It is not the fact that the person has black friends that is supposed to count as evidence of their racism. It is the fact that they say that they have black friends in response to an accusation of racism.
Exactly. The claim is not “You have black friends, therefore you are racist.” The claim is “You think ‘I have black friends’ is a relevant thing to mention in response to being called on your apparently racist comments or behavior. It isn’t.”
Oh, I agree. However, folks often take the claim “Hey, that thing you just said was kinda racist” as meaning “YOU ARE AN AWFUL RACIST SCUMBAG GO DIE IN A FIRE” and respond accordingly.
That’s not too surprising given that ① people generally don’t like receiving criticism of their views or actions, and get defensive; and ② many people seem to believe that only “racists” (a kind of person, usually found in Nazi or Klan uniforms) do, say, or believe racist things — and therefore that if someone says you did something racist, they are calling you “a racist” and thereby predicting that you’re going to go commit hate crimes.
It’s unfortunate though.
It probably doesn’t help that people use “racism” to mean several different things, including:
Racial prejudice — having false negative beliefs about people according to their race
Racial privilege — the situation where some people receive social, political, or economic advantages and others receive disadvantages on the basis of their race (see also: invisible knapsack)
Racial hatred — having malicious intentions towards people on the basis of their race
Notably, people can do racist₂ things — perpetuating racial privilege — without being racist₁ or racist₃.
Exactly. The claim is not “You have black friends, therefore you are racist.” The claim is “You think ‘I have black friends’ is a relevant thing to mention in response to being called on your apparently racist comments or behavior. It isn’t.”
There’s a difference between being racist (or, more precisely, the popular perception of what being racist entails) and engaging in racist behavior.
Oh, I agree. However, folks often take the claim “Hey, that thing you just said was kinda racist” as meaning “YOU ARE AN AWFUL RACIST SCUMBAG GO DIE IN A FIRE” and respond accordingly.
That’s not too surprising given that ① people generally don’t like receiving criticism of their views or actions, and get defensive; and ② many people seem to believe that only “racists” (a kind of person, usually found in Nazi or Klan uniforms) do, say, or believe racist things — and therefore that if someone says you did something racist, they are calling you “a racist” and thereby predicting that you’re going to go commit hate crimes.
It’s unfortunate though.
It probably doesn’t help that people use “racism” to mean several different things, including:
Racial prejudice — having false negative beliefs about people according to their race
Racial privilege — the situation where some people receive social, political, or economic advantages and others receive disadvantages on the basis of their race (see also: invisible knapsack)
Racial hatred — having malicious intentions towards people on the basis of their race
Notably, people can do racist₂ things — perpetuating racial privilege — without being racist₁ or racist₃.