Kristof: Racism Without Racists

I ran across a New York Times piece by columnist Nicholas D. Kristof called “Racism Without Racists”. He supports, in a grey, watered-down way, what I have been saying about white people – even though he is white himself. Instead of making absolute statements based on personal experience, like I tend to do, he makes […]

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John McWhorter: Woke Racism

“Woke Racism” (2021) is a book by John McWhorter subtitled, “How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America”. Since 2020, wokery has become a “scourge” in the US, “an ideological reign of terror”. It is performative virtue-signalling that styles itself as anti-racist, but is itself racist in how it babies Black people to not pull […]

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White American racism: the 1700s

In the course of the 1700s, White Americans read their social order into the natural order. After all, it was not they who made Black people into slaves, into a degraded race – Blacks were just born that way. They were not capable of much more! Thus the rise of scientific racism in the late […]

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The Linda Lindas: Racist, Sexist Boy

Remarks: The Linda Lindas perform live at the Los Angeles Public Library on May 4th 2021 to kick off AAPI Heritage Month. Whatever this song may lack musically it more than makes up for in lyrics and delivery. It is inspired by true events: Mila, the 10-year-old drummer, notes: “A little while before we went […]

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racist statues

Racist statues (fl. 1895-2015) are statues that White people in the US and UK and elsewhere have put up to honour their racist heroes: Christopher Columbus, Robert E. Lee, Winston Churchill, Cecil Rhodes, White Jesus, etc. One of the glorious things about the George Floyd protests of 2020 is that some of these statues are […]

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White Evangelicals and Trump’s recent racism

To keep this post within bounds, it only concerns racist remarks made by Trump over the last 19 days, from July 14th to August 1st 2019. On July 14th Donald Trump, the US president in this alternate universe, went after the Squad, four Congresswomen of colour, telling them to go back to the countries they came […]

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The word “racism” in 2019

In 2019 the word “racism” is changing right before our eyes. On March 29th 2019 the Associated Press (AP) changed its style book to say: “Do not use ‘racially charged,’ ‘racially motivated,’ ‘racially tinged’ or similar terms as euphemisms for ‘racist’ or ‘racism’ when the latter terms are truly applicable … [using ‘racist’ as a […]

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Was Hitler racist in his heart?

Was Hitler racist in his heart? How come no one ever asks this question? According to Google, those words in that order do not even appear on the Internet – until just now with this post. Why is that? Because it is a brainless question. Yet people keep asking or answering this question about President […]

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National Geographic’s racism

The April 2018 issue of National Geographic is all about race. The issue marks 50 years since Martin Luther King Jr’s death. There will be other articles about race throughout the rest of the year. The editor’s note for the April issue is entitled: “For Decades, Our Coverage Was Racist. To Rise Above Our Past, […]

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“It’s not about racism”

“It’s not about racism” (fl. 2016- ) is a phrase I have been hearing in the days since Donald Trump was elected US president. Some people, most of them Black, say Trump mainly won on racism. Other people, most of them White, say that “It’s not about racism” but class, in particular White working-class men […]

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“Racism is dead”

“Racism is dead” (1964- ), or at least not a big deal any more, also known as the minimization of racism, is a bedrock belief of colour-blind racism, the sort of racism common since the 1970s among White Americans, New Blacks, Rented Negroes and other hangers-on. By racism they mean the anti-Black sort. Many of them think […]

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reverse racism

Reverse racism is racism against White people. Many Whites say it is more common than un-reverse racism. Australian comedian Aamer Rahman gives by far the best answer to this Broken Record argument: A lot of people don’t like my comedy, a lot of White people don’t like my comedy, a lot of White people say this […]

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racist dog whistle

A racist dog whistle (fl. 1968- ) is a message that is properly understood only by racists, just as an ordinary dog whistle is heard only by dogs. It uses colour-blind language so that it seems unracist to most people. The classic example is the Willie Horton ad used in the 1988 election for US president. Horton, a […]

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racist jokes

Racist jokes get laughs by putting down people because of their race. They are mainly based on stereotypes. Some dehumanize, like comparing Black people to monkeys. Racist jokes help to strengthen and spread racism. Are people who tell racist jokes or laugh at them racist? Yes, at least somewhat. To laugh you need to know […]

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You are probably racist if …

The following applies mainly to the US. Terms: OGP is short for out-group person. In the US the current groups are Asians, Blacks, Latinos, Muslims, Natives and Whites. Those who belong to a group you do not are OGPs. Racism means you think one race is naturally better than another. For those who define racism […]

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