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"I'm not a racist, but..."

Whenever someone starts a sentence by claiming he or she's not racist, sexist, homophobic or the like, and then adds the conjunction "but" following that line, there's a 99.897% chance he or she is going to contradict themselves by uttering something which would be seen by most as racist, sexist, or homophobic.

An example of this would be, "I'm not a racist, but that n***er over there better not look over here or else I'll knock him flat on his backside."

It's as if these people feel that by preceding their "-ist" commentary claiming they're not an "-ist," it excuses them of the inevitable "-ist" comments they're about to make. I'm sorry, but things don't work that way.

That would be like if a guy told his girlfriend, "I'm not going to make out with that girl over there," and then started making out with the lady he said he wasn't going to make out with. Does his preceding the make-out session by saying he wouldn't make out with the lady negate the fact he then made out with her? How about we ask his girlfriend on that? I'm guessing she would disagree with his contradictory logic, since there is no such thing.

How about if a man told a cop, "I'm so not going to kill that guy over there giving me funny looks," before he goes over and kills him? Would the cop say, "Well, since you told me you weren't going to kill him, I can't arrest you for killing him. You're free to go"? I don't think so...

My advice for anyone who begins a sentence with something along the lines of "I'm not a racist, but..." closes it with, "Ah, nevermind. Let's just watch the game," and keeps their "-ist" comments to themselves.

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