Racism Is Not Conservatism

I HAVE RECENTLY BEEN LAMBASTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR MAKING THE FOLLOWING TWEET.

There's that word again. Racist. And in the way the libs so readily use it is part of the reason I believe racism does not exist anymore. If it did, the left would not have made the word so meaningless. https://t.co/DfyjhOmtWc

— Jim Bauer (@JimBauer601) March 1, 2018

Naturally, most of the lambasting has come from the left—which have, in their responses, taken my tweet completely out of context. Not surprising, really. But it is indeed a bit annoying.

The truth is that of course I am not so naïve to believe that there is no racism left in the world. Of course racism exists, and I cannot find anything about the wording in my tweet that really suggests other than that.

I was very clear when I said "in the way the libs so readily use it (the word racism) is part of the reason I believe racism does not exist anymore."

That is to say that liberals have simply redefined the word to mean "anyone who is a conservative or a republican is a racist based on the idea that he or she disagrees with a liberal position." That is, of course, not the definition of racism.

For anyone on the left who would like to have a lesson in what is the definition of racism, here it is.

"Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior."

Yes, I am against DACA. Yes, I am for secure borders. Yes, I am for legal and sensible immigration. Yes, I support Muslim bans until we know who we are letting enter our country. None of these positions make me a racist even if my positions impact another race. I simply want for our country to be safe, and I want for our citizens (legal citizens) to have the best opportunities for jobs, and do not want my tax dollars going into the hands of people who are not with our best interests in mind.

What makes the use of the word racism by liberals even more frustrating is that I actually advocate for especially the black community often. I have long said and written about how it pains me to drive through America's inner cities and want for them to have a better life and better opportunities. In part, a large part of the reason I advocate for American labor and protectionism to an extent is because I want to see many of those jobs opportunities afforded to the black community which would largely benefit—as it did in the past when manufacturing was more vibrant and robust.

Pre-Civil Rights movement notwithstanding. I cannot do anything to change that. I also was not alive during that era.

But, I fully support and would have supported desegregation, and would have opposed Jim Crowe laws vehemently. I would have been a fan of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and am a fan today of his message and his non-violent protest stance.

That does not make me a racist at all.

And even though I largely blame the black community today for many of its internal problems such as drug activity, gun violence, high crime, and children born out of wedlock—for their lack of action or based on the ineffective officials in their communities they elect—I am largely saying that of all people, it is the black community who has every bit of ability to pull themselves up from the bootstraps and succeed. I believe they have the power to do it and strongly believe that the government cannot and will not solve their problems for them.

And clearly government programs have proven ineffective.

It is not racist at all to point the finger and say, "You have the power to change your life if you seize the opportunity, and run hard with it." It is also not racist to say, "Until you realize what you are doing or not doing to affect your own outcome you will not succeed."

The point of my tweet was of course to simply point out that liberals have, as they do with so many words these days, redefined the word racism to the point that they have literally rendered the entire meaning of the word meaningless. And what boggles my mind a bit about that is that if you are a liberal and if you truly care about the impact of racism by its true definition, to redefine it in the way they have takes away from the real problems of racism in America.

And therefore, if no one knows what the word means anymore, how do you fix the problem? You don't know which bolt is loose on the tire if you catch my drift, and you may be trying to tighten the wrong one.

Look, I can be called whatever people want to call me. I know in my heart who I am and what I believe. But it does not mean I am any less frustrated by the label. In fact, it saddens me a bit. It saddens me because I do not like racism by its true definition anymore than any other common sense individual would not like it. I want to see racism eradicated as much as anyone. I want to see other races succeed as much as everyone. I want to be one America regardless of color or ethnicity as much as anyone.

We can't do that if the focus of what is racist is fuzzy and ill-defined.