Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Have you ever been accused of engaging in identity politics? Do white people frequently assume that you’re a professional race card player? Do you have a talent for baiting racists?
For years, talking about race has been frowned upon by Fox News analysts, conservatives, and people who “don’t care whether you are Black, white, or purple.” Although violet Americans have rarely weighed in on the issue, anyone who mentions race risks being classified as a “race baiter.”
But what is race-baiting?
Also known as “playing the race card” and “identity politics,” race-baiting is an accusation usually leveled by white people who are skilled at clutching pearls. Discussing Black people, Asians, Hispanics, or any of the other demographics that compose the multiracial democracy is allowed — as long as they don’t make white people uncomfortable. But if you talk about racism, white supremacy or discrimination, you are out of order
To be clear, it is perfectly fine to talk about race — as long as they are not about the white race.
For instance, news outlets routinely characterized the 2020 demonstrations over the death of George Floyd as “Black Lives Matter protests” even though they were not organized by one organization. Yet, referring to the Jan. 6 insurrections as “white protests” might get you tagged as a “race-baiter.” It is fine to talk about the history of African-Americans. But teaching about the stuff that white people did could get you banned from teaching because “Black history” is fine, white history is “uncomfortable.”
Aside from the salty flow of white tears, an objective measurement for race-baiting has always eluded sociologists, political scientists and people who know what “MLK would have wanted.” Thankfully, the researchers at theGrio…
Read the full article here
