I want to mention a new vocabulary phrase I learned this week.

I've always believed that people learn to be racist without realizing it. I have tried to erase what I learned as a child, but every once in a while I'm still guilty of racial comments and I learned when I was young, had forgotten about them, but then they slipped out of my mouth like a preprogrammed response that I learned at an early age. Prejudice and racial words and attitudes we learn as children can sometimes sneak out of your mouth without giving your more woke adult brain time to reevaluate them. I might slip up with an unintended remark once or twice a year, I have to assume there are others who go through the same.

Hopefully you see the difference between what I'm explaining and other people who make a habit out of hurting people with their words.

I've always wondered if there was a phrase or a word to explain the subtle racial remarks that are both intentional and unintentional.

That phrase is "convert racism." One of my potential clients said it this morning. After a quick Google search I see that this phrase is so uncommon that it mostly appears in books, universities, and studies. Here are two links that helped me understand what this phrase means and how I can better recognize this in other people even if they don't recognize it themselves.

The last link has tips to recognize this in yourself and how to help others recognize it in themselves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_racism

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/subtle-racism_b_14113118

https://thehatchergroup.com/title-8-tips-avoid-perpetuating-covert-racism-communications/

Matt Redding
HLP Alpha
Founder