Dear Hipster Racists, You're Still Being Racist

If you haven't heard the phrases "hipster racism" or "ironic racism" being thrown around of late, allow Lindy West to educate you with an epic explainer and takedown at Jezebel. "It's, you know, introducing your black friend as 'my black friend'—as a joke!!!—to show everybody how totally not preoccupied you are with your black friend's blackness," she writes. In short, it's white people—think "educated, middle-class white people"—joking about racism to prove they're above it.

West breaks down the various ways it manifests itself, including cute white girls making gang symbols, ironically, of course. Then there's "recreational slumming," in which "privileged people" bravely venture into a bar in the "scary" part of town. "Catchphrase: 'It's soooooo ghetto, but I actually totally like it!'" There's much more, and it should all stop, quickly, writes West. This scheme "where we prove we're not racist by acting as casually racist as possible? Not our best, white people. Not our best." Click for her full column. (More racism stories.)