Do you think racists are all the same? You are wrong. Country star Brad
Paisley announced to the world on Monday that he is an "Accidental
Racist" in a song that has earned lots of
criticism.
Before we unpack how one can be accidental about their racism (and why
that doesn't exucse the racism), perhaps, in a way, he's onto something.
While racism is pretty much just racism there are so many different
species of racists.
Accidental Racist.
This is what Paisley claims to be. As the word accidental suggests,
being a racist just sort of happened to him. The Accidental Racist is
someone who doesn't think they're racist, understands why others might
call them racist, but resents being called racists. That's what happened
to Paisley,
according to his song,
when a Starbucks employee took his Confederate flag T-shirt as a sign
of support for white supremacy. Paisley thinks this is unfair because he
doesn't think the
flag, which once was
the banner of a generation who rebelled against the abolition of slavery
and then for another generation who rebelled against civil rights for
black people (Georgia, for example, put the Confederate flag on its state flag in
1956),
symbolizes racism. Through his protestations at the injustice of being
labeled a racist, the Accidental Racist acknowledges that racism exists
(or at least existed) and that it is (or was) a bad thing, but by
claiming to be the victim, he also suggests that the real problem is all
the people (black people, especially) who won't just let it go. (Also,
Paisley can't really claim "I'm just a white man comin' to you from the
Southland," as he says in the song, because
he's from West Virginia,
which is not the South.) There's also something vaguely deceptive about
the Accidental Racist. There is no way Paisley was actually unaware
that wearing the Confederate flag is a symbol of racism. He just does
not believe it should be. A
real accidental racist might be the Nathan Zuckerman character in Philip Roth's
The Human Stain,
in which the professor asks whether one of his students who's never
attended his class is a "spook," not knowing the student is black.
Casual Racist.
What makes this kind of racist unique is that he or she doesn't do a
nervous head turn to make sure no minorities are around before saying a
racist thing. The Casual Racist thinks his or her racist comment is just
a statement of practical fact. The tone of condescension — this
form of racist is most associated with the caricatures of rich people —
usually indicates that being racist is a good idea to protect oneself. A
stand-out specimen is
Arrested Development's Lucille Bluth, who in one episode says to a Spanish-speaking mover, "And
that goes into storage right? Not into your apartment." Or like when
then-Vice President George H.W. Bush referred to his Mexican-American
grandchildren was "the little brown ones."
Hipster Racist. Like
the Accidental Racist, the Hipster Racist knows racism is wrong, but
thinks that if it's wrapped up in enough layers of irony it can be
turned into a cool inside joke. Last year, for example, when people
noticed
Girls had no real characters who weren't white,
Girls writer
Lesley Arfin tweeted about the well-received Gabourey Sidibe movie, "What really bothered me most about
Precious
was that there was no representation of ME." Excavations of her
writings showed other racist jokes, like an article section about
defecating that began with, "That Which Shall Not Be Named: You know,
'dropping off the kids' or 'taking Obama to the White House.'" At
Vice, Benjamin Leo
defended
Arfin, saying, "It’s 2012 and Obama’s in the White House: the
McCarthyism 2.0 witch-hunting mob has been disarmed!" He was right that
the country has changed, he was wrong that there's enough irony in the
world to make racist jokes OK.
Unreconstructed Racist. This
may be the nearest relation to the Hipster Racist in that these people
choose to be racist, are aware that other people find that racism
unacceptable, but, and here is the main identifying characteristic,
still believes in some of the oldest forms of racism, usually as
hallowed traditions. As the name suggests, the Unreconstructed Racist is
someone who has not changed with the times -- think Archie Bunker,
Ellen Barkin's character in
The New Normal, some older relatives in white families.
Last
year, in a sign of belated but admirable progress, graduates of the St.
Martinville, La., Senior High School Class of 1973 decided that for the
first time in 40 years, they would not hold a segregated class reunion.
Unfortunately, some thought that was too much change and a "white
graduates only" get together was held after the high school's Homecoming
Game.
Unfortunate Racist. Like
the Accidental Racist, these racists did not set out to be racist, and
are pretty sure they are not truly racist, but somehow found themselves
being racist anyway. The most typical example of this species are
politicians who say something racist and then find it unfortunate when
they realize it could kill their careers. Unfortunate Racists include
former Virginia Sen. George Allen, who called an Indian-American
"Macaca" in 2006. Allen responded to the resulting criticism by saying, "
I do apologize if he's offended by that."
There's also Alaska Rep. Don Young, who last month said his dad hired "50 or 60 wetbacks" to pick tomatoes in the olden days. Young apologized, saying, "I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays, and I meant no disrespect... There was no malice in my heart or intent to offend; it was a poor choice of words." There's Hawaii state Rep. Faye Hanohano, who in February protested a lack of funding for Native Hawaiian artists by saying she didn't want art made by "Haoles, Japs, or Pakes." That means Caucasians, Japanese, or Chinese. She apologized, saying, "I'd
like to express my sincere apology to any individuals or groups who may
have been offended by my comments." While the Unfortunate Racist's
apology may be motivated by self-preservation, unlike the Accidental,
Unreconstructed, and Hipster Racists, he or she takes no pride in
racism.
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