Defining A Racist Malcolm Gladwell Summary

In his article, Defining A Racist, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the main criteria for what defines a racist in today’s society. Gladwell’s three criteria for defining a racist are content, intention, and conviction (83). Gladwell lists three controversial instances of racial statements made by Michael Richards, Mel Gibson, and Michael Irvin, then analyzes these situations using his three criteria to decide if the comments made were considered racist.

Gladwell defines the first criteria for racism as content, which is the specific language that was used (83). Gladwell states that the more specific the racial statement is, the more harm will come of it. Gladwell then defines the second of the three criteria, intention, which is what the comment

If you clearly understand the subject matter of one’s statement, the outcome they wish to bring about, and their circumstances when making the statement, you can truly decide whether what they said is to be considered racist. Another aspect of Gladwell’s article that I found interesting was his in-depth investigation of the specific cases of racism. With each example, Gladwell uses his criteria to break down the situation and determine the degree of racism that was conveyed by Michael Richards, Mel Gibson, and Michael Irvin. The only concept I don’t agree with in Gladwell’s article is his opinion that sex abuse is similar to racism. Of course, they are both unacceptable actions, I just don’t think that there is a strong enough relation between them for them to be compared in the way Gladwell intended. To conclude, I agree with the majority of what Gladwell said within his article, “Defining A Racist,” except for his correlation between racism and sex abuse. Gladwell’s three criterion are a great resource for analyzing situations and deciding if a statement should be considered