When White People Try to Hide Their Racism, They Use These Phrases.
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InAmerican society, many White people live in fear of being called a "racist." It's become a scarlet letter for some because once you're exposed as such, you may lose legitimacy in your professional life and the community more broadly. For instance, last fall, a police officer in San Jose, California, Mark McNamara, commented in a text thread that he "hates Black people." In Antioch, California, an investigation showed at least 40% were involved in a similar text thread. Officer Rombough confessed to "only stopping" people because "they are black." While another officer referred to their new Black police chief as a "gorilla." Many officers lost their jobs, and their statements became part of the public record. This is the type of humiliation and consequence most hope to avoid. However, refraining from using explicitly racist language doesn't mean someone doesn't harbor racist beliefs, just that they've learned it's best to ingrain plausible deniability in the language they use.
In a viral video, Danny Collins, a white general contractor from Florida, gave a nearly comprehensive list of phrases White people use when they're "low-key racist." These phrases may sound eerily familiar, and of course, this isn't an exhaustive index. Still, it's helpful to discuss the subtle ways racism finds its way into everyday conversations, often from people who claim they're anything but racist.
"All Lives Matter."
Without further ado, let's get started with a common one, "all lives matter." Of course, White people began saying "all lives matter" and "blue lives matter" in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, a way to silence those using the slogan. If we lived in a society where all lives matter, we wouldn't need to use the aspirational phrase, Black Lives Matter. Nevertheless, given that police officers continue to kill Black people at nearly three times the rate as White people, it's safe to say the slogan is still necessary. Honestly, how can all lives matter if black lives don't? It's become painfully evident in the past few years that "All Lives Matter" is one of those phrases that…
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