Interviewed black servants suppressed negative truths out of politeness

Evidence

It is interesting to note that one in fifty reacted to the word Negro with Nazi or SS; when one knows the emotional meaning of the SS image, one recognizes that the difference from the other answers is negligible. Let me add that some Europeans helped me by giving the test to their acquaintances: In such cases the proportion went up notably. From this result one must acknowledge the effect of my being a Negro: Unconsciously there was a certain reticence. — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 610 (#responds-to, via linked claim)

Like racist Whites, racist Blacks believed their “success” was due to their extraordinary God-given qualities and/or their extraordinary work ethic; that if they “made it,” then any Black person could, if he or she worked hard enough. For many of these Black racists, their expressions may have been deeply political: they may have been cunningly reciting racist talking points in order to receive financial and occupational favor, whether they actually believed these racist ideas or not. Opportunities proliferated in political offices and think tanks and news mediums for Black racists willing to look down on African Americans in the twenty-first century. In 2003, McWhorter left academia for a posh position as a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. But if science mattered more than self-interest, then the Manhattan Institute’s preeminent production of racist ideas would have ceased three years before McWhorter arrived. — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 1174 (#epitomizes, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: White subjects suppressed racist associations when the interviewer was Black. — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 610; Colonial interviews distort the subject’s meaning through layers of mediation; Black racists recited racist talking points for financial and occupational favor — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 1174 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• White subjects suppressed racist associations when the interviewer was Black. #responds-to (0.85) — Frantz Fanon, Constance Farrington, Black skin, white masks, 610
• Black racists recited racist talking points for financial and occupational favor #epitomizes (0.80) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 1174
• Colonial interviews distort the subject’s meaning through layers of mediation #expands (0.75)