Comment by magarathea | Hacker News Reader

Comment by magarathea | Hacker News Reader

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I have heard this called racist a few times and at risk of sounding like a pedant or an apologist I respectfully object.

Creating abusive policy targeted at people from certain countries seems xenophobic, isolationist, draconian, cruel, stupid.

Racism is a far more evil concept than any of those.

Abusing and rationalizing the abuse of people because you have made a generalization based on their geography, ideology or culture is certainly wrong.

Abusing and rationalizing the abuse of people because you believe they are genetically inferior is on a different level of depravity.

When we use "racism" as a catchall term for all bigotry and bias, we do it at the peril of diluting its power when that particular flavor of shitheaded thinking needs to be classified.

Question: when the USA refused to take in many Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany, was that merely isolationist and cruel? Or racist too? After all, anti-Semitism was rife in the 1930's USA--plenty of businessmen like Henry Ford were more than happy to republish the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which certainly played a role in American willingness to help the Jews.

Or does it even matter? I don't see how you can try to create a ranking of "minor evil" or "far more evil."

This is a strawman. People call Trump racist, but this is an unconstitutional action with clearly racial motives.

Arguing against this being called "racism" is completely missing the point.

What Trump is doing is unamerican and unconstitutional. Arguably an impeachable offense.

There is nothing in the Constitution that supports your assertion. You have been tricked--a radical, violent ideology, wrapped in a religion is out to harm all those who will not submit to it. How many Christians, non-believers, and generally alternative people have to be murdered until you figure this out? Also, Islam is not a race.

And please, un-American? Our self-preservation is now un-American?

"Abusing and rationalizing the abuse of people because you have made a generalization based on their geography, ideology or culture is certainly wrong." --

What kind of generalization is it though?

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