The phrase “#AntiRacist is a Code Word for #AntiWhite” is a racist slogan that became popular among White Supremacists in the mid-2000s. The slogan reframes the term “anti-racist” as supposedly meaning “anti-White.”
It originates from a short essay commonly referred to as “The Mantra,” popularized by long-time White Supremacist Bob Whitaker. The Mantra attempts to counter accusations of racism by claiming that people who identify as anti-racist are actually seeking to destroy the White race. Within this narrative, the term “anti-racist” is therefore presented as equivalent to “anti-White.”
Whitaker's followers have promoted the idea that simply repeating the Mantra, or slogans derived from it, can somehow control or redefine discussions about racism. The slogan is frequently encountered on signs and banners.
Bob Whitaker
Bob Whitaker was a far-right propagandist for more than half a century. He was an economics professor and was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Throughout much of his career, he was associated with radical and often racist populist campaigns. He once claimed that he had displayed a swastika poster on his wall as a young person as a protest against the desegregation of Black and White Americans. In reality, his advocacy for segregation and racist ideology appears to have been rooted in his opposition to the early American civil-rights movement. He died in 2017, at the age of 76.
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