Taylor Atkins checks the codewords bigots have used since the days of Archie Bunker.
www.northernpublicradio.org
The term “regular people” implies there is a default human being — who just happens to look, think, and behave like Archie Bunker — and everyone else is a deviation from that (the “anti-woke” mob now use the phrase “real Americans,” which basically means the same thing).
But how often have the rest of us pointed out someone in a crowd or onscreen, or told a story about an encounter, and identified that person by their skin color, disability, or some other immutable characteristic, rather than another visible marker, such as their clothing? When we draw attention to those things, are we not unthinkingly suggesting that they’re not “regular?”
The “regular people” mentality, even when expressed benignly and thoughtlessly, indicates the degree to which white supremacy, in particular, has infected our culture. I pray we can eventually purge it from our minds and speech.
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“Oh, don't pay
no attention to him.
He's one of them colored guys
who's always trying
to make fun of us
regular people.”