I'm not racist, but...

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I'm not racist, but... is a phrase that often precedes a racist argument and provides a "veneer of political correctness".[1][2][3]

Interpretations

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The phrase has been described as "hypocritical" and "apologetic". Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and Tyrone Forman argued that it is used by "the new racists, all the nice Whites".[4][5][6] Alana Lentin, in a op-ed for ABC, cited the phrase as an example of "how denying racism reproduces its violence".[7] Deutsche Welle's Torsten Landsberg and Rachel Stewart wrote that the refrain is "usually followed by an opinion that belies at best ignorance and at worst a deep-seated prejudice or even racially fueled hatred".[8] Ibram X. Kendi felt that its usage is an ineffective means of combating racism.[9]

Frequency

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"I oppose them, mainly because, I am not a racist but because I think you should have the best person for the job".[4]

Response in a survey of students' opinions on affirmative action.

Baugh (1991) found that when people were asked why the term African-American should or should not be used, many respondents prefaced their answers with "I'm not racist, but...".[10] Brown (2006) found that the phrase was often used by Lancastrian interviewees who were concerned about the influx of racial minorities.[11] Simon Goodman of Coventry University wrote that the phrase encapsulates "a major feature of talk about immigration is the repeated denial that opposition to it is racist".[12]

Edwy Plenel ascribed the saying to the "average Frenchman".[when?][13] Mahfoud Bennoune expressed a similar opinion, writing in 1975 that "The typical French racist attitude is expressed in this manner, 'I'm not racist, but I find that the Algerians are the rabble that must be expelled; the syphilis that arises like arrows'."[14] Interviewed in 2018, former American white supremacist Adrianne Black said that her father had, when recruiting people into white nationalism, sought those who would "start a sentence by saying, 'I'm not racist, but.' And if they've said that, they're almost there".[15]

The Irish Times' Donald Clarke wrote that Halle Bailey's casting in The Little Mermaid "reveal[ed] the usual unconvincing qualification".[16] The Twitter account YesYoureRacist seeks to condemn "casual racism on Twitter" and "retweet[s] everyday users who say: 'I'm not racist but ...' followed by something, well, racist".[17]

See also

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References

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