Minority rejection is reframed as majority disgust through rhetoric

Evidence

A seemingly innocuous question about the existence of discrimination is answered through a direct and explicit denial of the existence of discrimination. The question presupposes a dimension of accountability of the majority group that Marta does not take up. Instead, the issue of majority-group accountability and negative reaction (‘discrimination’) is reframed, reformulated, as a different type of negative reaction (‘revulsion’), with the onus shifting to Romanies. The repeated use of the extreme term ‘revulsion’ can be seen as a move towards establishing the out-there-ness of disgust. Marta’s argument seems to be addressed to a ‘universal audience’ (Perelman and Olbrechts-Tyteca, 1971 ) to which the idea that the behaviour of Romanies is disgusting is non-controversial. It is a claim based on the implicit idea that everyone feels the same way (that is, disgusted) about the Romanies and their behaviour. — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice, 659

Related

• Even tolerant people express revulsion-themed hostility toward Roma (similarity 0.82)
• Roma are degraded and reminded of their degraded status (similarity 0.78)