Why Racists Hate Being Called Racist

Often denied on the basis that it is solely about slurs and physical exclusion, deliberate segregation, and persecution based on skin colour, racism has evolved into sometimes subtle but more often overt forms of bigotry that pretends to not have any connection “traditional racism”.

This is true in South Africa as much as it is true in other parts of the world, particularly in the United States, Britain and other parts of Europe. This article republished from a post on the Truth Against Hate Facebook Page addresses the fact that since being overtly racist has become a social taboo, racism has evolved into a new, more coded form of bigotry that helps racists avoid being labelled as racist.

Why Racists Hate Being Called Racist

Few labels provoke more outrage than the word “racist.” Yet curiously, those most often accused of racism tend to be the loudest in rejecting the term. They take offence, lash out, or retreat into denial. This is not just about avoiding social shame. It reveals a deeper refusal to confront the realities of their own behaviour and beliefs.

Racism is no longer just about skin colour or crude slurs. It has evolved. What we face now is a new, more coded form of bigotry that pretends to be about culture or values but functions just like old-fashioned racism. Many of those who practise it will twist themselves in knots to avoid being named.

The New Face of Racism

Traditional racism was rooted in pseudo-scientific nonsense about race, bloodlines and superiority. It justified colonisation, slavery and segregation. But in today’s political climate, open racism has become less socially acceptable. So it mutates. It hides behind selective outrage, warped ideas of “free speech” or the claim of defending “Western civilisation”.

This is where Islamophobia comes in.

Islamophobia targets a religion but it functions like racial prejudice. It treats Muslims as a monolithic, threatening group. It casts them as violent, backward or incompatible with modern life. It fuels surveillance, hate crimes, employment discrimination and exclusion from political discourse. Crucially, it paints Muslims as inherently “other”, just like classic racism did with Black or Jewish communities.

“Islam Isn’t a Race” — The Lazy Excuse

One of the most common deflections is this: “Islam isn’t a race, so I can’t be racist.” This argument is both lazy and dishonest. Racism is not just about biology. It is about creating hierarchies, demonising entire groups and justifying inequality.

When people are targeted, harassed or killed not for what they have done but because they are Muslim, that is racism. When policies disproportionately harm Muslim communities, when media outlets obsessively link Islam with terrorism, or when entire countries vote to ban religious dress, that is racism in practice regardless of the technicality.

Echoes of the Past: Nazi Germany

We have seen this pattern before. The Nazis did not persecute Jews simply because of religion. Jewishness was racialised. Jews were dehumanised, stripped of citizenship, segregated and ultimately exterminated. The Holocaust was not a theological dispute; it was industrial-scale racial hatred.

Nazi ideology positioned Jews as a threat to civilisation. That framing is eerily similar to the way many far-right figures today speak about Muslims. Just as Jews were blamed for Germany’s ills, Muslims are blamed for everything from knife crime to unemployment and the downfall of Western values.

Modern Apartheid: Israel and the Palestinians

Today, the same mechanisms of exclusion and control are at play in the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Many respected human rights groups have concluded that Israel operates an apartheid system. Palestinians are subjected to military checkpoints, unequal laws, land theft, home demolitions and routine violence, all based on their identity.

This is not just a territorial conflict. It is a racialised regime of dominance designed to privilege one group over another. It mirrors the apartheid once seen in South Africa, where race determined your legal rights, access to land and freedom of movement. The tools are different but the aim is the same.

Drawing The Line

From Nazi Germany to apartheid South Africa and now in the context of modern Islamophobia and the occupation of Palestine, the throughline is clear. Racism is not limited to skin tone. It is a system of power. It categorises, demonises and excludes entire groups, often under the pretence of law, culture or national security.

Those who cling to bigotry but flinch when called racist are not innocent. They are simply afraid of the mirror. They want the benefit of hate without the burden of being named. But words matter. Naming racism for what it is, whether it hides behind religious deflection, cultural superiority or political fearmongering, is essential.

We do not avoid the term because it makes people uncomfortable. That is the point. Racism should make people uncomfortable, especially those who uphold it, excuse it or look away.

This article was republished from a Facebook Post on the Truth Against Hate Facebook Page.