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Why would that sound racist? Honest question, as an immigrant I don't pick up 100% of all the things Americans perceive as racist.
by luckydata 7y ago
Why would that sound racist? Honest question, as an immigrant I don't pick up 100% of all the things Americans perceive as racist.
- aphextim 7y agoIn America when people cannot cope with something that alters their worldview they simply call it racist so they don't have to deal with thinking about it further.
- yardie 7y agoTell me about it. When I mention that Andrew Jackson was a racist, genocidal maniac who has no business being on $5 bill some people get all upset saying we want to erase their heritage.
- JCSato 7y agoAndrew Jackson is on the $20 bill.
- Konnstann 7y agoIf we remove every racist from American history we won't have very many people to choose from. Andrew Jackson was not a great man, but his impact on the economic policy that shaped the country is undeniable, and is probably what earned him a place on the $20. Unfortunately history is full of terrible people who do great things, and great people who are less noteworthy.
- Chris_Chambers 7y agoIt’s more like mounting the head of your kill above the fireplace. Andrew Jackson was put on the $20 bill to mock him. He would have been the first to demand the destruction of the Federel Reserve.
- DoofusOfDeath 7y agoI think societal norms regarding virtues and vices also change over time. If nothing else, what's considered a minor vice in one century might be considered an unforgivable character flaw in another century. Given that, I'm a little skeptical of claims that a historically significant figure should have never appeared on money, in a statue, etc.
- jtr1 7y agoThis is such a weird argument to me. The vast, vast majority of historical figures do not show up on currency or monuments. That doesn't mean they've been "erased" from history, it just means we don't celebrate and memorialize them. Likewise, choosing to remove monuments or figures from currency does not in any way equate to removing them from the history books. You're still welcome to read all about Andrew Jackson, teach courses on him, whatever you'd like.
- Konnstann 7y agoI think the argument to remove public mention of historical figures is weird. I think UVA students trying to get a statue of the founder of the university removed because he was a slave owner is weird. I don't really care one way or the other who's on my money, but the need to replace the historical figures we do portray with ones that are considered politically correct in "current year" seems weird to me.
- Apocryphon 7y agoWas it weird when Eastern Bloc nations removed Marxist relics from the Soviet era?
- Konnstann 7y agoI'm from an eastern bloc nation, and there are plenty of Marxist relics to look at. If the US had statues of Jackson in every square and photos of "insert racist slave owner terrible person here" in every building, I would think it was weird too.
- jtr1 7y agoAh yes, freedom from slavery, the politically correct flavor of the moment.
- yardie 7y agoWho said anything about removing him from history? This is the disinginious argument the right makes. Equating removing thestatues and monuments of less than ideal figures with complete erasure from historical records. In reality there has been real people erased from the records and they always turn out to be people of color and women.
- sodafountan 7y agoWell actually Lincoln is on the $5 bill and he might have been the most important figure in american history in terms of the ending of slavery, so there's that. If you mean the $20 bill where Andrew Jackson is figured I'd postulate that most non-racist/non race baiting people don't give a flying fuck who's on their currency so long as it works - and that's because they're simply going about their lives and not thinking about how they can inject race into every single topic ever - which is an inherently non-racist way of going about your life.
- stcredzero 7y agoAndrew Jackson People back then were horrified when he got into the oval office. Nothing new under the sun, really.
- alistairSH 7y ago$20. Also, not sure if you're aware, but the Trump admin just decided to keep the genocidal white guy instead of the heroic black woman... https://thehill.com/policy/finance/445004-mnuchin-harriet-tubman-20-bill-designs-wont-be-released-in-2020 https://thehill.com/policy/finance/445004-mnuchin-harriet-tu...
- yeahitslikethat 7y agoBecause "afro" was a hair style worn by primarily black people a few decades ago when racial tensions were higher. It's an old term and as such is considered to be used by people who don't care enough to adopt more modern language to refer to people of the race and their culture. In this case, it's the title of a real show and the protagonist is very respectfully portrayed in the anime. Recommended.