Kozlowski: The country that cried racism

What is a good way to get somebody to shut up? Maybe it is delivering a solid verbal blow that… What is a good way to get somebody to shut up? Maybe it is delivering a solid verbal blow that deflates the windbag. Maybe it is ignoring what they have to say. Unfortunately, in this day and age, a great way to get someone to shut up, or at least deprive him of an audience, is to call him a racist — whether or not this accusation is grounded in fact. This irritating practice is widespread, and it has serious repercussions.

Allegations of racism swirl vehemently around the Tea Party movement.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has lambasted the party and set up a group to monitor it. Never mind that accusation is not the same as evidence. Never mind that the Tea Party has black activists in it. Never mind that the presence of random racists in the movement — or possible liberal plants at particular rallies — does not mean that everyone who is part of the Tea Party is automatically a racist. My personal favorite argument “proving” Tea Party racism is that they are “white, male, conservatives, anti birthers, anti-health care, and of course the well known anti-I don’t want to pay my taxes people,” as Politicol News reports.

Allegations of racism are not a recent phenomenon. Charles Pickering, a George W. Bush nominee to the Court of Appeals, was accused of having a “bigoted past” by Salon.com. According to RealClearPolitics.com, John Kerry called Pickering “a known forceful advocate for a cross-burner in America”. This came despite the fact that the black community in Pickering’s hometown supported his nomination, and the fact that Pickering testified against a leader of the Ku Klux Klan in 1960s Mississippi, a time and place where such a move could be dangerous.

There are indications that at least one liberal journalist, Spencer Ackerman, suggested calling random Republicans racists in order to deflect attention from President Obama’s former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. The JournoList blog, quoted in the Wall Street Journal, contained the following gem: “If the right forces us all to either defend Wright or tear him down, no matter what we choose, we lose the game they’ve put upon us. Instead, take one of them — Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists.”

There are very real problems with repeated cries of racism. First and foremost, an accusation of racism is a way of closing down debate. After all, if the person wanting to make an argument is a known “racist,” why should his argument receive any audience? In order for this branded person to make his arguments heard, he first has to prove he is not a racist. And how do you prove this? You can’t. Racism is a set of beliefs and thoughts. Unless people read your mind, nothing you can do or say will prove that you aren’t secretly racist.

Although they might win an argument, accusations of racism are poor argumentation.

Not only do they demonstrate the logical fallacy of argumentum ad hominem — attacking the man — they also demonstrate the flaw of the non sequitur. If somebody disapproves of a policy of President Obama’s, such as eliminating the Bush-era tax cuts, does it matter that that person is a racist? If the argument made is based in racism, then by all means, we reject it on those grounds. But if the argument is based in economic reasoning or abstract thought, the ideology of the person making the argument is irrelevant.

When ad hominem attacks are used, political discourse is irrevocably cheapened. Instead of discussing the ideas that are plainly before us, we begin to gossip about motivation for forwarding those ideas. Instead of engaging in rational argument, we fall to name-calling. It becomes a battle between the “racist” right-wing and the “socialist” left.

This name-calling has other consequences. Part of the reason that we are the cowards Eric Holder thinks we are, unwilling to have a national discussion on race, is that those who would start talking are afraid of the charge of racism.

The ultimate consequences of seeing racists behind every rock, tree and George Bush are serious. Actual racism will end up being ignored. Essentially, we become the villagers tired of hearing the boy cry wolf.

Republicans and Democrats alike might reflexively close ranks around a bigot that has been called a bigot. It’s part of the reason I doubt the charges of racism against the Tea Party.

I do not deny that there are racists in the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement. Any group is bound to have a few people who feel themselves superior based on racial identity. But when all of the members of a group are indicted, it is hard to tell who is actually guilty.

Write kozthought@gmail.com