# What should a Richter's scale for racism look like?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-a-richters-scale-for-racism-look-like/798115>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [October 6, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-a-richters-scale-for-racism-look-like/798115 "2017-10-06T16:27:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-a-richters-scale-for-racism-look-like/798115/6 "2017-10-08T19:16:32Z")

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> [@Your Memories Of The Superfriends](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-memories-of-the-superfriends/106542/4):
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> We are better off not labeling people as racists at all, and instead labeling actions and ideas as racist. In addition to more precisely specifying the target of criticism, identifying and criticizing ideas/behavior as racist rather than people as racist has the benefit of making some people less defensive, which is a mental posture more conducive to persuasion.

Well put. See also Jay Smooth’s “How To Tell Someone They Sound Racist:” [www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Ti-gkJiXc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Ti-gkJiXc)

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