Most Racists Don’t Wear Klan Costumes
Stop looking for pointy hoods — hate lives in plain sight, and it gives itself corny names like Proud Boys
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There are three things I should say before I start.
I was raised in Jackson, Mississippi. I lived there until I was 18.
I’ve never seen a person wearing a Klan robe in my life
I was in Minneapolis the first time a White boy said “nigga” in front of me.
I was on my way to a party with a group of new friends. He thought that I was “one of the cool ones,” so he said something to the effect of “let’s go, nigga” to the group; it was both White and Black folks, but I was the only Black person who didn’t really know them like that, so I told him we’d have to fight if he said it again. He laughed and everyone told me that’s just how he is when he’s drunk. I should also mention that I got pulled over a lot in Minneapolis. Like, a lot a lot. It was the most racist city I’ve ever lived in.
I say all of that to say that America likes to have a mascot for its racism: the toothless White hick with overalls and poor English. The Klan hood and robe. The…
