Am I Racist?

The linguistic origins of a question not worth asking

In my Monday column, “Notes from a cluttered mind,” I observed in passing that the question Matt Walsh uses as the title for his new film Am I Racist?, opening in theaters nationwide tomorrow, is one that contemporary culture all but insists we each answer — and yet is a question that in nearly every circumstance need never be asked. The reason for this is simple: racists know they’re racist. They therefore already know the answer to the question. Yes, they’d agree. Racists are in fact racist. And that’s because to be racist is to believe in the innate inferiority of certain races, which — inasmuch as that belief is a prism through which one sees the world — it is both evident to, and acknowledged by, the person harboring that belief. Their racism isn’t a surprise to them. It is in truth a foundational part of the way they view reality.