I'm not ____, but...

June 1, 2011 8:56 AM

I'm not racist, but... / I'm not sexist, but.... Via the magic of public facebook searching (previously)

Additional reading:
‘Not Racist, But…’: A Catalogue of Modern Facebook Racism (Colorlines)
Is Facebook the New Face of Racism? (The Root)

posted by naju (139 comments total)

Also, previously last week: Whites believe they are victims of racism more often than blacks
posted by naju at 9:00 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

So, has anyone tried the Diaspora Alpha? Or is it still "littered with landmines"?
posted by filthy light thief at 9:01 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

An oldie but goodie: http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/
posted by the painkiller at 9:02 AM on June 1, 2011 [6 favorites]

I'm not a racist, but I think Formula One is way better than NASCAR.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 9:05 AM on June 1, 2011 [26 favorites]

No exact-phrase search, including punctuation? Meh.
posted by herbplarfegan at 9:05 AM on June 1, 2011

I'm not burned out on single-serving blogs outlining people's questionable judgment, but....
posted by Thomas Tallis is my Homeboy at 9:06 AM on June 1, 2011 [6 favorites]

I'm not misanthropist, but yeah, some people are stupid, even on the iCyberwebpages.

Outragefilter, indeed.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:07 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Facebook + Racism = Facism? (not to be confused with Fascism, or maybe it should)
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:07 AM on June 1, 2011

Some of these people make good points. Why do some white people smell like ham?
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:08 AM on June 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

So, has anyone tried the Diaspora Alpha? Or is it still "littered with landmines"?

Diaspora is brilliantly marketed in the sense that it appeals to nerdy VC investors with money and nerdy journalists working for major papers but not to anybody else.
posted by Rory Marinich at 9:08 AM on June 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

Is it Wolfram Alpha's cousin?
posted by mippy at 9:12 AM on June 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

Is Facebook the New Face of Racism?

I don't understand. Is the question whether there are racists on Facebook? Why would that make it the "New Face of Racism"?
posted by Hoopo at 9:12 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Why do some white people smell like ham?

What else are cops supposed to smell like?

*rimshot*
posted by quin at 9:16 AM on June 1, 2011 [23 favorites]

"Tired of the reverse-sexist commercials I normally miss by not watching daytime television. I officially boycott “I can’t believe it’s not butter”. I wasn’t buying it before but now it’s boycotted…"

We had a Metafilter post about those commercials, didn't we? And how they're bad for both men and women?

The rest of this is gold. GOLD.
posted by dunkadunc at 9:17 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Outragefilter, indeed.

Well, my quick defense: I don't think anyone here is going to be particularly outraged or shocked by the existence of racism / sexism. But there's something new, and both hilarious and depressing, in pages upon pages of real, unfiltered people who DENY that they're ____ist before spouting the most virulent ___ist filth imaginable, with their real names and pictures, for all their friends and all the world to see. It's fascinating, and yes, funny, and the cumulative effect might have something to tell us.
posted by naju at 9:18 AM on June 1, 2011 [4 favorites]

I'm not not not not (not) racist-ist-ist but I don't not like people that are differently the same as me. (no homo) (yes homo)
posted by lalochezia at 9:18 AM on June 1, 2011 [4 favorites]

Why are we wasting our time gawking at racists and sexists? Haven't we figured out yet that they love that shit? This is stupid. Flagged as "offensive/sexism/racism."
posted by koeselitz at 9:18 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm not pedantic, but...
posted by blue_beetle at 9:20 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

This shit makes me people-ist.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:21 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Obligatory.
posted by dunkadunc at 9:22 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm not sexist but I still don't want to see sexists being shamed by smug internet denizens. It's not particularly funny or instructive. (Actually some of the jokes could be funny if they didn't overly defend themselves in the delivery).

I'll say this for PWSNT: It didn't fuck around. Sad to see it is offline, since it was actual virulent racism, and named actual names so you know it wasn't cute and fake.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:23 AM on June 1, 2011

To vent extremely briefly on the Diaspora debacle: The world of social networks would be a better place if the money and publicity that went to Diaspora had instead went to help out Appleseed, which has been around for way longer and appears to be written by people that know what they're doing.
posted by Jpfed at 9:23 AM on June 1, 2011 [4 favorites]

I don't understand. Is the question whether there are racists on Facebook? Why would that make it the "New Face of Racism"?

People seem to have a mental disconnect when posting on Facebook, saying things they feel uncomfortable saying in person. Combine that with people reacting quickly to things they see or hear about online before they censor themselves, and you have yourself a hotbed for people openly expressing otherwise hidden racist and/or sexist comments in a way that is easy to go back and look at, document, and archive.
posted by Saydur at 9:24 AM on June 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

I'm not a fan of time spent discussing Sarah Palin, but all the attention devoted to her latest family vacation/political campaign/multi-state killing spree has put this song in my head and I can't get it out!
posted by octobersurprise at 9:25 AM on June 1, 2011

But there's something new, and both hilarious and depressing, in pages upon pages of real, unfiltered people who DENY that they're ____ist before spouting the most virulent ___ist filth imaginable, with their real names and pictures, for all their friends and all the world to see. It's fascinating, and yes, funny, and the cumulative effect might have something to tell us

That's just it, though. It's not new at all, and in worse, if facebook had been around when I was 19, I shudder to think what I would have put on it.

Point is - nobody springs into the world with a fully formed understanding of the world, except for the Snarketologists of Metafilter. While this sort of stupidity is depressingly common - and yes some of those deeply stupid people will lead deeply stupid lives, voting for deeply stupid politicians, and watching deeply stupid television until they die a deeply stupid death - some of them are on their way to becoming me, or you, in some future sense.

This the text version of "People of Walmart" and while yeah, on some sense these people deserve the derision, on some other - higher - level, it's just plain mean.

At some point, being the better human will actually require you to be "better".
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:26 AM on June 1, 2011 [15 favorites]

There's this website that collects all the horrible shit people say on Facebook. It's called "Facebook".
posted by Legomancer at 9:27 AM on June 1, 2011 [60 favorites]

People seem to have a mental disconnect when posting on Facebook, saying things they feel uncomfortable saying in person.

But are they really saying things they would be uncomfortable saying in person, or are there enough social milieus where gross racism is acceptable that a trawl through Facebook is guaranteed to reveal some unabashedly bigoted posts? The same people could be expressing such opinions to their (equally bigoted) peers in their local bar or by the water cooler in their workplace.
posted by acb at 9:28 AM on June 1, 2011

There is no new face of Racism. Mostly because Racism is pretty hostile to new faces. There is, however, the same old face of Racism that you've always loved in a new, less-fattening version! I Can't Believe It's Not Racism! It's the best black friend you've (n)ever had!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:33 AM on June 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

I wonder if there is a particular reason he blocked out the names, but not the photos?
posted by anitanita at 9:34 AM on June 1, 2011

People seem to have a mental disconnect when posting on Facebook, saying things they feel uncomfortable saying in person.

Oh, I don't know, I've seen people be casually racist all the time, especially when us vs. them comes up. Their only real mistake here is accidentally posting stuff in public due to not getting Facebook privacy. They would have no problem saying these things to their friends in real life or on Facebook. Probably a problem saying them to an actual black person, but that doesn't really come up.
posted by smackfu at 9:37 AM on June 1, 2011

"I'm not racist but... girls who date n****rs are NASTY!"

I wonder how he feels about guys who do this?
posted by marienbad at 9:38 AM on June 1, 2011

Also the "white people smell like wet poodles" bit is an ages old joke from a black comedian (poss chris rock?)
posted by marienbad at 9:41 AM on June 1, 2011

Now I'm tempted to start posting things to facebook like "I'm not racist, but I don't think it's right to judge an entire group of people based on narrow-minded stereotypes, or a few bad interactions with a non-representative group of people."
posted by drezdn at 9:42 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

is this why i get horny whenever i feed my poodle bologna?
posted by nathancaswell at 9:42 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

( Not racist just American.)
posted by uncleozzy at 9:42 AM on June 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

But are they really saying things they would be uncomfortable saying in person, or are there enough social milieus where gross racism is acceptable that a trawl through Facebook is guaranteed to reveal some unabashedly bigoted posts?

I would not be surprised in the least if that were the case for many of these people/posts, but I doubt that is so for all of them. It's the fact that it's so easy and so quick to post that brings it out. On top of this, plenty of these people are terrified of saying these sorts of things in public or even semi-public social situations where they may be heard by someone of the targeted race. Yet Facebook is not only public, it's searchable, shareable, and easier to look back on than memory.

So, perhaps a lot of this is already said in small venues, social circles, and email chains, but Facebook is taking this to a new level where people are expressing their views in public. I'm not sure whether it's a bad thing that there's more publicly visible racism, or whether it's a good thing that under-the-radar racists are showing up loud and clear on Facebook. Probably both.
posted by Saydur at 9:44 AM on June 1, 2011

So, has anyone tried the Diaspora Alpha? Or is it still "littered with landmines"?

It's worth taking a look at Appleseed, also - but the real problem is the critical mass. People join Facebook because people are on Facebook.
posted by running order squabble fest at 9:45 AM on June 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

I..am not a racialist...but...




He's right. Do you know that?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:45 AM on June 1, 2011

( Not racist just American.)

Just kidding but for real.
posted by joe lisboa at 9:47 AM on June 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

[if people could maybe not repost some of the more offensive comments over here, that would be helpful, thanks.]
posted by jessamyn at 9:48 AM on June 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

[NOT RACIST] [BUT]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:49 AM on June 1, 2011

I am racist, but isn't it time we turned these into teachable moments?
posted by nutate at 9:49 AM on June 1, 2011

Just because there's not a word for imposing your arbitrary aesthetic preferences on both genders doesn't mean it's not a jackass thing to do.
posted by Apropos of Something at 9:51 AM on June 1, 2011

"Also the "white people smell like wet poodles" bit is an ages old joke from a black comedian (poss chris rock?)"

It goes back further than that — my girlfriend used to work at a summer camp for kids accepted to the University of Michigan who had academic weaknesses (usually tied to their high school), and one of the regular exercises was that everyone gets in a group and starts talking about the stereotypes they have about other races.

Like many well-meaning liberal feel-good ideas, it usually turned into an awkward affirmation of everyone's right to have incredibly stupid opinions, but because the program was about 95 percent black, she'd get to hear all the stereotypes blacks have about white folks, including that our hair smells like wet dogs and that our breath smells like bologna.

I've asked around about it, especially to older black folks, and they confirm that it's a long-time trope.

"But not you, you don't smell like wet dog. Just other white people."

Thumbs up!
posted by klangklangston at 9:52 AM on June 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

[NOT] [RACIST-BUTT]
posted by Lemurrhea at 9:53 AM on June 1, 2011

Wow that openbook site is disturbing on so many levels. Try searching on the phrase "just end it all". Some of those updates...just wow. It's like a catalog of personal anguish.
posted by jnrussell at 9:53 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Just found this gem on openbook.org after searching for "I'm not racist".

Let me first say that in NO WAY do I consider myself racist in ANY form....but when for some reason a copy of "Ebony" magazine came in my mailbox, and I read through some of the articles I was sooooo disappointed. It just makes me wonder...what would happen if someone started a "Ivory" magazine? Can you imagine? I'm SOOO not trying to be mean, but seriously....what's the difference?!

I checked out the person's facebook wall to see if anyone had left a comment to school this fool. Nope. People were in agreement.

America. Fuck yeah.
posted by chara at 9:53 AM on June 1, 2011

This is why my Facebook's status updates are private. So I can say shit like this and not get it posted somewhere.

(Just kidding! Geez.)

But seriously, if your status is public and you're saying this sort of thing, you deserve it.

On another note, I looked at the word 'deserve' too long and now it has lost all meaning.
posted by Malice at 9:54 AM on June 1, 2011

"Let me first say that in NO WAY do I consider myself racist in ANY form....but when for some reason a copy of "Ebony" magazine came in my mailbox, and I read through some of the articles I was sooooo disappointed. It just makes me wonder...what would happen if someone started a "Ivory" magazine? Can you imagine? I'm SOOO not trying to be mean, but seriously....what's the difference?!"

Can it be dedicated to Paul McCartney and soap?
posted by klangklangston at 9:56 AM on June 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

I will say that the most consistently racist stuff I see on Facebook comes from my black friends living in Detroit, who hate with white hot passion the vast majority of other black people living in Detroit, but that shit's got so many intersections with class and the real problems of Detroit that I don't even want to ever wade in on it.
posted by klangklangston at 9:58 AM on June 1, 2011

Some of my best friends are smug internet denizens.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:04 AM on June 1, 2011 [4 favorites]

I will say that the most consistently racist stuff I see on Facebook comes from my black friends living in Detroit, who hate with white hot passion the vast majority of other black people living in Detroit, but that shit's got so many intersections with class and the real problems of Detroit that I don't even want to ever wade in on it.

I've heard it said that America is a society divided by class which thinks it's a classless society divided by race.
posted by acb at 10:05 AM on June 1, 2011 [24 favorites]

What else are cops supposed to smell like? *rimshot*

Well, donuts.

Obviously.
posted by Sir Cholmondeley at 10:05 AM on June 1, 2011

This the text version of "People of Walmart" and while yeah, on some sense these people deserve the derision, on some other - higher - level, it's just plain mean.


Yep, I think I'll continue to multiply like rats, smelling of rice, jabbering in Non-American yip yap on the moral low ground, thank you very much. Fuck these people very much.
posted by superquail at 10:06 AM on June 1, 2011 [7 favorites]

I'm not an aging cynical bastard who some days would like to pull the plug on the internet as being just too full of people who can't pull their heads from their asses.... oh wait, yes I am.
posted by edgeways at 10:07 AM on June 1, 2011

But not you, you don't smell like wet dog. Just other white people.

I wonder if there's maybe there's something to this. On my last night in Japan, my lease was up and I stayed at my friend Yuya's apartment. His elderly mother had moved in with him because she had some health problems. She was a very nice lady, cooked us dinner and breakfast and despite not speaking English at all she was very interested in conversing with me, although it all had to be translated by Yuya for either of us to understand what the other was saying.

Anyways, the next morning after my shower, she said something I didn't quite understand and was smiling ear to ear. Yuya translates and says "my mother says you're a good foreigner because you don't smell like a dog when you're wet." I had never heard anything like this before, and I am certain Yuya's mom had very limited exposure to African Americans so this isn't just older black people in America. Anyways, I said "Uh, thanks!" and went on about my business.

I've also heard from other Japanese people that to them white people smell like sour milk. Who knows? Maybe there is an odor of some kind related to the typical Western caucasian diet and hygiene that I don't notice. Beats me.
posted by Hoopo at 10:07 AM on June 1, 2011

This the text version of "People of Walmart" and while yeah, on some sense these people deserve the derision, on some other - higher - level, it's just plain mean.

Not really. The People of Walmart thing is all about taking photos of people and mocking them. It's often classist (among other things) and it's dehumanizing (creatures? Fucking REALLY?)

This is taking people's actual words and reproducing them. That's what people choose to have out there. It's not how they look or where they shop. It's what they think. It's pretty much the opposite of People of Walmart.
posted by the young rope-rider at 10:08 AM on June 1, 2011 [4 favorites]

Posts like this make me realise just how literate and smart the people I have on Facebook are. So there's that at least.
posted by jontyjago at 10:09 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Also the "white people smell like wet poodles" bit is an ages old joke from a black comedian (poss chris rock?)

Ain't no joke, honkie.
posted by orthogonality at 10:14 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Hoopo: "I don't understand. Is the question whether there are racists on Facebook? Why would that make it the "New Face of Racism"?"

Because it allows people (researchers) to get an unvarnished look at a very large sample of opinions? Calling it the "New Face of Racism" isn't the same as saying "Facebook is Racist" -- it's where you can go racist watching.
posted by boo_radley at 10:17 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I've also heard from other Japanese people that to them white people smell like sour milk.

I was on a flight from DC to London, sitting next to these two very proper middle-aged white ladies--military wives, I surmised from their conversation--when they started discussing posts their husbands had held abroad. One of them brought up a Korean exchange student whom her family had hosted for a period. He was such a nice young man (and here she lowered her voice) but had such a funny smell to him, probably because of all the soy they eat--however, it did go away after a few weeks of eating our food.

And I was like, BITCH DO YOU NOT SEE ME SITTING RIGHT HERE. I AM NEXT TO YOU. HELLO.
posted by superquail at 10:18 AM on June 1, 2011 [13 favorites]

I come from a very small town in central Washington - a town so small that it's not even properly incorporated as a town. It's more the end of a highway with a bunch of houses. There are precisely two racial groups where I come from - A) White folks, ranging from dirt-poor to upper middle class and B) Hispanic migrant workers. The white folks where I'm from have scarcely even SEEN black folks or Asian folks or Jewish or really anyone who doesn't resemble themselves but holy god do some of my former neighbors consider themselves experts on all of the above. I can still remember being really confused as a teenager in the mid-nineties when all of a sudden people I thought to be reasonable hated Japan out of nowhere for some reason.

Obviously, I moved away and stayed away long enough to kind of forget why I was in such a hurry to bounce before. Years passed, Facebook was invented and I signed up initially to keep up with my friends from college. Soon enough, folks from back home started coming out of the woodwork. It was pretty cool for awhile. A perpetual, virtual high school reunion, right on my desk! How fun! But after while - and ESPECIALLY after Obama was elected - some really toxic shit started showing up in people's statuses. Holy god, the shit my hometown thought was funny was shocking - it was like some bizarre white privilege performance art piece that half of my hometown was somehow in on. I could hardly log on without seeing something infuriating.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize an essential truth about Facebook: it's supposed to be stupid fun. And a Facebook user is under absolutely no obligation to maintain connections with unfun people. If I wouldn't invite these racists and sexists I grew up next to into my home, why would I invite them into my computer? Why would I invite their screwed-up thoughts into my brain? I started deleting people - unceremoniously, with no explanation, just cold culling folks from my feed. I'll admit to loving the feeling - just a couple of clicks and that's it, adios racist loser townies! Holy god, it's delicious.

At this point, I'm down to very few folks who are also from my hometown - generally, those that are left are the ones that ALSO moved the FUCK outta that place. Reading these blogs is a morbidly fascinating and awfully depressing, but it also makes me wish I had a few Facebook racists of my own left to unfriend.
posted by EatTheWeak at 10:19 AM on June 1, 2011 [7 favorites]

I'm an asshole.

These people are fucking stupid.


(did I get that right?)
posted by From Bklyn at 10:19 AM on June 1, 2011

This the text version of "People of Walmart"

I don't think so. I think there's a significant difference between mocking racists for being racist and mocking people with what you consider to be poor fashion sense for having what you consider to be poor fashion sense.
posted by Flunkie at 10:20 AM on June 1, 2011

Calling it the "New Face of Racism" isn't the same as saying "Facebook is Racist"

Yeah I didn't mean "are they calling Facebook racist?", I just think that another platform for ignorant people to say ignorant things is no more the "Face of Racism" then Hotmail was when your racist uncle Jed signed up and starting sending out his funny "jokes" to his entire contact list.
posted by Hoopo at 10:22 AM on June 1, 2011

White People Smell Like Wet Dog
posted by nathancaswell at 10:23 AM on June 1, 2011

I've heard it said that America is a society divided by class which thinks it's a classless society divided by race.
posted by acb at 1:05 PM on June 1


if i could favorite x infinity, i would
posted by liza at 10:25 AM on June 1, 2011

Looking at a lotta these profile pics, I'm growing even more bigoted against smug white guys who wear wool caps indoors.
posted by EatTheWeak at 10:25 AM on June 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

Kill them all. With fire.
posted by bayani at 10:25 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Last weekend I noticed my girlfriend (who is white) had the distinct odor of wet poodle about her. On further investigation, I determined that she had just finished washing the dog (who is a poodle). Later on I discovered that the dog smelled distinctly of wet white person. I decided to be confused and quiet for the rest of the day.
posted by logicpunk at 10:25 AM on June 1, 2011 [10 favorites]

*sigh*
posted by bayani at 10:26 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I've heard it said that America is a society divided by class which thinks it's a classless society divided by race.

America is a classless, racist society dived up by an apparant lack of ability to spell anything ya'll holla
posted by rusty at 10:30 AM on June 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

Is Facebook the New Face of Racism?


Get your brand new 21st Century racism!

Belgians are obsessed with line dancing!

New Zelanders smell like mutton!

Panpoly Blasians run the Infoscent Industry!
posted by The Whelk at 10:31 AM on June 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

superquail: "And I was like, BITCH DO YOU NOT SEE ME SITTING RIGHT HERE. I AM NEXT TO YOU. HELLO"

Please tell me that was exactly what you said to them, because that would be awesome.
posted by dunkadunc at 10:32 AM on June 1, 2011

Facebook has its issues but blaming it for the faults of humanity as a whole is a little silly. Especially since it is explicitly based around the concept of mostly only seeing things from people you have CHOSEN AS YOUR FRIENDS.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:33 AM on June 1, 2011

We had a Metafilter post about those commercials, didn't we? And how they're bad for both men and women

...and butter.
posted by mattholomew at 10:34 AM on June 1, 2011

It's really interesting to me how "I'm not racist" is always used as a charm or incantation against social opprobrium in these scenarios. "I'm not racist, but I hate black people." We see all the time in racism conversations how any accusation of racism tends to get people's backs up, as if being a racist was the worst thing in the entire world and ironclad proof were required for such a serious invocation. This is like the purest vein of that tradition: it's ok to say incredibly racist things so long as one guards oneself against that damning accusation, because to be called a racist would be worse than being a person who hates black people. It's such a strange moral spectrum, I find it quite fascinating.
posted by Errant at 10:34 AM on June 1, 2011 [6 favorites]

And I will never join Diaspora because I hate the smell of granola and good intentions.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:35 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

As I understand it, Appleseed and Diaspora both share all your data with whoever does your hosting and seemingly whoever does your friend's hosting too.

We need an end user application that provides social networking by storing encrypted files in publicly-readable buckets on Amazon S3 or whoever. You'd also use publicly-writable privately-readable buckets for sending messages, friend requests, etc. All accounts have a "hello" public key pair for requesting friendship. You mitigate the threat of traffic analysis by creating a new public key pair for each friend. Your friends need not all use the same hosting provider, ala Amazon S3, but all supported hosting providers must offer publicly-readable and publicly-writable privately-readable buckets. It might even be possible to implement such an application in Javascript. <shudder>
posted by jeffburdges at 10:36 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

also it's interesting to see that people blur out names here, like the desire to shame is there but let's not go nuts, now.
posted by boo_radley at 10:37 AM on June 1, 2011

as if being a racist was the worst thing in the entire world

It pretty much is the worst you can be called in contemporary American society, except maybe a "sex offender." It might not be perfect, but that's what progress looks like. You're never going to magically change some people's core beliefs, but you can make those beliefs so far outside the mainstream that they will never again be taken seriously by 99.9% of people.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:38 AM on June 1, 2011

I don't see why names are censored in these things...
posted by ph00dz at 10:42 AM on June 1, 2011

also it's interesting to see that people blur out names here, like the desire to shame is there but let's not go nuts, now.

Well it is apparently run by a single person, and I think the lesson is supposed to be the collection, the group, not to get focused on individuals. Also, it's smart if you're trying to focus on what is being said, and not trying to 'sick the internet' on people.
posted by cashman at 10:42 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I guess you couldn't do this with "I'm not homophobic, but..." because you would select out only people who could spell homophobic, which is like 1% of homophobes.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:43 AM on June 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

While this sort of stupidity is depressingly common - and yes some of those deeply stupid people will lead deeply stupid lives, voting for deeply stupid politicians, and watching deeply stupid television until they die a deeply stupid death - some of them are on their way to becoming me, or you, in some future sense.

Youth is a great excuse for bad perms or listening to crappy music or pretending you're some kind of expert in love, but it's a miserable excuse for posting vicious, racist shit on the internet. I think calling out people -- saying that it is in fact NOT cool to spout off on the internet about whatever hateful rhetoric pops up in their tiny mind -- is a perfectly acceptable use of our time and has nothing in common with the classist, size-ist chortling over People of Walmart.
posted by jess at 10:44 AM on June 1, 2011 [6 favorites]

Why do some white people smell like ham?

That's not racist. It's true. The guy responding to it nailed it exactly: It's the oompa loompa spray. That shit stinks. A lot.

Yours truly,
A still-blindingly-white guy currently coated in a very light, but nonetheless quite hammy coating of fake tan
posted by Sys Rq at 10:44 AM on June 1, 2011

I especially like (that is, loathe) the ones that begin with "I'm not a racist/sexist, but ..." and end with "... just sayin" - the classic denouement of all shitty, indefensible statements.
posted by EatTheWeak at 10:45 AM on June 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

There should be a website where special people can go and pat each other on the back.
posted by digsrus at 10:46 AM on June 1, 2011

Sys Rq: "A still-blindingly-white guy currently coated in a very light, but nonetheless quite hammy coating of fake tan"

That's not fake tan, you dummy! That's liquid smoke! Dammit now!
posted by boo_radley at 10:47 AM on June 1, 2011

You mean the people of Worcestershire aren't known for... oh, dear.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:48 AM on June 1, 2011

I'm not, but...
posted by Thorzdad at 10:48 AM on June 1, 2011

It pretty much is the worst you can be called in contemporary American society, except maybe a "sex offender." It might not be perfect, but that's what progress looks like.

The problem with that is that now being a "racist" is a horrible thing, but one that is understood as a completely black and white distinction- you either are or are not a racist. In contemporary political dialogues, people are incredibly hurt if they feel like anyone is implying that they, personally, are racists, because we've turned the idea of racism into this weird cartoon- racists, we now "know", aren't middle class white people but insane hillbillies and weird dirt-poor Nazis. So if you tell someone that they have done or said something racist, they take that as you telling them that they're basically human trash, instead of pointing out an unfortunate problem that a lot of us struggle with to some degree. This is why people can say "I am not a racist..." and follow that with an extremely racist statement- they do not understand a version of racism that isn't KKK members or asshole cops in movies. And when someone complains, they become more and more skeptical of ANY claims of racism- because if they, someone who is not a racist, keeps getting accused of racism just because they like telling off-color jokes, well, people who complain about racism must be misguided, or using these claims to enrich themselves, or both.
At this point, I'm not sure if laughing at racists is really going to do the trick anymore.
posted by 235w103 at 10:50 AM on June 1, 2011 [28 favorites]

I'm not racist, but the men of Nantucket either have really large hands or really flexible torsos.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 10:50 AM on June 1, 2011

Especially since it is explicitly based around the concept of mostly only seeing things from people you have CHOSEN AS YOUR FRIENDS.

It's explicitly based around the concept of whatever shit you post becoming public information unless you give a crap enough about your own privacy to make sure your "things" stay private. And sometimes, not even then.
posted by blucevalo at 10:51 AM on June 1, 2011

Okay, I tried "I'm not homophobic" and got this result. (Scroll down)

http://youropenbook.org/?q=%22I%27m+not+homophobic%22&gender=any

Terrance Chipper: I'm not homophobic... faggots.

With a photo of a black man with his eyes blacked out, a swastika drawn on him and the words Kill Them All.

This is a little uncomfortably close to Columbine for me. I'm in a bit of dilemma. Should this person be reported to authorities?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:55 AM on June 1, 2011

I've also heard from other Japanese people that to them white people smell like sour milk. Who knows? Maybe there is an odor of some kind related to the typical Western caucasian diet and hygiene that I don't notice. Beats me.

Previously...
posted by acb at 10:56 AM on June 1, 2011

Terrance Chipper: I'm not homophobic... faggots.

With a photo of a black man with his eyes blacked out, a swastika drawn on him and the words Kill Them All.

It's a lyric from the new album from Tyler the Creator / Odd Future, who have garnered controversy here and elsewhere for their purposefully shocking lyrics.
posted by naju at 11:00 AM on June 1, 2011

And it looks like notracistbut.com is down, but here's a cached version.
posted by naju at 11:07 AM on June 1, 2011

Why do some white people smell like ham?

That's not racist. It's true. The guy responding to it nailed it exactly: It's the oompa loompa spray. That shit stinks. A lot.

It's a perfectly valid question. I'm white, I smell like ham (to the extent that I've been working or exercising long enough to work up a sweat), and this seems to be independent of diet and other factors that have changed over the years. My parents-in-law (who are not white) found it quite strange at first and wondered if I ate bacon at every meal or somesuch. I don't know how common this is, but it's not that unusual. People have a variety of different smells, some of them correlate with ethnicity.

It doesn't strike me as racist to make such observations or ask questions about it, any more than it's racist to wonder why blonde hair is only common among white people, or why black people tend to have curly hair, or why SE Asian people are more likely to have an epicanthic fold. Statements like '____ are bad because they all ____' are racist, but the term has become wildly overused in the US.
posted by anigbrowl at 11:14 AM on June 1, 2011 [5 favorites]

I'm not so concerned about the lyric naju as the "Kill Them All."
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:14 AM on June 1, 2011

Sorry forgot to mention, the full name of the group is "Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All." So yeah, no need to call the police, it's just such some kid worshipping an offensive rap group.
posted by naju at 11:15 AM on June 1, 2011

Metafilter: where special people can go and pat each other on the back.
posted by headnsouth at 11:21 AM on June 1, 2011

So y'know that column of friends on the left of your Profile page? The one that is, theoretically, a random (?) selection of ten friends? I've noticed that mine almost invariably picks 7 - 9 very pretty women out of my 300ish FB friends. It swaps women out, but they're always the physically attractive ones. And hell, some of them don't even have facial pics for their icons. I'm the first to admit that I am conscious of appearances (read: women who are pretty vs not), but I've got plenty of female friends who aren't exceptionally pretty and yet they hardly ever show up on that bar.

Is my FB account even more of a superficial letch than I am? It's not like I have my account set to "looking for women" or something.

Moreover, when it goes all "hot chick blitz" on me, the one random male it picks is almost always one of my three gay male friends. How does that work? Seriously, what are the odds?
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:25 AM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have a client who last week was describing her run-in with police that led to her arrest. She said she was having a party and that the officer knocked on the door without identifying himself. She opened the door and he brushed by her and walked into the party. He asked for her ID and she refused to give it to him. She called his supervisor. Then, she told me, she said a bad word. I asked her what that word was.

"I called him a nigger." Then she quickly added, "But it's not really a big deal because I'm not racist."

I should have no problem convincing a judge or jury of that.
posted by flarbuse at 11:26 AM on June 1, 2011

flarbuse, that is the weirdest story.
posted by cashman at 11:30 AM on June 1, 2011

there is frenzy a Mac dopbox based social networking application.

Everything you share is stored in your dropbox, you could overlay some public key encryption onto this I suppose.
posted by Ad hominem at 11:33 AM on June 1, 2011

I've also heard from other Japanese people that to them white people smell like sour milk

There's an old phrase in Japan, "bata-kusai," which translates to "stinking of butter" and is used to describe negative Western influences, as well as Westerners themselves. Consumption of dairy is common in Japan nowadays, but this throwback phrase is still hanging around.
posted by illenion at 11:39 AM on June 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

In contemporary political dialogues, people are incredibly hurt if they feel like anyone is implying that they, personally, are racists, because we've turned the idea of racism into this weird cartoon- racists, we now "know", aren't middle class white people but insane hillbillies and weird dirt-poor Nazis.

Right.

And that's precisely the value of this site: it makes it very, very easy to read lots of examples of people not making the connection between the profoundly racist things they say and their concept of self.
posted by verb at 11:41 AM on June 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

There's an old phrase in Japan, "bata-kusai," which translates to "stinking of butter" and is used to describe negative Western influences

That's pretty funny considering the omnipresence of french bakeries in every Japanese town and train station I've seen.
posted by Hoopo at 11:51 AM on June 1, 2011

I'm not a racist, I'm not a bigot - yet they allow it to go on, and won't admit it.

KRS certainly has his flaws, but I am going to continue to post clips from ancient rap songs because increasingly I see that so many of the messages are in there. The things we rail about, uncover and rant on - discussed in rap years ago, in plain language.

Check the end of the song too - "If Black and White didn't argue the most, they could clearly see the government's screwin' 'em BOTH". ("I've heard it said that America is a society divided by class which thinks it's a classless society divided by race".)
posted by cashman at 11:53 AM on June 1, 2011 [6 favorites]

Is it weird that that is by Mark Zuckerberg's sister??
posted by bquarters at 11:56 AM on June 1, 2011

So y'know that column of friends on the left of your Profile page?

I've heard that this is influenced by people you've interacted with recently, but in my experience that's not the case. I have 163 friends and mine seems to rotate between roughly the same 20-25 people... some of whom I'd expect if the interaction thing was true but others who I haven't interacted with in any way in months. I always assumed it had something to do with profile views. It's almost certainly not random, either way.
posted by Kosh at 11:56 AM on June 1, 2011

235w103, verb, that's exactly it, and what I find so interesting about it. Because people "know" they're not the worst thing any human could ever possibly be, they're not racists, even while they're saying incredibly racist stuff. For me, it points to a real failure of education about institutional and aversive racism/sexism/etc. These people really don't think they're being racist, because they "know" what racism looks like and it's lynchings and firehoses, not the simmering resentment and disgust they feel on a daily basis.

Of course the racist and sexist caricature is not always a caricature (rarely even a caricature, in the case of sexism) and still needs to be battled, but we should be doing more to help people understand that racism and sexism run deeper and more subtly than the cross-burning, wife-beating explicit boogeyman. It's just not possible to say unironically what these people are saying without a failure to grasp basic principles, and it's why laughing at the racists maybe doesn't help as much as commitments to education might.
posted by Errant at 11:57 AM on June 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

I am going to continue to post clips from ancient rap songs because increasingly I see that so many of the messages are in there. The things we rail about, uncover and rant on - discussed in rap years ago, in plain language.

That was the era of rap which caught my attention. It's a shame it seems to have been so brief.
posted by hippybear at 11:57 AM on June 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

Or she just designed the theme of the second link? I am confused. Ignore these two comments.
posted by bquarters at 11:59 AM on June 1, 2011

There was once a woman friend of my brother-in-law who was on the phone advising her son to beat up faggots, don't let the school infringe on your rights. After the phone call she hit on me. When I explained we had different perspectives and referred to her phone call, she said, some of her best friends are gay.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:59 AM on June 1, 2011

Wow, you stayed in the room and had polite conversation with that women? I would have left before she hung up the phone.
posted by hippybear at 12:04 PM on June 1, 2011

...that's what's so insane about this.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 12:18 PM on June 1, 2011

Some of my best friends are imaginary.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:28 PM on June 1, 2011

digsrus: "There should be a website where special people can go and pat each other on the back."

You're soaking in it.
posted by Splunge at 12:31 PM on June 1, 2011 [3 favorites]

digsrus: "There should be a website where special people can go and pat each other on the back."

That's already happening: we're discussion a web site that collects screenshots of it in action.
posted by verb at 12:55 PM on June 1, 2011

Wow that youropenbook site is scary.
It's also hard not to want to contact these people and let them know they are racists.
But if they go public like this with such nonsense then I guess they deserve to get a couple nasty notes.
posted by Rashomon at 2:28 PM on June 1, 2011

This thread has got me worried about my possible stinky-butter white person smell. :(
posted by duvatney at 3:59 PM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

There's an old phrase in Japan, "bata-kusai," which translates to "stinking of butter" and is used to describe negative Western influences, as well as Westerners themselves. Consumption of dairy is common in Japan nowadays, but this throwback phrase is still hanging around.

Just to clarify: this phrase was used earlier in the 20th century but has fallen into disuse nowadays. I bet you'll find quite a few folks who have no idea what it means.
posted by armage at 4:17 PM on June 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

You know who else has fallen into disuse nowadays? That's right: The phrase, "You're soaking in it."
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:18 PM on June 1, 2011 [2 favorites]

My first "Metafilter...."


"Metafilter, you're soaking in it...."
posted by atomicmedia at 5:33 PM on June 1, 2011

Metafilter: My first "Metafilter...."
posted by quin at 5:46 PM on June 1, 2011

I'm not a racist, but I get tired of shrewishly abusive people deciding that anyone who disclaims racism is "casually" racist or "under-the-radar" racist or secretly attends Klan rallies wearing the sheets his or her children sleep on.
posted by Yakuman at 1:48 AM on June 2, 2011

> The white folks where I'm from have scarcely even SEEN black folks or Asian folks or Jewish
> or really anyone who doesn't resemble themselves

When I was about 13 or 14 there was a kid at school who had acquired a nickname at some point before I met him. I asked him how he got his name and he said it was because he had once borrowed some money and it took him ages to pay it back. But he didn't mind, and even quite liked it. So I called him it too. I was in my twenties before I realised we were calling him something other than "Due".

I don't know whether I didn't know that stereotype then or didn't make the connection or what. I really had no idea.
posted by vbfg at 2:11 AM on June 2, 2011

Yakuman, I didn't understand what you said. Could you clarify? Thanks.
posted by Errant at 2:32 AM on June 2, 2011

"I'm am a racist, but ..."

"Why do I have to go to work again? Oh yeah, to pay for all those people on welfare who don't want to work. Silly me, how could I forget?"
posted by mrgrimm at 8:41 AM on June 2, 2011

This thread has got me worried about my possible stinky-butter white person smell.

As a black guy married to a white woman, here's my take. Please remember, this is just a guess, based on my own experiences and not some universal truth. Also ote that it's an American perspective.

1. US blacks are more socially conditioned to use colognes and perfumes from an early age. I think whites reserve these things for special occasions (formal situations, dates etc), while blacks tend to use them more on an everyday basis. That '"artificial" smell or some approximation there of is taken to be natural. Thus white people "smell funny".

2. The difference in hair, both in care and actual hair. White people tend to wash their hair more often than blacks (especially women), which can have a damp, musty smell to it. Add in the fact that whites tend to have longer hair and I think that's part of where the stereotype comes from.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:48 AM on June 2, 2011

I rub butter all over myself every morning.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:12 AM on June 2, 2011

"I'm not a racist, but I get tired of shrewishly abusive people deciding that anyone who disclaims racism is "casually" racist or "under-the-radar" racist or secretly attends Klan rallies wearing the sheets his or her children sleep on."

It's funny that nearly all your comments about racism are defending some imagined honest white people from the unfair charges of racism, mostly through describing the charge of racism as a cudgel that shuts down discussion.

Further, it's weird for you to look at this site, full of "I'm not a racist, but I hate black people" comments and decide that the problem is really that some straw man you've created has a likewise straw-mannish approach to racism.

Also, I don't think you know what "disclaims" means — people who refuse to acknowledge that things, like the NotARacistBut site, are racist are pretty likely themselves racists, even as there's a reasonable difference between casual racists and lifestyle racists.

Ultimately, starting off that comment with the Not A Racist construction and then providing an incoherent critique of people who call out racism does actually make you look at least oafish, if not racist. You may want to check yourself on that, if you'd like to not have to say "I'm not a racist, but…" and simply have your non-racism come through in your communications.
posted by klangklangston at 9:26 AM on June 2, 2011 [5 favorites]

The privacy thing is the real issue here, not the racism/sexism. Most of these people likely don't know that their "tweets" or status updates are going out to the world. (Most may not care.) I figure all of us post privately ... which is a different sort of "public."

I did find this Wilford Brimley Rap video via Openbook, so I cannot complain...

Apparently, it is a thing.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:34 AM on June 2, 2011

I'm not a racist, but I get tired of shrewishly abusive people deciding that anyone who disclaims racism is "casually" racist or "under-the-radar" racist or secretly attends Klan rallies wearing the sheets his or her children sleep on.

I'm trying to figure out how this comment could be made in good faith. Did you read the actual posts on the blog in the link? In case you're confused by the complexity of the topic, the problem isn't that people say, "I'm not a racist." It's that the phrase is followed by unambiguously racist shit.

As klangklangston says, the easiest way to convince people you're not a racist is by not saying racist shit. Saying racist shit -- then insisting that you're not racist, just calling it like it is or somesuch -- is far more damning.
posted by verb at 9:45 AM on June 2, 2011

I ain't sayin' she a gold digga...
posted by republican at 5:42 PM on June 2, 2011

MetaFilter: Metafilter: My first "Metafilter...."
posted by Splunge at 6:39 PM on June 2, 2011

I did find this Wilford Brimley Rap video


That is. the funniest. fucking. thing. I have ever seen. Wow. I really don't usually cry at work, but fortunately there aren't too many people in the office today.
posted by herbplarfegan at 2:32 PM on June 3, 2011