Quote of the Day

"Rick Perry is not a racist."—Senator Lindsey Graham (R-Acist).

Well. I guess that settles it then.

As I've written before, I've been bombarded with racist messaging since the day I was born, everywhere I've been in the world, and it would have to be some kind of extraordinary bit of magic if I, a human being designed to be an intellectual sponge and socialized in a culture steeped with marginalizing narratives, had absorbed none of the racism (and other bigotries) pervading my environment. Like everyone else, I've internalized those negative messages so profoundly that even those biases of which I am a target get turned in on myself. The question is not whether any of us—especially those of us with white privilege—have internalized racism; the question is whether we leave that internalized racism unexamined.

Which is why, as Pam suggested, Perry (and his pals) should not be reacting defensively to charges of racism, or privilege, but instead

just explain the truth — like many Americans, you simply didn't know any black people as peers to find the term offensive, that your parents didn't pass on the values of equality when it came to people who didn't look like you. This is part of our country's sad history; to own up to your own ignorant past — and presumably a change in mindset in the present day (now that may be a problem if it hasn't transpired, who knows) — helps generate the kind of dialogue on race that is needed. In literally trying to cover up "N*ggerhead" it's an attempt to bury the truth rather than explaining it, for good or ill.

Advice for Rick Perry - just own it, dude.

Emphasis original.