The Ankhesen Mié Lexicon, Volume II

The Avatar Defense

When James Cameron unleashed Avatar upon the world and people of all skintones denounced it, the popular reply was, "It's just a movie--who cares?  It's got great special effects."

This is arrogant racism, and yes, this precise scenario has played out with other films before.  This is derailing in its rawest, most shameless form.  The people who analyzed Avatar did so intelligently; they voiced valid concerns, they provided references, comparisons, and overall in-depth critiques.  To tell all these people to ignore the healthy, self-examinatory, communicative dialogue they were having with themselves and others is a perfect example of the preservation of racism.

The Double Whammy (a.k.a., "Getting Hit Twice")

This occurs when someone of your skintone casually strolls up to you and starts "sharing" racist jokes/commentary in general with you about people who are most definitely not you.

First Whammy: Congrats, you're a victim of racism.

Why?  That person took one look at your skin and assumed they knew everything about you.  Now, POC already understand all this, so for the example, let's say you're a white guy and another white guy you don't know too well comes over to say howdy at work or in a bar, and somehow seques from hello to bitching about "nappy-headed Negroes."  This means Other White Guy is so comfortable with the idea of white solidarity that it never even occurred to him that you might have a black wife and some mixed kids at home.  It didn't even cross his mind that maybe--just maybe--you're not even into racist jokes.  Even worse, this person is invoking Same-Color Privilege, which means as a fellow wearer of your skintone, they're automatically expecting you to not correct, chastise, or contradict them in any way.  So much that when you do, it often ends unpleasantly.

Second Whammy: This person has also just called you a racist.  So Other White Guy comes over to bitch about black people, and he's--again--assuming you hate them too, in all the same ways that he does, and is basically trying to make you an "accomplice" in preserving racism amongst members of your skintone.

Tips to Combat the Double Whammy: Make members of your skintone feel "unsafe" about speaking such nonsense aloud.  Call them out on it every time.  Let them know you've offended them, and let them know that if you catch them continuing such behavior in the workplace, for example, you'll notify a superior.  Why's it important to rat these assholes out?  1) Because contrary to popular myth, they actually don't have a right to behave in that manner, or treat you that way, nor dishonor and misrepresent your skintone, and 2) because they're the ones who are likely to get your company bitch-slapped with a costly lawsuit some day, no doubt resulting the laying off of multiple unsuspecting employees.

(The Double Whammy also happens with jokes/commentary on homosexuals, women, people with disabilities, etc.,...just FYI.)

The Princess & Frog Defense

In many ways, it's very similar to the "Avatar Defense" in that has the "Who cares?" response when a person brings up a critical note about race in a film.  The crucial difference here, though, is that the most common defense for the inaccurate portrayal of race relations in The Princess and the Frog is that children are too young to learn about race.  Of course, the children in question here are always white.  Children of color don't have a choice.  They're going to experience racism whether they want to or not, whether they understand it or not, or whether they're prepared for it or not.  It's waiting for them on the playgrounds, in their schools, and in their daycares.  For a parent of color to withhold information about race from their child is akin to serving a lamb up for slaughter.

For white parents, withholding [accurate] information is to avoid having your child give you accusing looks and lose respect for some questionable statements or decisions you may have made.  Not talking to your kids about race doesn't magically make it go away.  Deliberately raising your children in all-white communities does not do them any favors.  Even more importantly, you're doing your children a gross disservice because as adults, they will have a harder time talking to and understanding people of color--people they'll be going to school with, working jobs with, and trying to go out with.  So while they may have learned from you that people "just don't talk about race", they're in for one hell of an awakening.

Happy Montage Thinking

This is delusional racism.  Whenever a person [read: white] goes on a tangent about how "colorblind" they are, how they believe racism is "dying out on its own" (or even go so far as to say it's already dead), or that people just need to have more mixed babies and everything will be okay, you can practically hear the sappy music playing in their heads as they envision a peaceful, post-racial world.  They've skipped to the end of the movie, to the wordless montage in the sugary sweet epilogue which screams, "And they all lived happily ever after."

People [read: white] often indulge the Happy Montage because they don't want to talk about the darker part of the film (accidental pun...keeping it!).  They don't want to discuss racism as it is right now.  They don't want to examine their role in its perpetuation.  They don't want to look at their families and communities with a more critical eye.  They just want to skip to the happy ending--which they will not see in their own lifetimes, by the way--while not actually doing anything to bring it about.  In essence, they're basically sitting back and letting everyone else--including other white folks--do the all heavy lifting.

Universal Desirability

The idea that the white (and usually Aryan) aesthetic is only valid aesthetic, and that everyone should defer to it.  If you don't, then "something" must be wrong with you.