One of the obvious myths embraced by our objectitudinal journamalismists is that racism is something for hicks from the sticks, and maybe the occasional southern politician, and that's it. These people do live in this world, of course, and are witness to the same not so casual racism that is apparent in daily life that the rest of us, even ones not from the sticks, do. The only way to deal with this is define elite racism as "not racism." It's scientific, it's just "good policy," it's rational, etc. Black people really are stupid, poor people really are 100% responsible for their lot in life, other cultures (brown ones) just don't have that Protestant work ethic, etc. It's why there was such an eager audience in the 90s (especially, but not just) for the various bestselling lauded-by-the-punditocracy racist tracts. Define my racism as not racism, and I'm good to go.
Short of putting on a hood and burning crosses, it's all good.
