foremost authority on Nazi Germany and that only she could determine if it was indeed a Sieg Heil. She did indeed claim it was a Nazi salute. But think how ridiculous that sounds, what is she analyzing like the bend of the arm, So if it was 120 degrees or less the bend it’s an acceptable gesture but once you cross the 120-degree threshold now you’re in Nazi Germany. Or the position of the hand if it’s slightly curved inward maybe you’re not a Nazi but if it starts edging out your veering into Nazi territory.
I don’t doubt she may know a lot about Nazi Germany but this would hardly make her an expert on the human body’s biomechanics.
This seems to be a dirty trick of liberals to label everything or everyone they disagree with as Nazis. Even more recently they claimed Steve Bannon gave a Nazi salute at CPAC and when I first watched it I thought I must have watched the wrong part of the speech because there was nothing remotely resembling a Nazi salute. It was a straight-ish arm out to the side. The Nazi word has been flung around far too casually in recent years to take it that serious anymore.
Plus I may take them more seriously if the side screaming about Musk wasn’t just coddling actual flag-waving terrorist sympathizers for the past two years. I’m less worried about an awkward gesture Elon Musk made and more about Chuck Schumer telling campus presidents don’t worry about anti-Semitism, it’s only Republicans that care about what’s going on in college campuses, we Democrats don’t care.
At least now he’s telling the truth, instead of for years claiming that his last name “Schumer” in Hebrew means guardian of Jews/Israel when in reality it means Fenell like the common herb which a garden is probably the only thing Schumer should be guarding. Musk’s gesture IS NOT RACIST.
Kate: We can talk about Chuck Schumer all you want but the question was about Elon Musk. You don’t find it a little bit odd that after Musk makes a Nazi salute then the next week he goes to speak to the far right in Germany telling them that there is too much focus on past guilt and Germany needs to move beyond that.
Is that not a little too coincidental?
I would think that if you were gesturing while saying my heart goes out to you normally there should be some flip of the hand at the end or at least that’s how most people would.
Zeke: No one’s denying it was an awkward gesture
Kate: This was a very stiff arm gesture and he is smart enough being arguably the smartest person on the planet to know what he is doing. It is ridiculous we even have to be having a debate on whether someone so close to the presidency did or didn’t do a Nazi salute. That isn’t something anyone would have ever thought would be a discussion but this is what goes on in the Trump era. It’s not like Musk has a completely clean history either, he blasts multi-culturalism and throws racist dog whistles everywhere in particular at his speech in Germany.
Zeke: If I could ask you one thing, please don’t use the term racist dog whistles That is one of the most overused terms of the last four years
Kate: Hahaha, Elon Musk knew what he was doing by breaking one of the biggest taboos in American society. If he had any balls he should have done the same motion when he spoke to the AfD in Germany the week after but of course, he did not because he knew that he would be thrown in jail. Musk is anti-Semitic and RACIST!
BB: The fact you bring up Germany brings us nicely to our next topic. We see a lot of conflicts around the world…(thanks Biden)…Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Syria etc. Do you think racism plays a role in the conflicts that the media highlights or better yet in the mainstream media is a black person’s death in Africa treated the same as a White person in Europe? Is it Racist?
Zeke: Good question. I’m split on this one because we see a conflict like Sudan where more than 61,000 people have died. However, recent reporting indicates that this number is likely a drastic undercount, where the majority are dying from preventable disease and starvation and there’s not a word of it on the television. So in that sense, I want to say yes, I think there is racism that you have black people dying and the world doesn’t care.
But then you have a fake starvation in Gaza, where it was determined that Israel was supplying them with 150% of the food the population needed to survive and there was never a risk of famine, a fake genocide, and this is broadcast around the clock 24/7. These dishonest claims are being parroted by the mainstream media like the New York Times and CNN. These people aren’t “white” so maybe there isn’t racism in the overall coverage.
Looking at some of the other conflicts you laid out you have 227,000 people dead in Yemen from famine and lack of healthcare due to an ongoing war. 400,000 civilians died in Syria due to the continuing civil war there and both of these conflicts barely get a word in the news, especially Yemen. If 227,000 people died in a European country we’d be ushering in the end of civilization. Yet this goes on in Yemen and no one bats an eye.
So I look at the world caring about non-Europeans in Gaza as an anomaly for whatever reason, though I can write an article on what I think those reasons are, and look at the rest of the conflicts in the developing world and I think we can say the world values the lives of White people more than Black or Brown.
Some justifications for that may be that well Europe is an advanced society much more integral to the world order and 227,000 deaths there would have a much bigger impact than 227,000 in a backwater like Yemen or Sudan. So one might argue that while the lives aren’t worth less the impact isn’t as profound so it gets highlighted less. There may be some truth to that but I also think for the average person sitting at home in America if they were to see 200,000 English get killed, it would have a greater impact than 200,000 Sudanese. The media knowing this downplays these events. So yes it is RACIST!.
Kate: Wow you surprise me again, are you becoming a….liberal? Of course, it’s racist. Imagine the outrage if there were famine, starvation, and disease rampaging through Europe. In certain parts of the world such as Africa this may be what we’ve come to expect so Americans became desensitized to it.
Look at the coverage of the Russian/Ukraine war compared to anything that has gone on in Africa. With way fewer deaths it has gotten way more coverage. Even one of the reporters at CNN during the onset of that war showed his true self saying on air something along the lines of “it’s just awful seeing all these white people killed.” So what? It’s okay as long as it’s black people being killed. The value of a White life is above that of a black life in international affairs even to a supposedly liberal station like CNN.
The coverage that war received for years completely dominated anything that Africa, Asia, or the Middle East would receive. You want to make the argument, oh but it’s Europe so it’s more important. Maybe that could be true for England, France, and Germany but I wouldn’t say Ukraine is that much more integral to world affairs than some of the other countries where atrocities occurred. Killing anywhere is bad but I think this brought home just how much more coverage the death and destruction of White people get compared to any other people. So Yes it is Racist!
Zeke: I think we mostly agree just that I would not put Ukraine in the same tier as Sudan, Yemen, Syria, etc. I think it’s a bit more integrated into the world order I mean they were part of the powerful Soviet Union so that could be a reason for the enhanced coverage.
BB: We had more agreement than I expected but I suppose that shows the world has a lot of racism? Or has this outlet become overly liberal? Only Elon Musk seemed to spark any disagreement but probably because he’s sharp enough to thread the Racism needle unlike say Kanye West. I think it’s fitting that we close this with Avenue Q
Do you agree with are writers? Is it Racist? Let us know in the comments below and if you liked this check out Debate Club: Liberal vs Conservative get Heated on Immigration Debate
