# Describing someone as black - will it ever be seen as not racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2016, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describing-someone-as-black-will-it-ever-be-seen-as-not-racist/762780 "2016-08-14T12:21:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describing-someone-as-black-will-it-ever-be-seen-as-not-racist/762780/21 "2016-08-15T16:42:37Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > I don’t doubt your personal sincerity about that, and you might have a definition, or ‘know when it when you see it’ designation of a ‘racist’ that’s exactly the same as mine. > > But looking more broadly the statement is somewhat circular. Without agreement who is a racist, it doesn’t mean much. Yeah, I readily agree that my statement is pretty useless for deciding whether specific cases count as “racism.” ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describing-someone-as-black-will-it-ever-be-seen-as-not-racist/762780/22 "2016-08-15T17:16:06Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Try being the only white guy on an all black work crew. Your not going to be known as “John, the short guy” it will be “John the white guy” because hey, its most descriptive. All of your coworkers are racist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describing-someone-as-black-will-it-ever-be-seen-as-not-racist/762780.md?page=1)