Comment by xboxnolifes
1 day ago
I don't think they're on a learning curve. I think they're in a worldview bubble they cannot see out of. When something different enters the bubble, it's an anomaly (one of the good ones). It's like doublethink. It can't be a learning curve, because it's completely stationary. They've been in that spot most of, if not all of, their life.
At least that's how I see the "nuanced racists" in my life (I'm white, fwiw, so it's not the other side view you were probably looking for).
I would say that observing them at an instant in time can't actually tell you which category they fall into. You can only tell if you are able to observe them over a longer period and see if they change further.
I say this specifically because the one truly effective intervention we know of that can destroy bigotry is getting to know someone of the group they are bigoted against. My layman's guess as to what makes the difference between someone who just labels the black/queer/etc person they know as "one of the good ones" and someone who actually starts to change is whether a) the former are personal friends with the latter, and b) the latter is willing & able to speak up and say "just making an exception for me is kinda shitty, other people like me aren't bad either, and if you keep talking about them like that I won't be able to stay your friend".
Its not an instant in time. Its decades of the same reactions to the same circumstances.
They don't change, because their circumstances don't change. I don't doubt that there would be some change if they got really, actually close to someone they are normally bigoted against. I'm just saying it doesnt happen, and thats why they don't change.