White privilege 101: Here’s the basic lesson Paul Ryan, Tal Fortgang and Donald Sterling need

[elias7]

23. While I think there are unwitting racists or sexists on DU,

I think there are those that, as some have put it, are on the "all about me" train, and they automatically feel put on the defensive because they feel lumped into the cretin group of racists and sexists. This pushes buttons (even spousal ones) and they push back in sometimes ugly ways, despite the fact that they may not even remotely be sexist or racist.

I read a lot more threads than I post in, and I work to understand the dynamics within a heated thread. For example, if I see a rape culture thread started outside of HoF, I just wait for the fireworks. Sometimes the arguments seem disconnected, in that it is often about semantics, not content. Where there is fundamental agreement on the larger issue, this often goes unnoticed since a quagmire has formed around definitions, but the emotional pitch has risen to a point of no return.

Your tactic of pointing out these issues again and again though is highly effective in desensitizing the sensitive and educating those who aren't really affected (the often ignorant but well meaning white male).