The response to being called racist should never be, “I’m not racist.” The response shows a fundamental misunderstanding of racism, how it works, and how to grow out of it. When used as a defense, the statement communicates “therefore nothing I do can be racist.” 1/13 Racism is not a fixed state. Racism is a pattern of thoughts and actions that often come from prejudices so ingrained that they’re hard to see in ourselves. 2/13