Lott's comments jolt Asian Americans

[achtungbaby]

By ESTHER WU / The Dallas Morning News

With one slip of the tongue, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott reminded us that the battle against racism is far from over.

The gentleman from Mississippi has been in a volatile political storm since Dec. 5, when he said this nation could have been better served had Sen. Strom Thurmond been elected president in 1948, when he ran on the pro-segregationist Dixiecrat ticket.

Political as well as racial lines have been drawn.

full story (http://yellowworld.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=164&mode=nocomments&order=1&thold=-1)

[kimchee63]

I guess I'm in agreement with Ms. Wu's article, except for the last part, where she says that racism, like Kudzu, is rooted in the South. Racism has no geographic center, and as someone that's lived in the Deep South, there are times when I prefer to live with racism out and in the open. In the South if someone has a problem with my ethnicity, I know right away. I've found that Northerners can be every bit as racist, but are more adept at hiding it.

[Andrew]

Didn't slavery of African Americans in the North end only about 30 years before slavery in the South?

[Hiroshi2]

Originally posted by kimchee63@Dec 19 2002, 11:42 AM
I guess I'm in agreement with Ms. Wu's article, except for the last part, where she says that racism, like Kudzu, is rooted in the South.  Racism has no geographic center, and as someone that's lived in the Deep South, there are times when I prefer to live with racism out and in the open.  In the South if someone has a problem with my ethnicity, I know right away.  I've found that Northerners can be every bit as racist, but are more adept at hiding it.
Well I live in Alabama now and I can say that yeah at first it seems like for the most part they are more direct about racism down here but ideas such as political correctness, etc. have spread down here as well and people will try to hide it as well down here.

But then again, in other parts of the country, I've noticed that people are generally more rude and confronational about various issues, including racism, so I think there are "open" racists and "closet" racists everywhere. I honestly don't believe they predominate in any part of the country.

Anyway, I find it interesting that asians are taking up against lott as the media has turned this into a black-white issue.

[Craig]

Trent Lott Steps Down As Majority Leader (http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/20/lott.controversy/index.html)

[loserbutt]

as an asian this didn't jolt me.

[ism]

I think the resignation is a bad thing for the country as a whole. Frist is the front-runner to replace him and probably will. Frist is a lot closer to Bush than Lott was, and there will be a lot more cooperation between the legislative and executive branches this coming term. Just because Congress and the White House are controlled by the same party doesn't mean they still don't check and balance each other. With Frist and Bush's closeness to each other, we will see legislation passing through even easier than before, legislation emanating from the White House itself. Karl Rove wanted to oust Lott as soon as the story started bubbling, and wanted Frist. There's a good reason.

[VV o n g B a]

true. but there's also the view that if republicans get most of what they want, they will have alienated many voters. at the next election, there could be a dramatic swing left in terms of elected officials.

[ism]

Good point, foresighted, but don't forget that damage done today is hard to undo tomorrow. It is more important for activists to write and fax their Representatives and Senators on every upcoming bill, to try and prevent such damage. Also, many federal judge seats are open, and now Bush can fill them with more conservatives than possible before. If the White House and Congress are freed from the Republicans, the judges are still sitting in the Circuits. The legislation made today, if challenged, will depend on how the judges interpret the Constitution, and it's not looking so good.

[MellowDrama]

Lott out... Bill Frist in. Not that Frist is any better since he ran (runs) a corrupt ass hospital conglomerate (which my parents worked for), that bilked the living daylights outta SS.

[ism]

New York Times article on how Lott/Frist affects the White House (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/22/politics/22BUSH.html)

A more expanded coverage of how Frist will affect the power of the White House. Same sentiments as my comments but more in-depth with "experts" comments.

To address dac's comments, it is pretty evident that the Democrats and Republicans pre-1950 are different from Democrats and Republicans of today. Both parties avoided what happened to the Whigs -- becoming irrelevant -- by grasping issues people cared about at the time. Many people switched parties, and I think Ronald Reagan said it best when he went from Dem to Repub -- "I didn't change. The Democrats did." Call me cynical but I believe both parties exist to maintain status quo and prevent swift changes. The appearance of Dems being the opposing party simply offer tiny steps to quell revolutionary tendencies.

[Andrew]

Originally posted by ism@Dec 21 2002, 09:07 PM
New York Times article on how Lott/Frist affects the White House (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/22/politics/22BUSH.html)

A more expanded coverage of how Frist will affect the power of the White House. Same sentiments as my comments but more in-depth with "experts" comments.

If those commentators are correct that Bush has as much power right now as LBJ did at his peak, we should all shudder. Consider the legacy of the domestic legislation that got enacted between 1964 and 1968. We might not recognize this country four years from now.

[Hiroshi2]

Originally posted by Andrew@Dec 21 2002, 01:19 PM
Originally posted by ism@Dec 21 2002, 09:07 PM
New York Times article on how Lott/Frist affects the White House (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/22/politics/22BUSH.html)

A more expanded coverage of how Frist will affect the power of the White House.  Same sentiments as my comments but more in-depth with "experts" comments.

If those commentators are correct that Bush has as much power right now as LBJ did at his peak, we should all shudder. Consider the legacy of the domestic legislation that got enacted between 1964 and 1968. We might not recognize this country four years from now.
Hopefully, we'll still have the ability to vote his ass out in that case.

[shaka.brah]

Racism exists on both sides of the fence .. If you believe this not to be the case, then your head has been in the clouds too long .. So to pin the title "racist" entirely on one party is blind to the truth .....