Rationalizations for Bigotry: A Recent History

1942

It isn’t that I think that all Americans of Japanese descent are bad people.  It is just that we are at war and can’t take any risk, so they and their children just have to be taken from their homes and put in camps until the war is over.

1948

It is not that I am prejudiced against Negroes; it is just that it will be disruptive to the U.S. Armed Forces to force soldiers to integrate in their battle units with someone of another race.

1964

It isn’t that I am prejudiced; I just believe that we ought to respect private property rights and if someone does not want to rent an apartment to someone because they are black or Latino, that’s their business.

1966

It isn’t that I dislike black people; I just think they ought to stick to marrying their own kind.

2008

It isn’t that I think homosexuals are bad people, it is just that letting them marry undermines the institution of marriage for everyone else.

2010

It isn’t that I am against Muslim people; I just don’t think they ought to be able to build a community center two blocks from Ground Zero; it will hurt too many people’s feelings.