What is 'race baiting'?

I think it refers to making statements purposely loaded to provoke racial tension or a response. It is applicable to both sides of the fence too. Minorities can say things to get themselves stirred up as well as non-minorities saying insensitive stuff. IMO this term was kind of invented by the media to make “being a jackass” sound more palatable when Al Sharpton takes to the stage.

Like many other things in the US, the meaning is different for liberals than it is for conservatives.

To a liberal race baiting is using racially derisive language and actions used to anger, intimidate or coerce a person or group of people.
Conservatives use the term to connote groundless accusations of racism to deliberately focus on negative opinions or attempt to discredit others as racist.

We can’t even agree on clear, concise definitions anymore.

So, basically, if I say “All Mexicans who come across the borders are criminals and rapists” I could be said to be race baiting but if you said I was a racist for saying such a thing then I would say you were race baiting.

but @rojo your statement above is racist.

No, now you are just race baiting.

see how that works?

So, it is a way of racist people to defend themselves when they are called out?

^^^ I never thought about it that way, but yes it does seem to fit.

It’s simply when people make things racist that are not normally racist or blowing racist things out of proportion. It’s a way to get media focus, create drama and tension where it did not exist before. Race baiting is a media tool and is used by anyone with something to gain from stirring things up.

@ARE_you_kidding_me is there a level of racism that is acceptable and doesn’t need calling out? Does the media focus on who is being racist or do they find excuses to dismiss the accusations of racism?

For instance.. If my Uncle Bob tells racist jokes at the family barbecue, I don’t think I’d contact the local newspaper. But if my Uncle Bob is a county judge and consistently works in favour of maximum sentences against people who look ethnically different from him and gives light sentences or dismisses cases against people who look ethnically like him, and I contact the local newspapers and news programs to point this disparity out, how easily are my concerns dismissed by telling me I am ‘race baiting’?

Wait… am I ‘race baiting’ by even asking this question?

It’s a way to change the subject so you don’t have to deal with unpleasantness

@cazzie Yes. It’s a way to delegitimize people’s opinions about racism or valid points about racism that they bring up. It’s basically racist, conservative people saying “You’re just trying to cause problems that don’t actually exist!”.

I’m sorry DD, The reigning kings of race baiting today are Al Sharpton and Louie Farrakhan. Both Master Baiters, but neither one conservative by a long shot

@majorrich as in reading race into any given situation?

As in a person is shot and killed while breaking and entering a home.

If he was white he was shot committing a criminal act whereas if he were black he was shot because he was black and committing the crime was secondary?

Pretty much my read. It looks like we are in agreement.

Some people are just broken and when it comes to the crazy shit they do to other people color does not enter into it.

@majorrich No one said it was just racist conservatives. I said “basically” for a reason. But I will vehemently disagree with you that “race baiting” even exists in most situations conservatives apply it to. That’s exactly why you hear it all the time on things like Fox News. They try to delegitimize genuine racial concerns, as do many, many, many other Republicans.

Al Sharpton is a conservative, so I’m confused, but he is a civil rights activist, so I guess it is his job to piss off bigots so calling him a race-baiter seems rather uninformed. Why not just call him an activist/political commentator and just say, ‘He is wrong in this instance’ when you don’t agree? Farakan is just nuts, I don’t know what he is and I think calling him a race baiter shows the name-caller really doesn’t know either.

Actually, calling someone a ‘race-baiter’ is going to reflect badly on the name-caller for me now. No way around it.

I’ll put it in the same category as ‘Feminazi’.

I still think Feminazi sounds like some kind of pharmaceutical product – “Shit not working?? Try Feminazi, now with lemon!”

Or an Italian Sports Car.. LOL

it’s like this