Some advice I got about how to deal with people who like to use euphemisms and bad faith argument to hide their racism/sexism/XYZ-phobia (but it works even when it’s not the xenophobia stuff) is to just play dumb. Be like Socrates and keep poking at their underlying arguments and assumptions.
An uncle of mine will talk about “people wearing hoodies” as a euphemism for “thuggish black people” and I’ll just play dumb, and ask stuff like “I wear hoddies, does that make me a criminal?” or “What is it about hoddies that makes people criminals?” “It’s a piece of cotton, I don’t get what it is about hoodies that makes someone a criminal” And just keep asking dumb questions, they’ll get to a point that they’ll either say the quiet part out loud or just won’t say their veiled racist stuff around you.
It’s a bit of initial work but after a while people leave you alone because it’s just a pain in the ass trying to argue with you.
Serious question: What is your opinion on avoiding arguments altogether? The older I get, the less I feel like arguing.
I disagree! /s
Seriously though, yeah. It’s really the best option most of the time I think.
There’s also the more potent: “you are right”. Although it has many draw backs
Some advice I got about how to deal with people who like to use euphemisms and bad faith argument to hide their racism/sexism/XYZ-phobia (but it works even when it’s not the xenophobia stuff) is to just play dumb. Be like Socrates and keep poking at their underlying arguments and assumptions.
An uncle of mine will talk about “people wearing hoodies” as a euphemism for “thuggish black people” and I’ll just play dumb, and ask stuff like “I wear hoddies, does that make me a criminal?” or “What is it about hoddies that makes people criminals?” “It’s a piece of cotton, I don’t get what it is about hoodies that makes someone a criminal” And just keep asking dumb questions, they’ll get to a point that they’ll either say the quiet part out loud or just won’t say their veiled racist stuff around you.
It’s a bit of initial work but after a while people leave you alone because it’s just a pain in the ass trying to argue with you.