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Why Do We Get So Worked Up Over ‘Racist’?

Go ahead, disown the word. There’s no denying its brutal reality.

Jeremy Helligar
6 min readAug 23, 2019
Targets of a racist England? The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

“You need to calm down.” — Taylor Swift

I never thought I would quote Taylor Swift at the beginning of an article about racism, but I think her line actually works better here than it did when she used it in her recent pop single to shoehorn herself into the LGBTQ narrative.

Swift’s lyrics popped into my mind yesterday as I read about another latest Twitter feud, this one between Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan and British actress Jameela Jamil. Her comments about England and the English media’s treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, started the social media stand-off.

Normally, I would have ignored the headline, but a few days ago, I discovered The Good Place, the Netflix series in which Jamil costars, and I fell in love with her over the course of my first-season binge-fest. I was interested in what she had to say.

She didn’t disappoint.

“Ugh. Dear England and English press, just say you hate her because she’s black, and him for marrying a black woman and be done with it God dammit. Your bullying is so embarrassing and obvious. You’ve all lost your marbles. It’s 2019. Grow up.”

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Jeremy Helligar
Jeremy Helligar

Written by Jeremy Helligar

Brother Son Husband Friend Loner Minimalist World Traveler. Author of “Is It True What They Say About Black Men?” and “Storms in Africa” https://rb.gy/3mthoj

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