Yeah, the two examples I was going to use was those politicians who blame migrants and working women for all the woes of society, particularly unemployment.

Sarameg, this from the article, blunt and to-the-point,

Other than Britain, we bought this alliance. Almost every government in it is operating without the support of its people.

Other than Britain, we bought this alliance. Almost every government in it is operating without the support of its people. Fighting this war without international legitimacy is hard enough, but trying to do nation-building without it could be even harder.

Regarding the "it's gone too far" issue about equal rights, I think it depends on what part of the country you are in and what types of people you are talking to.

Unfortunatly I know and have worked with people who are very racist and do believe that white people are getting the short end of the stick, that they are being kept out of jobs and college because of affirmative action. They also think that non whites should "know their place" or "be grateful" for where they are now and stop whining about slavery and things like Jim Crow laws and segregation. They are the same people who say things like "America for Americans" and classify "Americans" in the very narrow category of being white and Protestant and thinking like they do.

These people generally aren't too happy with equality that women have and think that equal rights for women have gone too far as well.

These are people who, when they think they are in the company of others who think like they do, will use racial slurs and make racist jokes and talk about "those people" and not see what the big deal is.

Even when I don't agree with him (and the quote from above, I wholeheartedly agree) , I usually end up appreciating the way he frames his points.

I've got a thing for the development of democracies. I think there is more than one formula. And imposition is the worst variety out there. There really ought to be a cultural context for it, or it isn't going to go so well.

Meara, that was going to be my next question. What sort of percentage of the population, or percentage of voters.

Betsy thanks for the link I understand the despair. Do you guys have racial vilification laws?

Hayden thanks for info. Will look up Goodwyn. I don't have much specific stuff on the civil rights movement or minority politics.

Like hate crimes, right? Yeah. But that has taken time too.

There's a fraternity (KA) on my campus which is the Southern fraternity. Honorary president is Jefferson Davis. Each year, their big party is the KA Ball, when the symbolically "secede" from the campus, and all the guys dress in Confederate uniforms and their girlfriends get Scarlet O'Hara dresses. A few years ago, they got in some trouble with the university because they paid some black kids a few dollars to pretend to pick cotton on the lawn of their house. The compromise reached after that was that they could continue to have the ball (the university didn't want to alienate alumni), but they're not allowed on campus in their uniforms. (They don't obey this at all.)

When my dad was at Ole Miss (as a coach), there was a huge fued between the mostly black football team and the KA's. It was a huge embarassment. My dad was a KA in College and managed to fix it while he was there. They still had their ball and did the confederate dress thing, but it was only for the ball and they tried to make it less about slavery and racism and more about history and heritage. For a while there Dad was pretty much able to get anyone into the school with a letter from him.

Not everywhere has hate crime laws, right? I aske because I remember Dallas or Texas trying to get one passed.

You're right, Heather. I think they are agreed on a by state-by-state basis or something.

The big empty spaces in the west freak me out.

Word. All that unincorporated land. I had to move to Oregon before I learned there was such a thing as unincorporated land.

Now I'm all "blah blah project site is in unincorporated eastern San Diego County".

Ranges and townships are where it's at. None of that mushy New England County thing, with town meetings and wiggly roads. Tom Jefferson knew how to lay out a country, by golly. 160 acres should be enough to raise a family on! (Unless you live on the reservation and have no tools, supplies, water, training in agriculture, or farm animals. Sigh. The Dawes Act was a Very Bad Idea.)

Yes, I know I'm being silly.

But are there really large numbers of people out there who seriously think we should go back to Jim Crow laws, or something??

I wouldn't say I've encountered quite that, but I have met quite a few people who pretty much think that it would be better if everyone just stayed with "their own kind." The will never say anything overtly racist, but they simply don't see why black people have to come into schools or neighborhoods that used to be all white, rather than staying in their own schools and neighborhoods. (School segregation is one of the places that this comes up a lot.)

What is unincorporated land?