Yesterday the Reverend Jesse Jackson accused Barack Obama of "acting white." Jackson's statement is one of the most racist I've heard in some time. Do all white people act alike? And what is acting white? Does it mean that if you're white you have a certain antipathy for other colors? Moreover, when will people be allowed to say, "You're acting Arab." "You're acting Jewish." "You're acting Eye-talian." And how far is that from simply cursing, "Whitey." "Arab." "Jew." "Dago." "Nigger."
Jackson, who once supported the virulent racist Louis Farrakhan and who once referred to New York City as "Hymie-town," has once again shown himself to be a racist. The fact that no one has even noticed Jackson's slur means that we have failed to pay attention to language and how the ill-intentioned can use it perniciously.
