“Though Trump has long aired racially divisive language and grievances in the public sphere, his willingness to do so from behind the presidential seal...has reached a breakneck pace in recent days as the nation grapples with racial injustice” https://t.co/6CbpcTt3Re— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 8, 2020
for somebody who used racist language or even occassionally uttered the "n-word," but we reserved "racist" for people who demanded segregation laws remain intact, and no blacks be allowed in our schools (that I could grow up and move around my small town without ever seeing more than a few blacks in a year was never grounds for wonder, for me or any adult I knew). "Prejudiced" was a way of saying "not as bad as a KKK member."
Is "racially divisive" the new "prejudiced"? Have we really gotten no further than that? Because I can remember when the "n-word" was considered no worse than "racially divisive." I mean, polite people didn't use it in polite society, but I still managed to grow up quite familiar with it. And I never thought of myself as even "prejudiced."
I was actually a racist, by culture and upbringing. Took me a long, long time to realize that. Gonna take the nation a long time to realize it, too.
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