Maxiavelli: I am Not a Racist. Are You sure?

Sulky woman or the Silence by Paul Gauguin

How many times have you heard "I am not a racist; I have [insert ethnicity] friends!"?

Nowadays, it is not acceptable to be racist (at least openly) as it once was; therefore racists have found new ways of expressing their prejudice. In other words, racism has evolved. Since racists can be sued for expressing their bigotry; they now say they're not racist simply because they commit their hate crime with subtlety and word-play; that is, they make use of what I call Racial-Correctness, to avoid being prosecuted.

Racial-Correctness (RC) is a form of exercising racism without using obvious racist wording, while practising covert aggression and creating social tension. You have probably seen this phenomenon at play many times; and although the covert racist seems polite, rational in his/her arguments, there is always a hint that something is not quite right.

Allow me, please, to expose some examples of RC:

Example A - a white man is married to a black woman who bears his children. Later on, their kids fall in love with black people. The father strongly opposes the relationships. When his offspring indicate the obvious "But you are married to a black woman yourself!" he will reply "It's different; besides your mother is not black!"...

Example B - a black woman marries a white man and has children. In family gatherings, she comments that her black relatives who "marry black" are not making an effort to improve the quality of their offspring's hair.

Example C - the classification of all fair-skinned people as white for political purposes.

Example D - the request to include photos in curricula vitae, to render the racial triage easier.

Example E - skin whitening creams and their "White is Perfect" adds.

Example F - "pro-Palestinian" activists saying they object the politics of the Israeli government, but when doing so they obsessively refer to "the Zionists" (who, according to such activists, outside Israel control "the media, the banking and political systems"), and accuse religious Jews of being irrational and insensitive. The best example of racial-correctness is Roger Waters' words "You know, assuming you’re not an ultra-right-wing religious sort of fanatic who thinks that Israel should extend from Turkey to Mali (...) the goal, strategically, should be a solution of the Palestinian refugee problem, an end to the occupation, security and the right to lead a decent life for all the citizens of Israel – both the Jewish citizens and the Palestinian citizens – which are 20 percent [of the population]" - take a closer look at these apparently rational argument...what do you see?

The want of racial disparaging remarks does not render the racist act null, for the aggression (as covert as it may be) is still felt.

Before leaving, here's a small formula to identify Racial-Correctness (in case you do not trust your instinct):

1- The Racial-correct individual will never articulate racial slurs.
2- The RC individual will either exclude other ethnicities from social activities all together or invite only one or two members of a different ethnicity (and make them feel uncomfortable).
3- The RC person will damage the target's reputation with others by spreading lies and gossiping about its victim.
4- The RC practitioner will cause others to withdraw support and friendship from its target.
5- The RC coward will exercise Cyber-bullying.

People who say "I am not a racist, I have [insert ethnicity] friends!" are usually racist; because those who are not, do not have the need to say such things: their stance in life proves it.