# What's a crypto-racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 19, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879 "2002-12-19T20:19:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879/1 "2002-12-19T20:19:11Z")
I was reading a rather partisan website and came across this quote: "benefiting from the votes of racist and **crypto-racist** constituencies ". “Crypto-racist”? Is that like a “crypto-fascist”? Not that I’m sure what that is either to be honest, but I have seen that term around. What do these terms mean and where did this all come from? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879/2 "2002-12-19T20:56:53Z")
He told me he was going to New York so I would think he was going to Philadelphia but I know he was going to New York. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879/3 "2002-12-19T21:11:26Z")
“Crypto-” is a combining form meaning “hidden.” Crypto-racists are those racists who lie about it, or who try to obscure their leanings by using innocuous-sounding language that, when you finally work it out, means “keep 'em darkies away from me.” In this case, he’s talking about people who, while disavowing racism, always seem to gather in groups of their own color and favor policies that “well, whaddya know, my moral and principled support for policy X promotes segregation! Howzabout that!” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2002, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879/4 "2002-12-19T21:17:53Z")
A flat-out racist is easy to spot- he still uses all the offensive racial terms (the N-word, etc.), he has a KKK bumper sticker on his pickup truck, he belongs to organizations that proudly exclude Jews and blacks. But of course, there aren’t many of THOSE folks any more. Does that mean racism is a thing of the past? Hardly. Many people still harbor the old attitudes but have learned to couch their prejudices in more pleasant-sounding language, while using certain “code” words to express their old, racist beliefs. (“Crypto” is a prefix meaning “code”). When blacks hear a white person use certain words or phrases, they go on the alert. They’re suspicious when a politician uses phrases like “states’ rights,” or “preserving neighborhoods,” or “getting tough on crime,” or “getting deadbeats off welfare,” because politicians who toss such words around are often (subtly) pandering to racist voters. A guy like Trent Lott, for example, may never have used any racist epithets in public, but almost every time he’s opened his mouth before white audiences, he’s given signals that say “We white folks have to stick together, and not let those uppity coloreds take over.” It’s those signals that make a “crypto-racist”, as opposed to a plain old bigot. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879/5 "2002-12-20T00:52:19Z")
[www.m-w.com](http://www.m-w.com) tends to support **Nametag** ’s definition over **astorian** ’s. Search for _crypt-_ with the hyphen at the end to avoid getting the word _crypt_. A crypto-racist would be a hidden racist. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879/6 "2002-12-20T02:07:59Z")
You can find this at a number of places on the net: > [@](#): > > Crypto Anarchy > The economic and political system after the deployment of encryption, untraceable e-mail, digital pseudonyms, cryptographic voting, and digital cash. A pun on “crypto,” meaning “hidden,” and as when Gore Vidal called William F. Buckley a “crypto fascist.” Ah, that never-to-be-forgotten (on live tv) political dialog during the 1968 election campaign: from James Wolcott: > [@](#): > > When Vidal called Buckley a ‘crypto-Nazi’ (he meant to say ‘crypto-fascist’ but words for once failed him), Buckley responded: ‘Now, listen, you queer! Stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in your goddam face and you’ll stay plastered.’ Now those were the days of intelligent political debate. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879/7 "2002-12-20T03:38:28Z")
A good example in context, from the [American Prospect weblog](http://www.prospect.org/print-friendly/webfeatures/2000/12/marshall-j-12-28.html): > [@](#): > > December 26th, 2000–Revisionist, Crypto-racist Claptrap Today I finally got my hands on an actual copy of John Ashcroft’s interview with the Southern Partisan magazine. If anything the quote in question is even more damning than the clipped version noted previously. (If nothing else, it’s funnier: The intro praises Ashcroft for being “a jealous defender of national sovereignty against the New World Order.”) Speaking on the evils of historical revisionism, Ashcroft said: > > “Your magazine helps set the record straight. You’ve got a heritage of doing that, of defending Southern patriots like [Robert E.] Lee, [Stonewall] Jackson and [Jefferson] Davis. Traditionalists must do more. I’ve got to do more. We’ve all got to stand up and speak in this respect or else we’ll be taught that these people were giving their lives, subscribing their sacred fortunes and their honor to some perverted agenda.” > > So, in other words, if you really want the straight scoop on the nation’s past read the revisionist, crypto-racist claptrap printed in the Southern Partisan. Man! This guy’s got civil rights written all over him, doesn’t he? Ya know, for the first time I’m actually starting to think Ashcroft may not make it. _The Southern Partisan_ is an organ of the [Council of Conservative Citizens](http://www.cofcc.org/articles.htm).) ---
**Author:** ![Mandarax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Mandarax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mandarax)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879/8 "2002-12-20T04:37:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \* > \*\*_The Southern Partisan_ is an organ of the Council of Conservative Citizens. \*\* Are you sure about this? CoCC is based in Missouri, while _Southern Partisan_ is [or at least used to be] published in South Carolina. And while _SP_’s views are at least wildly politically incorrect, I don’t think their leanings approach the overt racism of CoCC. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879/9 "2002-12-20T05:01:50Z")
It doesn’t sound like a very reliable description. While I recognize that there are all kinds of double-talk bandied about on all sides, the “I’m reading your mind and telling you what you really said” headset of “code word” interpretation has always left a lot to be desired. Then interpreter can’t interpret without their own bias. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879/10 "2002-12-20T05:26:13Z")
Ringo, we risk error any time we judge another’s motives. With that said, there are still language _clues_ that understandably make the ears perk up: One that I particularly remember was Ross Perot’s addressing a predominately African-American group and using the expression “you people.” He would probably never realize that that is a red flag. “A credit to your race” is another ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-crypto-racist/143879/11 "2002-12-20T06:06:18Z")
> [@](#): > > **Mandarax** : Are you sure about this? Um, no, actually-- I was confusing _Southern Partisan_ with [_The Citizen’s Informer_](http://cofcc.org/citizens.htm). I don’t think that their agendas are that far apart though, and there’s certainly a certain amount of crossover. [Samuel Francis](http://www.onepeoplesproject.com/francis.htm), for instance, is active with the CCC and a contributor to SP. Rep. Richard Hines is a [funder of the CCC and an editor of SP](http://www.confederate.org/publish/100014.html). [This CNN article](http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/2001/01/22/yell.html) from last year simply notes that two regular SP columnists are CCC members. My apologies for the gaffe-- a few associations certainly do not “an organ” make. (Though I doubt you could pee on the CCC without splashing _Southern Partisan_.) **Ringo** does have a point – I’ve heard some activists, full of youth and high spirits, (or p;ss and vinegar, sometimes it’s hard to tell them apart,) accuse people of “crypto-fascism” on the most ridiculous pretexts: “We don’t want X involved with this action because he has a history of starting fist-fights at our rally’s.” “You’re denying me my right to freedom of association! Crypto-fascists!” Uh, yeah, buddy. Some things can properly be called crypto-racist, though. [This Southern Partisan T-shirt](http://www.fair.org/sp-shirt.html) has no overt racism in any way. After all, the neo-confederate position is that Lincoln was a bad, bad man-- because he threatened the civil liberties of American citizens. That Tim McVeigh thought it was a cool shirt, _and_ happened to be a devotee of William Pierce is a meaningless coincidence. Of course.