Can we stop using ‘’”A” Racist”?

Racism is everywhere, and in all of us. There is a spectrum from people who actively work to to create an anti-racist world to people who use and abuse and succumb to racial difference. /1

Essentialising “racists” stands in the way of dealing with that. It creates a false category of “racists” who can’t improve or redeem themselves, and in the process creates an even more false category of people who are not racist. /2

Amy Cooper is obviously racist.

But of course she rejects the identity of “a racist.” Everyone does. David fucking Duke does. Because it’s not her identity: she’s a white lady working at an investment firm. Like most such people, she’s pretty racist. /3

I would hope that her peers not think “oh huh, I never knew Amy was secretly a racist” and then move on. I’d hope instead that they say: “Amy is like us... I wonder if I’ve ever felt fear like that...I hope I wouldn’t act like that...” /4

None of this should be read as a defense of Amy Cooper. What she did was utterly repugnant. It’s just a plea to recognize that so so so many of us have the capacity to be repugnant. And we should not let our weird essentialising blame practices get in the way of realizing that./5

As usual @DrIbram says is best: https://twitter.com/DrIbram/status/1265300114849087488?s=20