# Confronting racism in oneself **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 19, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215 "2026-05-19T17:58:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/121 "2026-05-20T14:50:12Z")
Hell, just questioning the received wisdom about stuff like this can get you labeled that way. Which IMO is a huge problem. It feels like they’re demanding you pick a side and go all-in with it, or you’re NOT part of the solution. Which to me, seems like someone who’s got some sort of guilt about it might do, but anyone else might be fairly offended by the notion. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/122 "2026-05-20T15:01:30Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Her focus on extermination of impure racist thoughts that escape our subconscious, in a constant ongoing process never ending waking hour battle to have souls/hearts/minds that are purer of them, I believe is very wrongheaded, a misunderstanding of what drives implicit racism, and an inefficient and inadequate tactic to combat it. It’s also a very Christian approach to life. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/123 "2026-05-20T15:06:47Z")
I’m not putting on airs, I don’t think I’m better than anyone else, and I keep saying that we’re all in this boat together. My parents saw to it that I was sent to exclusively Catholic schools to be taught by the religious orders. Jesuit in particular. They drill into you a concept called “examination of conscience.” They get you at a young enough age, that software installation cannot be deleted, even after you no longer run on the Catholic OS. My country is being destroyed rapidly by Fascism right now, employing a resurgence of the same old White supremacist racism that fucked it all up in the first place, 3/5 compromise and all that. I feel it’s urgent, I HAVE to speak out! There’s too much horror. It’s too overwhelming. It’s a fucking emergency! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/124 "2026-05-20T15:16:58Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > My parents saw to it that I was sent to exclusively Catholic schools to be taught by the religious orders. Jesuit in particular. They drill into you a concept called “examination of conscience.” They get you at a young enough age, that software installation cannot be deleted, even after you no longer run on the Catholic OS. I do wonder whether a Jesuit upbringing affects the lens through which you see this issue. Is there a similarity between the framework of “We all have racist thoughts and must root them out” and “We all sin and must root out our sin”? Is it possible that there are other, equally likely frameworks that are less informed by Catholic intellectual thought and more informed by other thought traditions? I’m definitely more on your side in this debate, and frankly I’ve cut way down on starting threads here because so often the OP is misconstrued by people who seem more interested in contradiction than thoughtful discourse. But I also want to consider whether there are other, better frameworks for thinking about antiracist work. Also, “copula”? Come on, unless you’re [XKCDing it](https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2501:_Average_Familiarity), I think that was a flex. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/125 "2026-05-20T15:28:01Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Also, “copula”? Come on, unless you’re [XKCDing it](https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2501:_Average_Familiarity), I think that was a flex. Well, _exsqueeze me_ for writing about what I know. While we’re on it, let me introduce you to another field within linguistics: _Pragmatics_. That means specifically what happens in realtime when people talk to each other. Conversation. On that basis, in the OP I advise not saying “You are a racist.” It’s just like pointing a finger. Better to say “We’re all in this boat together.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/126 "2026-05-20T15:33:08Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > There’s too much horror. It’s too overwhelming. It’s a fucking emergency! So issue a call to arms for your fellow non-fascists to fight fascism. Not a herald blaring that your natural allies, the many well-meaning but impure-thinking whites, are part of the problem from your POV. If only the “strive all day every day for purity” brigade can join your army, it’s going to be a very small band, not a fearsome multitude. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/127 "2026-05-20T15:35:07Z")
You don’t like my ideas? Fine, then, why not start your own thread and share your ideas for combating racism? We have to fight right now with all we’ve got! This is urgent! ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/128 "2026-05-20T15:38:30Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Not a herald blaring that your natural allies, the many well-meaning but impure-thinking whites, are part of the problem from your POV. That is not what the original post was doing. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/129 "2026-05-20T15:42:53Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > That is not what the original post was doing. Thank Goddess we have someone here who reads for comprehension. I just don’t understand how any sort of dialogue is even possible when they keep perversely misreading my words. Respond to what I really said, not the ill-fitting argument you already had prepared in your head. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/130 "2026-05-20T15:48:12Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Well, _exsqueeze me_ for writing about what I know. I don’t think so. Did you think the concept was sufficiently well-known outside of your field that using it without explanation would lead to effective communication? I agree with not saying “you are a racist.” “We’re all in this boat together,” though, might not say _enough_. Better to say, “That [name specific action] was racist, because…” Separate the behavior from the person, but call out the behavior. If adding “We’re all in this boat together” softens the blow or allows for a personal connection, sure; but specifics are better than generalities, IMO. I am curious whether some of the folks arguing with the OP believe they never have thoughts tainted by racism. Do you believe that you are free of all cognitive biases? If not, which ones do you suffer from? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/131 "2026-05-20T15:48:54Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Did you think the concept was sufficiently well-known outside of your field that using it without explanation would lead to effective communication? Did you think I didn’t explain it? I FUCKING WELL DID. Suck on it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/132 "2026-05-20T15:50:06Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > We have to fight right now with all we’ve got! This is urgent! And that’s your plan of action? Confronting your internal racism will save your country? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/133 "2026-05-20T15:50:55Z")
I don’t think I will “suck on it,” thanks for the measured debate; and no, you certainly didn’t explain it sufficiently for a lay audience, reference to Korzybski’s General Semantics notwithstanding. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/134 "2026-05-20T15:51:11Z")
Don’t like my ideas? Fine, then. Share your own, if you have any. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/135 "2026-05-20T15:51:53Z")
Bullshit. I explained it in words of one syllable, just to counter the usual anti-intellectualism on display here. I’ve noticed nobody gives physicists shit for talking about physics. Hmm… ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/136 "2026-05-20T15:51:55Z")
Going back a bit earlier… > [@Johanna](#): > > It’s an ongoing process. We keep running into this assumption that the anti-racism project is one and done, forevermore. Rather, it’s an ongoing process. It has no endpoint. Excellent point there. You don’t just “get cured” or “get over it”. You _overcome_ , as we shall, but it does not mean the underlying issue just ceased to exist. I wonder if part of the problem lies in that as a culture we connected the term “racism” as such too specifically to concrete expressions of violence/hate such as Jim Crow, Indian Boarding Schools, Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese Internment, Redlining etc. Rather than as a vision of life and the world that infects and influences and that is still latent even if externally we enforce Equal Opportunity access and we no longer use certain words in public. Is it a matter of “being” racist? Or of being _influenced and touched_ by racism and needing to deal with that? There is a difference between “you’re a racist” and “that statement is racist” but too many people think the latter means the former. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/137 "2026-05-20T15:52:30Z")
Moderating: > [@Johanna](#): > > Suck on it. This thread may not be going as you like, but that’s not a basis to become abusive or engage in personal attacks. Dial it back. A lot. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/138 "2026-05-20T15:57:37Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Bullshit. I explained it in words of one syllable, just to counter the usual anti-intellectualism on display here. > > I’ve noticed nobody gives physicists shit for talking about physics. Hmm… I genuinely don’t understand why you’re so resistant to feedback on this, but I’ll try one more time: 1. Your tone in the first paragraph quoted is completely anathema to reasoned discourse. You had to explain what you meant, later on, because your first post was opaque to folks who don’t share your academic background. 2. Were this a thread about linguistics, I’d think differently. But if you’d been posting about antiracism and came in with an abstruse metaphor about astrophysics, I’d similarly suggest it was an unsuccessful attempt at communication. Something interesting is going on here: I’m mostly agreeing with you and suggesting we’re in this all together. But you’ve paid most of your attention to my criticism of your post, and gotten both really defensive and very hostile in response to that, ignoring the productive things I’ve said. Does this maybe act as a metaphor for how people respond when they’re criticized for racist behavior? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/139 "2026-05-20T15:58:39Z")
So you admit I _did_ explain it. An apology would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215/140 "2026-05-20T16:00:16Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Is there a similarity between the framework of “We all have racist thoughts and must root them out” and “We all sin and must root out our sin”? Oh to me (another Catholic School kid) that was always obvious. I mean, this tradition believes sins can be of action, inaction, word and _thought_ so racist thoughts are part of what we should be aware of and correct. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confronting-racism-in-oneself/1030215.md?page=8)