I'm not racist, but...

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

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

"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" in Britain: "the repeated denial that opposition to it is racist".[12]

Edwy Plenel ascribed the saying to the "average Frenchman". Mahfoud Bennoune expressed a similar opinion, exclaiming 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'."[13][14] Former American white supremacist Derek Black said they sought to recruit people who "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

• Rhetorical shields
• I'm not racist, I have black friends

References

1. Hill, Jane H. (1998). "Language, Race, and White Public Space". American Anthropologist. 100 (3): 680–689. doi:10.1525/aa.1998.100.3.680. ISSN 0002-7294. JSTOR 682046.
2. Harris, Kate Lockwood; Palazzolo, Kellie E; Savage, Matthew W (2012). "'I'm not sexist, but...': How ideological dilemmas reinforce sexism in talk about intimate partner violence". Discourse & Society. 23 (6): 643–656. doi:10.1177/0957926512455382. ISSN 0957-9265. JSTOR 43496418. S2CID 144765339.
3. Every, Danielle; Augoustions, Martha (2007). "Constructions of racism in the Australian parliamentary debates on asylum seekers". Discourse & Society. 18 (4): 411–436. doi:10.1177/0957926507077427. ISSN 0957-9265. JSTOR 42889138. S2CID 145223804.
4. Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo; Forman, Tyrone (2000). ""I am not a racist but ...": mapping White college students' racial ideology in the USA". Discourse & Society. 11 (1): 50–85. doi:10.1177/0957926500011001003. ISSN 0957-9265. JSTOR 42888295. S2CID 145683232.
5. Wright, Michelle M. (2003). "Others-from-within from without: Afro-German Subject Formation and the Challenge of a Counter-Discourse". Callaloo. 26 (2): 296–305. doi:10.1353/cal.2003.0065. ISSN 0161-2492. JSTOR 3300854. S2CID 143466555.
6. Thorleifsson, Cathrine Moe (2017). "Peripheral Nationhood: Negotiating Israeliness from the Margins of the State". Anthropological Quarterly. 90 (1): 83–106. doi:10.1353/anq.2017.0003. ISSN 0003-5491. JSTOR 44246137. S2CID 151689809.
7. Lentin, Alana (2017-10-19). "'I'm Not Racist, but ...': How Denying Racism Reproduces Its Violence". ABC. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
8. Landsberg, Torsten; Stewart, Rachel (July 7, 2018). "Rap against racism: 'I'm not a Nazi, but...'". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
9. Nawaz, Amma (2020-07-08). "How anti-racism is a treatment for the 'cancer' of racism". PBS. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
10. Baugh, John (1991). "The Politicization of Changing Terms of Self-Reference among American Slave Descendants". American Speech. 66 (2): 133–146. doi:10.2307/455882. ISSN 0003-1283. JSTOR 455882.
11. Brown, Cynthia (2006). "Moving on: Reflections on Oral History and Migrant Communities in Britain". Oral History. 34 (1): 69–80. ISSN 0143-0955. JSTOR 40179846.
12. Goodman, Simon (March 11, 2016). "Is it really not racist to oppose immigration?". The Conversation. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
13. Sarkar, Salil (1985). "The Charms of Socialism". Economic and Political Weekly. 20 (12): 494–495. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4374198.
14. Bennoune, Mahfoud (1975). "Maghribin Workers in France". MERIP Reports (34): 1–30. doi:10.2307/3011470. ISSN 0047-7265. JSTOR 3011470.
15. Gross, Terry (September 24, 2018). "How A Rising Star Of White Nationalism Broke Free From The Movement". NPR. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
16. Clarke, Donald (July 5, 2019). "Halle Bailey's casting as the Little Mermaid drove internet racists nuts. Or did it?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
17. Domonoske, Camila (August 14, 2017). "On The Internet, Everyone Knows 'You're Racist': Twitter Account IDs Marchers". NPR. Retrieved 2021-06-30.