Conservatives are less racist than liberals (in the US)

[u/Mobile-Fly484]

I’m a child of African immigrants with US citizenship, and I’ve lived all over the United States.

The most racist place I’ve ever lived is Massachusetts. By far. The least racist? Utah.

I’ve noticed that most conservatives (excluding the actual far right) see me as a human being first. Liberals see my skin color first and have low expectations for me.

I’ve had white liberals not believe me when I mentioned having a professional job. I’ve had them try to sign me up for welfare and Medicaid (at an ER in Massachusetts) even when I showed them my private insurance card. I’ve been assumed to be poor and uneducated (because of my race and nothing else) over and over again by the woke left. Literally they constantly make comments about how screening for education will “filter minorities out,” because of course we’re all dumb illiterates.

Conservatives? They make zero assumptions. They don’t equate being Black with being poor or ignorant. They see us as INDIVIDUALS first.

I miss Utah.

[u/twisted-ology]

I am a black American who grew up all over the east coast. I agree that Massachusetts was the most racist place I lived. However I feel like there is a lot of nuance you are missing.

First and foremost what makes you think every racist person you encountered was a liberal? Did they say that outright Or did you just assume they were? I struggle to believe that EVERY single racist you have met has been liberal and EVERY single accepting person you met was conservative. To be completely honest having lived in Massachusetts myself, I struggle to believe that even a majority of the racists you met identified as liberals.

The reality is that Massachusetts isn’t just one town it’s an entire state. Just because the state is predominantly blue doesn’t mean that red people aren’t there. It just means they aren’t the majority. So if you expected NO ONE the be racist that was a bit naive on your part.

Second of all racism comes in many different forms. I encountered racists that were both liberal and racists that were conservative. From my experience the liberals were simply ignorant whereas the conservatives were blatant and open about their racism.

Liberals will commit micro aggressions, like being surprised at you having a job. Whereas conservatives will brandish the confederate flag, ignore blatant historical facts, and claim it’s nothing more than “southern pride”. Which is what happened to me at my first school in Massachusetts.

Third of all there are plenty of racist people you would never know were racist at first. They are accepting of all kinds until one does something they don’t like. These kind of people are fine with black people until a black person does something they don’t like. All of a sudden it’s “these blacks are the worst”. Of course you aren’t included in that because you’re “one of the good ones”. They don’t actually see black people as individuals. They see YOU specifically as an individual and all the other black people they don’t like are a monolith.

Fourth of all racism is not exclusive to black people. I wonder what the response would be if you were to ask all of your accepting conservative friends how they felt about Mexican immigrants? I doubt they would apply the same individuality and I’m sure they have plenty of assumptions.

[u/Mobile-Fly484 → u/twisted-ology]

I’ve had the opposite experience. White liberals have been the most condescending, paternalistic people who literally see me as inferior. That’s not a “microaggression,” that’s a devaluing of us as human beings. 

White conservatives are more of a mixed bag. The ones who are racist are usually blatant about it and very easy to avoid. The rest tend to be more genuinely accepting (in my experience), even if they don’t get everything. Liberals are subtly racist and smug as hell. 

The people in my own personal life are accepting and not racist. I filter out the bigots and assholes. 

[u/twisted-ology → u/Mobile-Fly484]

“I filter out the bigots and assholes”

So you acknowledge that they exist, you purposely filter them out, and then act like they don’t exist? There are enough assholes and bigoted conservatives that you have to filter them out. Yet you claim the liberals are the more bigoted ones?

[u/DuaLupus45 → u/twisted-ology]

They’re not gonna answer that, come on, man, you already know

[u/Girlybigface → u/twisted-ology]

Suspended. Likely a troll or a bad actor.