The rhetoric of "racism"

Re: George Floyd, John Boyega went on a rant on Instagram to condemn racist white people. Aside from Boyega's usual candor and enthusiasm, it was fairly standard stuff.

Most notable was the pushback he got from his audience. White people flooded his mentions claiming they weren't racists, what about anti-white racism, etc. I found this interesting. Why didn't they take Boyega's rant at face value? After all, condemning racism is about the least controversial thing you can do these days. I offer three explanations.

1. Racism has been so abused as an epithet, no one really knows what it means anymore. Does it mean a belief in the lesser value of black people's lives, views about black people's genetic inferiority, or observing real-world differences among races? I've also heard thinking racism isn't a big deal is itself racist.
   
   Whatever your definition of racism, I doubt more than a fraction of the people your definition fits is capable of murder, as in the George Floyd case. Is Boyega lumping everyone together? If so, that triggers a defense mechanism in many people: Don't put me in the same category as people who aren't like me.
   
   
2. The language of race, ethnicity, and nationality has incredible rhetorical power. Defying 75 years of cultural counter-programming, group identity is ingrained deep in our human natures. It's why Trump caught such flak for talking about Mexican rapists and drug dealers. Objectively he wasn't talking about all Mexicans, but it felt like he was.
   
   In more primitive times, inter-tribal relations were concerned about keeping an even scoresheet of grievances. Lex talionis: If you kill one of us, we have the right to kill one of you. Group identity imparts group guilt for individual crimes. Some who bought into the counter-programming will naturally seek absolution.
   
   
3. Boyega's white audience isn't racist. I can all but guarantee there's not a single white racist who's a fan of Boyega. In fact, some of them may regard being a fan of Boyega as a point of pride. If so, I can see how they would look for a head pat for not being one of the evil people he's talking about.
   
   This speaks to a larger issue in "call out" culture. The people who would most benefit from being called out by you often don't hear you and/or don't care. So if the point of a rant isn't to virtue-signal, if it isn't to engage in 2 minutes' hate, what is the point? Some people, rightly or wrongly, infer you're talking about about them.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

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