The sound of the word in your ears.
What I find interesting, from a strictly socio-linguistic perspective, is that the vast majority of Americans seem to have internalized words like “racist” and “bigot” with a keen sense of revulsion. They understand that to be named such a thing is a concrete evil but their notion of self is that they believe they are good.
This is why you will often watch offensive, entitled people preface their hate with “I’m not racist or homophobic but” or angrily retort that the people who they wish to marginalize are “the real bigots.”
“The stars and bars are about southern pride. The rainbow flag is fascism.”
“Affirmative action is reverse racism.”
“I know you are, but what am I?”
They want the freedom to remain exactly as they are without having somebody tell them that the way they are is no longer acceptable to the ever-evolving civilization in which they live. It never seems to occur to such individuals that if they put even a fraction of the effort into not engaging in bigoted behavior as they do into insisting that they are not a bigot, that they might in fact earn the grace that it takes to not be considered a bigot.
