However, the statement "I know I'm not a racist" is slippery. Perhaps you're not, but guess what, most racist people think the same too. I've seen explicitly racist things told to me with the same statement prefixed to it. How do you absolutely know you're not racist? Perhaps we all are at least slightly racist and should strive every day to just reduce that part of us?
This is similar to 'I know I am not a bad person' - the majority of the people subscribe to this hypothesis and I believe that is the root cause for many ills in society. I subscribe to an alternate hypothesis - "most of us are kinda bad people" - I mean most people here have burned tons of CO2 on plane trips for personal pleasure, or bought fancy cars or thought we deserve luxury when many in the world continue to suffer - all of this is bad in some definition anyway so even if we all don't promise to be saints let's at least acknowledge that we all ain't angels as a first step?
What in the heck are you doing that's inviting frequent accusations of racism?
> The point is, if you want to face reality rather than live in a comfortable fantasy, you have to confront the possibility that the racists are right about one thing: It's possible that some races really do have less intelligence than others.
You just can't go around making statements about race and intelligence, however delicate and nuanced, and not expect people to raise an eyebrow. Do you think he'd make that same statement in a room full of black people?
In case it isn't obvious, not-racist people with a smidgeon of social awareness don't even engage in those sorts of discussions on the first place, because they understand that nothing productive can come of them.
They're his words, and I linked to the full thread to provide context. If you find "this behavior" "very rude," I think many others here would disagree with you.
However, if you want to accuse someone of racism, you better have evidence of you're going to pay.
I’m pretty sure many racists think the same things... You don’t need to be in the KKK to be racist. You don’t need to be saying the n-word to be racist. There are a lot of more “subtle” things you could be doing that /are definitely/ racist.
Btw, the fact you don’t let race enter your interactions probably means you’re not accounting for what people experience as part of their race. So, you’re probably racist for not considering their position.
Denying the charge or defending yourself simply digs you deeper into the hole.
What you're supposed to do is admit you're a racist, fall down on your knees, abjectly beg forgiveness of your accusers, and list all the new things you'll be doing to stop being racist.
Then your accusers have the power to forgive you. But you really, truly have to go all the way in submitting to their demands.
And they still might not forgive you. After all, you're racist scum, the lowest of the low.
It's an incredibly toxic and destructive way of handling the issue of racism.
I know I'm not a racist -- I interact with people of all races. I don't let race enter into my interactions. I sleep well at night, because I know I'm not a racist.
Defending myself against ridiculous allegations of racism is a game I refuse to play. For the good and simple reason that if you play the game, you can only lose.