Is it racist to assume racist motivation in others?

As a Canadian, Barack and Michelle Obama have done a fantastic job of representing your country to the rest of the world.  They are classy, seem kind, mild mannered, nice, even tempered, etc.  So I don't assume you don't like them because they are black, I assume you don't like them because they are Democrats.  George W didn't represent your country well, most thought he was a less than intelligent buffoon.  Your president elect represents the worst stereotypes that the rest of the world holds about Americans.

Does that answer your question at all?

    I agree completely with your analysis of all three leaders. 

No.  That doesn't even make logical sense to me.   Say I'm white, and Janie is white, and Janie does something that seems racially motivated to me.  How in the world could I be racist towards Janie for thinking that way??

Or here, where I don't even know the race of many people posting---how could I possibly be behaving in a racist manner by questioning their words or behavior?

But even if you & I were different races and you said you didn't like Obama based on his policies, and I, for some reason felt you were being racist, that doesn't mean that I am being racist.  It just apparently means that I'm wrong about you.


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Well I'm grappling with your response right now. You might be right. But I'm not sure. Still thinking it over - but interesting to ponder, for sure. 

If you say you disagree with Obama's policies, that alone won't make me think you're racist.

If you insist against all actual evidence to the contrary that Barack Obama was born in Kenya or is a Muslim, or if you refer to Michelle Obama as an ape in high heels, then yes, I'm going to call you a racist.

Not "you," of course, but the people I've seen say these things in the news or even here on occasion (not the ape thing, that was the public official in WV).

ETA I'm not sure about the answer to your question about whether it's racist to call someone racist unfairly. It's kind of dirty politics is what it is, even at a very small, local level like 2peas.

No, it is not racist to accuse someone else of racism.
As someone else said, it may be a faulty generalization but it is not racism.

Racism, in the simplest terms, is the belief that one race is superior to another. Racism takes on many forms, and one doesn't have to be a skinhead or klansmen to be guilty of racism. It can be in your face and it can reveal itself in more subtle ways

I've been lumped into the racist category here before because I don't support illegal immigration. Since my grandfather was a migrant worker that came up and worked in Iowa and then went back to Mexico, I really don't feel like I'm racist against my own heritage. Of course this is the only place I've ever been called or inferred that I'm racist so I really don't hold much respect for the people that say that. 

This is the only place I feel like I should list my lineage and family structure in my signature   But I'm sure those that like to throw the racism label at people they don't know would just come up with some other excuse on why I fit their definition. And we all know you must never say you have friends of other colors, religions or nationalities because then you are accused of just saying you have token friends of another color 

I think it is simply sad when people use the term "race card," laced as it is with smug insularity, instead of making an effort to understand the pain behind the centuries of institutionalized racism in this country.

Same goes for woman card, LGBTQ card, and all the rest of those easy Republican retorts. No need to actually think about the problem if you can just refer to it as a "card."

Or maybe, just maybe, people could actually think before they speak? People could see that maybe their favorite candidate isn't perfect and others might actually have a reason to dislike something he has done? To assume that someone dislikes another just because of their skin color is pitiful. And it doesn't say much about their own ability to think with logic and reason. Those people are the ones that are lacking understanding. 

Making an assumption that a disagreement is based solely on race is definitely pulling the race card. 

I would really like us as a nation to stop using the term "racist" for every little thing. It is not racist to assume racism in others and throwing this term around so freely and using it incorrectly is causing it to lose its power. Accusing someone of being racist, when they have actually demonstrated prejudice or bigotry does not help Us in fixing problems if actual racism. It also leads to people tuning others out when referencing racism issues.
Prejudice is a pre-conceived view of a group based on lack of real experience with that group. For instance, I had a manager with some prejudices against blacks because she came from a very small town of only whites and had only seen us depicted in the media- especially Jerry Springer. Though she said some crazy stuff to me, she never treated me any differently than the rest of the staff. The shit she said was prejudiced because it was ideas based on my race with no experiences with my culture.
Racism is prejudice with power behind it- you would have to have the ability to affect someone's life (not their feelings) based on your prejudiced views. For instance- I took a diversity class with only 5 minorities, this includes the black teacher. We sat together(not with the teacher), worked together, were some of the only ones with good report with the teacher, and also had the only A's in the class. A group of about 15 people took that to the college of education and claimed that the teacher was racist. Had they been right, she would have been guilty of racism because she was in a position of power and would have used a prejudice against whites to effect their grades. The manager at my job would also have been racist if she used these negative views of me based on being black to effect my schedule or other parts of the work environment. She did not, therefore it was not racism, she was actually one of the nicest people I've ever known. Anyone can be racist, as long as they/the system has some sort of power to negatively impact your life (not emotionally).
I keep hearing and reading people of the majority racial group say that there is a racial divide in the country since Obama took office (I don't believe it's true in my opinion), and if we want to fix that perceived divide, it would be best for us to use correct terminology so that we don't push others away- no one wants to be called a damned racist when they aren't. Having prejudiced views is normal and not horrible enough to be saddled with that heavy, horrible term. It's easy to fix prejudice- but not if we make them tune us out by calling them a racist.

I, for one, blame the press for how a lot of things are misrepresented in our country. I also place the blame for the stark divisions in our country squarely at the feet of the media.

exactly, except that I am English.

It certainly can be.

I've been called all kinds of names and told I have all kinds of assumptions because of the color of my skin.

I've been told that it's impossible for the people who said/believed/did that to be racist themselves because of the color of their skin.

Sorry, but no. They are racists and they demonstrate just how racist they are by assuming anything about me based on the color of my skin.