Are You a Racist? Take This Quiz and Find Out

by muon

I was told last week that suggestions of racism among Romney supporters is highly offensive. I was told this by someone who was more of an Obama non-supporter than a true Romney supporter. He stomped his foot and shrieked while making his point, so I know he was sincere.

Okay, I agree, generalizing is never a good idea. Thus I invite everyone, no matter whom you support, to take this quiz, add up your score, and see how you do.


A) I believe President Obama was born

1-  in Kenya, and is therefore not a citizen and not qualified to be President.
2-  possibly outside of the US, but he has an American mother, so it doesn't matter (as in the case of George Romney, Mitt's dad, who was born in Mexico, yet no one questioned his citizenship when he ran for president)
3-  in Hawaii, and he should have been believed even before producing 2 birth certificates, but now that he has produced them, get over it.

B) I believe President Obama

1-  is a Muslim, and that's a bad thing.
2-  might be a Muslim, but in a country where we have freedom of religion, what does it matter?
3-  is a Christian, specifically, a member of the United Church of Christ, like more than one million Americans.

C)  I believe

1-  candidates for president should have American-sounding names.
2-  if a candidate has an odd name, it doesn't mean he wouldn't make a good president.
3-  that all Americans have American-sounding names. It's that melting pot thing.

D) I believe Mitt Romney's welfare ads

1-  show that lazy black welfare recipients have been released from their work requirement by Obama, and are taking tax money right out of the pockets of hard-working white people.
2-  not sure what the ads show, but I'm sure not all welfare recipients are black and not all workers are white. Even if they were, shouldn't we help those in need?
3-  are proven lies. Work requirements have not been dropped, only moved to the states, which is what states requested (including Republican governors). The states in turn have to meet a set of federal regulations to keep their right to make their own reforms. Moreover, as of 2011, nearly the same number of white and black families (about 38%) were receiving welfare. The remaining 20-some% went to other minorities.


If you scored

12 -  You're not a racist and are well-informed to boot.
8-11 - You're not a racist; your heart's in the right place. You just need to get your news from reliable sources and don't believe everything you hear. Go to factcheck.org, which checks statements and ads from BOTH sides.
5-7 - Try the reliable sources mentioned above for two weeks and take the quiz again. Put all political ads and right-wing talk shows on "mute."
4 - Sorry, you're a racist. No getting around it. If this offends you, think of how much more you offend me.

The American Pandemic

America is in the midst of an epidemic.  I don't know the statistics, but based on the people I've talked to in the last year, I'd say at least 30% are infected, with another 10% highly susceptible.  One peculiar symptom of this disease is that the victims become proud of their affliction and reject treatment.  They infect their children, not by accident, but deliberately.

The epidemic?  Ignorance.

Bad enough a bunch of folks in Texas booed at a respected scientist because he said the moon reflected the sun's light.  No one's played that stupid card since Galileo was excommunicated.

Now take Donald Trump (please).  He calls himself a presidential contender yet, does he talk about the economy?  The budget?  The environment?  America's military involvements?  Anything that could be vaguely regarded as a real issue?  No, his main talking point is Mr. Obama's place of birth.  The certification above--what most of our parents took home from the hospital, in lieu of birth certificates--has been floating around the Internet for 4 years now, along with a copy of the president's passport, which you can't get without a US birth certificate.   That should have been enough for intelligent people.  But Donald Trump?  Nuh-uh.

Yesterday, the President asked the State of Hawaii to release his birth certificate to the public.  Did Trump act embarrassed when his claim was proven wrong?  No, he puffed out his chest and took credit for the birth certificate.

I remember a former president in this century who used to do that sort of thing.  You know, the president responsible for all the US soldiers killed in Iraq because of WMDs that never existed?  That whole "Mission Accomplished" thing?

I won't accuse Trump of being ignorant.  Just the opposite--he's cunning, and likes to manipulate people who are ignorant to get what he wants.  Frankly, he's not doing anything different from half the Republican politicians in federal and state governments.  Their policies call for cuts in education.  Why?  Because educated people can figure out when they're being conned.

Lincoln said that you can fool some of the people all of the time, or all of the people some of the time.  What it boils down to is, the more people you can keep ignorant, the more you can fool.  And really, you only have to fool 51% to win an election.

Do yourself a favor.  Seek the truth.  Insist that your politicians talk about issues.  Insist that they do their homework.

Don't be stupid.
muon