The following is from guest author Jamastiene of Capital Hill Forum:

Prejudice takes many forms. Sometimes, we do not even realize we are doing it. We all do it. It takes a lot of discipline to even notice it. The reason it is important to know this is that there is power in pointing out a person’s actions alone without prejudicial adjectives. Anything we say loses power and meaning if we use any sort of “hot button” language. People shut down and miss our point, if we do that.

Case in point, an incident that happened years ago really gave me a lesson in the power of concentrating on the person’s actions as opposed to their physical characteristics. A band member started complaining about another band member’s lack of concern about the trash piling up at the practice space. This band member constantly threw his Cheetos bags and Pepsi cans toward the trash can. They never made it into the trash can though. He just left them. The place did really look like a pigsty in his area. When I notice something is messy, that means it really is messy.

The other band member lit into a tirade about “fat slobs.” It just struck me funny that he felt the need to point out the other band member’s physical appearance. I asked him if it would really matter if the band member in question was skinny and still a slob. He said it would not. The point was that the guy didn’t care about the mess he left behind for the rest of us to clean up. It had nothing to do with his physical appearance.

If the other band member had merely launched into a tirade about the mess that the other person left behind, no one would have batted an eyelash. A simple glance into the corner of the room would have proven his point. Most would have agreed with him hands down. By adding the word “fat” into the tirade, it took the power away from the point he was trying to make.

By adding that into the dialogue, he was alienating anyone who may be conscious of their weight. If an overweight person had been in the room, it may have turned into an argument, instead of a simple discussion. The point would still have been lost. Many overweight people are neat and tidy people. We have no way of knowing who is messy and who is neat without being around them and observing their actions. The band member’s point could have been made with no mention of the other band member’s physical appearance. It would have had more power if he had simply pointed to the messy corner.

Another case in point, Chris Rock felt the need to make an ass of himself on David Letterman’s Late Show last night right after President Bill Clinton’s appearance. I did not see it, but I did catch a clip of it on Live Leak this morning when I woke up. Any self respecting Democrat who saw that and had been leaning toward Obama in the general election, would surely be put off by the amount of negativity coming from Chris Rock. Oh, let me count the ways.

Chris Rock harped on the fact that Obama is black and the Clintons are white. He did it so much that it sounded like a racist tirade. Any point he was trying to make lost all power when he made it about race and race alone. Anyone who might have listened to him, otherwise, would be turned off by his racial obsession and completely shut out everything else he had to say. He did Obama no favors with undecided voters last night.

He then went on to belittle Alaskans for hunting for food. He also compared Sarah Palin to Michael Vicks for the picture of her with the dead moose. Well, if he wanted any power to his statements there, he could have laid off people hunting for food and pointed out the act of shooting animals from helicopters and made that comparison instead. Even many hunters do not agree with that practice. He may have been able to make a point.

Instead, Chris Rock chose the most base, vile prejudice toward rural America and belittled Alaska, the state, and Alaskans, who hunt for their sustenance. Any point he was trying to make was lost in his prejudiced tirade against white people and rural Americans, and they wonder where the “elitist” tag comes into play. Talk about clueless.

Now, if I want to make comments in response to Chris Rock’s horribly embarrassing tirade last night, would I need to point out his race to do so? No, I would not. He did that enough for the both of us last night. I don’t even need to point out his race to make the point that his comments, his actions, were crude, prejudiced, and yes, elitist. Many people might feel the need to point out his race, but no, that is not necessary. Debunking the horrible things coming out of his mouth last night will suffice. My complaint is not his race. My complaint is his insistence on making everything about race when it is not and his prejudice toward rural Americans. He is the one stereotyping people in this case. His prejudice and his nasty comments are the problem, not his race.

So, when we address issues and talk about a person’s actions, it is important to remember that there is power in concentrating on the action, not the person. It is not even necessary to point any physical characteristic about the person out to point out that we disagree with that person. I only did so here with the Chris Rock example for demonstrative purposes. If you know who he is, you are aware of his race. No one needs to point it out. And if you don’t know who he is, does his race really matter? No. What matters is that Chris Rock belittled the people from an entire state and harped on race to the point that remote controls all over the nation probably became much-sought-after devices last night. That speaks volumes.

What Chris Rock also did last night, that many people might have missed, though, is insinuate that President Clinton was a racist. Once again, either the Obama campaign has a loose cannon with Chris Rock, or that is still their campaign strategy for the general election. They will call you a racist if you have reservations about voting for Barack Obama.

But, wait, there is more.

The even deeper point here is that they will insinuate you are a racist for simply being white as well, even if you are an Obama supporter. The very last thing President Bill Clinton said was that he liked Obama and thought he would win. President Clinton also said he was going straight to a campaign rally for Obama when he got finished with his interview with David Letterman. What Chris Rock said last night, in context to what President Bill Clinton said last night, was that if you are white, you are a racist whether you are supporting Obama or not.

Chris Rock had no point last night. I’m sure of that. If he did, it didn’t come through…unless his point was to open his mouth and prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he can be a real jerk. If that was his point, it came through loud and clear.