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...it’s increasingly clear that the scurry to avoid being seen as racist has in many ways overtaken the actual work of …not being racist. When racism is boiled down to only a small set of outrageous, explicit actions that we just need to make sure to avoid — don’t say the wrong words, don’t wear a white hood, avoid burning a cross on someone’s lawn — it becomes easy to pat ourselves on the back, satisfied that we aren’t “one of those people” while ignoring or even continuing to partake in the more insidious forms of racism: the stereotyping, the not-in-my-backyard-ing, the persistent lack of concern for those not like ourselves.

Not being seen a racist becomes the end goal, rather than the real work of ending racism — cultivating integration, perhaps even friendship with those of other races; acknowledging and seeking to rectify one’s own implicit biases; starting conversations about race within one’s own community; advocating for and enacting non-racist policies. Satisfying ourselves with ostracizing “the real racists,” we can telegraph optimism about the future of race relations while doing nothing to further it.

<snip>

Hurt feelings about being called a racist matter much less than the fact that racism still abounds. Not being “a racist” is not enough.