The problem, as I see it, is that saying “The things you are saying are racist/bigoted” is effectively the same as saying “You are a racist/bigot, otherwise you would not say those things/hold those views”.
I think keeping the focus on the things a person says allows the person to believe that they didn’t realize that a statement could be construed a certain way. And then you tell them exactly why it could be construed that way. Even if the reason someone is saying racist things is because he is actually racist, it’s easier for someone to change one opinion at a time than to change his entire personality.
I noticed, and took it as tongue-in-cheek, which the person who made the statement later said it was. Even if he were serious, I wouldn’t have cared.
But was it annoying? I mean, to have people hitting report buttons in your honor. Sigh. I don’t know, it just annoys me so. It’s like almost stirring shit up when the so called ‘target’ is completely relaxed and not stirred up about anything at all.
ETA: Nevermind that. I feel like the one stirring shit now. If you were annoyed you would have said so. I’m the one that gets irritated at shit like that.
I think it’s a little weird that everyone got offended by (what I thought was obviously) intended to be humorous, but whatever.
I blame the Jews.
One of the problems with this concept is that we can’t even agree on a definition of “racist.”
As an example, I saw one heated debate where one side said that all people of all races should be treated exactly the same. The other side said that races that have been repressed in the past should receive special treatment today. Each side said that the other was racist.