ABSTRACT
At a time in our nation when more folk than ever before are daring to “talk” race, many of us who have been speaking and writing on the subject for years are oddly silent. Some of us do not want to be heard sharing that they “are sick and tired of talking about race.” Still other folks wonder what good does all the talking do when so much remains the same, when our nation's acceptable discourses of race are inextricably tied to the normalized practices of racism and white supremacy. Contrary to the popular assumption that folks find it difficult to talk about race, the truth of the matter is that most folks talk about race all the time, that one of the ways everyday racism has made its imprint on the lives of black people/ people of color has been through the many overheard comments that are overt expressions of hate speech. All around us, negative stereotypes can be heard, overt racist epitaphs abound. The election of a black male president has simply brought these stereotypes out of the closet and made them more public. Making racist comments has become more acceptable for everyone, especially when those 10comments occur in an atmosphere where all around us we hear that racism no longer exists.
