The "Not Me!" Myth

One of the things I have a very hard time doing when I'm talking to my Republican friends is accepting their "Not Me!" defense when it comes to racism and bigotry. I hate to say it, but after directly confronting nearly all them on this matter in the way I have presented below, none of them have ever had a good response. In fact, they usually have no response at all. After recently taking a college ethics class, I have learned that a good deal of prejudice in entirely unconscious, and I am now at the unfortunate point of having to accept that my Republican friends simply do not KNOW what they really are. Nothing else can fully explain their inability to do what I am suggesting they do below,  not if they really and truly ARE sick of the "false" accusations.

Republican friend:

I am SO sick and tired of being called a racist and a homophobe and a bigot and every other nasty name in the book just for disagreeing with my Liberal friends! Why are you guys always so nasty that way?

Me:

Well, you might not actually be any of those things, but your party sure as hell DOES project that very image, and they do little to absolutely nothing to change it. When you claim affiliation with an organization, you are also publicly aligning yourself with the beliefs and philosophies of that organization. If you really are NOT aligned with those beliefs, then you must either tell your party that and ask them to clear up the misconception, OR stop claiming affiliation. Doing anything less renders your "Not Me!" defense utterly impotent.

Republican friend:

But we aren't ALL that way!

Me:

But many of you ARE, and you say nothing against them. How are we supposed to know you don't feel the same way, when you have publicly aligned yourself with them?

Silence. Crickets. Nothing. Nada.

And yes, they all still proudly call themselves Republicans. I sadly rest my case.