“I’m not racist, but…”

“I’m not racist, but it’s a fact that blacks go to prison much more often than whites”. Let’s analyze this oft-heard racist statement. It’s true that blacks go to prison more often than whites, but somehow we know that this person is not about to lament the institutional racism of the legal system.

How do we know?

It has everything to do with the “I’m not racist, but…” part. If they weren’t about to say something racist, why the need to deny being a racist? Is it the motive of the racist to pretend not to be a racist, all the while secretly furthering his racist agenda?

A more interesting approach is to take the racist’s words at face value. What if they honestly believe they’re not a racist? For a true racist, white superiority is not a conviction but a fact; a fact that political correctness keeps us from admitting to ourselves.

Isn’t it a fact that a black man would rather go stealing  than earn a hard days work? They’re all either in prison or on the street corner selling drugs. Isn’t it plain as day? The racist fails to see his enjoyment of these “facts”.

A first mistake would be to deny his facts, or counter them with examples of black people who play a positive part in society. That would be like protesting the Holocaust by claiming that not all Jews are bad.

A second mistake would be to start patiently explaining how the legal system is racist. To the racist this must seem like a paranoid schizophrenic explaining that he’s not paranoid, that everyone is actually conspiring against him.

After all, what motive does the legal system have to be racist? Are all judges and juries secretly racist? To repute the racist, we must bring into the discussion such abstract concepts as institutional racism and unconscious bias.

To claim that effectively the entire world is racist is not a common-sense position. Its truth is only visible from an engaged, radical egalitarian perspective. It can’t be based on fact or rationality, since it’s impossible to say when somebody fails because of a lack of opportunity, or because of a lack of ability.

Being anti-racist is not a matter of common sense, it is a political engagement, an ideology about how the world should be. The idea that everyone should be of equal worth is an ideal we constantly have to fight for. Often this fight must be fought with ourselves, not others.

What we are left with is then the exact opposite of what we started with. The answer to “I’m not racist, but…” should be “Though I am effectively, spontaneously a racist, I nonetheless think that actually the legal system is biased against blacks”.