What a load of crap."If you hate people of a given race" then you are in fact racist. ANY discrimination based on the color of skin instead of an individuals merit is racist, and that includes affirmative action.

This is more of the insane "words mean whatever suits my argument" liberal whitewash. At least I think it is: it depends on what "is" means....

Rodney, Hal said racism is the idea that another race is inferior. You cited definitions which say that racism is the belief that your own race is superior. In other words, the definitions you cited are consistent with what he said.

Not exactly, The definitions I included are a superset ot Hal's definition and include

3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.
and
Racism, by its simplest definition, is discrimination based on race.

Some of which Hal stated wouldn't necessarily be racism. Hal's context seems to be racism is only white biased black based the belief that blacks are inferior. Hal's quote below:

If you hate people of a given race because of - say - a history of slavery, or a history of lynchings against your race, etc, that's not racism. It's not something that is OK, either, but it is simply not racism.

In the article you cited, a GOP spokesman said this: “After what we consider to be a pumped-up, unifying convention, it’s one of those things you hate to see.”

Exactly two years ago, there was an article in the same paper, about, ironically, "GOP buttons." That article pointed out that the official platform of the Texas GOP says this:

America is a Christian nation

So it's nice to know what these folks mean by "unifying."

Excellent for them. Yes, let's get back to "cap n' trade" issues, along with how silly it is to use Rudy as your attack dog on Terrorism.

Now we can get back to debating policy differences!

Yes. And there's a word for that: shamelessness.

It's bizarre to try to create an *intentional* definition of racism, which is largely irrelevant in any reasonable discussion (e.g. "man is a featherless biped"). It's true that, largely due to those who want to create a moral equivalence between racial superior-ists and those who have suffered under their tender care, that "racism" has degenerated in common usage to merely mean discrimination (i.e. mere recognition) of race.

I really like the standard lines from the right that Feminism is actually discrimination against males, affirmative action is really discrimination against the poor oppressed white man, and racism is simply more of the same.

Black is white, war is peace and "waterboarding" isn't torture.

Y'all have a real track record in this whole degeneration of definitions to the point where they are completely irrelevant or completely unusable. One might begin to suspect it's an actual strategy or something.

It's best of the parties simply announce that they don't want those votes at all. Maybe we could get the electorate to educate themselves a bit.

Instead, we get implicit(at best) endorsement from both parties.

racisme. See race2, -ism]

—Related forms
racist, noun, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
racist

To learn more about racist visit Britannica.com

© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
rac·ism Audio Help (rā'sĭz'əm) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
2. Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

...and Wikipedia's entry into the fray.
Racism, by its simplest definition, is discrimination based on race. People with racist beliefs might hate certain groups of people according to their race, or in the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits. Racism typically starts with the assumption that there are taxonomic differences between different groups of people. According to the United Nations conventions, there is no distinction between the term racial discrimination and ethnic discrimination.

As for the definition of Racism, Hal. Your narrow definition wins the bizarro world claim.

----

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
rac·ism Audio Help /ˈreɪsɪzəm/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[rey-siz-uhm] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
[Origin: 1865–70;

Though Mr. Sharpton was quick to boast that he had bested Howard Dean, Gen. Wesley K. Clark and Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, his anemic showing leaves him hard pressed to present himself as the candidate best able to speak for minority voters within the Democratic Party. It also undermines his strategy of using delegates to leverage influence at the Democratic National Convention this summer.

''He is not catching fire with the black vote,'' said David Bositis, an analyst with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington. ''The black vote is looking for a winner and they are not looking to make a statement about race. John Kerry is one of the whitest guys, you know what I mean. The fact that he is getting almost twice as much as Sharpton is getting, that sends a message.''

You say that like it's a virtue. While admittedly a biased sample, all the racists I know (and I have them in my family in North Carolina in spades) are quite open about their racism and have no issues with it - they simply don't see it as a problem. Indeed, one of the seemingly omnipresent characteristics of racists is that they simply don't think there's anything wrong with it and are quite proud of it.

So, your attempt at spinning this as a virtue is pretty darn weird.

Presumably blacks that are racist against whites would be voting more Democrat.

You are, of course, promulgating the bizarro world definition of "racist" which is quite typical of the right. Just for the record, racism's defining characteristic is the belief that people of a given race are inferior. If you hate people of a given race because of - say - a history of slavery, or a history of lynchings against your race, etc, that's not racism. It's not something that is OK, either, but it is simply not racism.

To define it as such is to purposefully obscure the issue such that the ability to talk about the issue becomes impossible.

Which is the intent, after all.

And to accuse blacks of voting because of race? Suuure. Look at how many black voted for Sharpton?