the racist is a pangloss

03.06.2026

S: Voltaire wrote this novel, Candide. There was this figure there, Pangloss. A satirical figure that would proclaim, however horrible things are, that everything was great. That this was the best of all possible worlds.

A: That was then. What’s the relevance of that to the present moment?

S: Because the racist is a Pangloss.

A: How so?

S: The racist believes that the oppressed do not suffer from the scourge of racism. On the contrary, the racist believes that the oppressed have too good a time in this country. The racist believes that this country has given something more than a warm welcome here. That the oppressed are living it up, living a life of luxury over here. Furthermore, despite the widespread discrimination against ethnic minorities, the racist believes that they have a meritocracy in this country and that everyone is fairly rewarded for their skill and talent. That racism is over. That it doesn’t infect all things and relationships.

A: You see the Pangloss attitude as ideology?

S: I see it as absolute denial, just as Voltaire saw Pangloss as a denier of the realities. For the Pangloss, nothing has to do with racism. If you are excluded, it is not racism, it is you. If you are denied progression, it is you, it is not racism. If you are denied opportunities, it is not racism, it is you. It is you that is the problem, not racism.

A: And what do you think?

S: I know how the racist is going to act. Because I have experienced it. There is always an excuse not to give you an opportunity. There is always some excuse to exclude you. They will pick on things like you don’t drink to exclude you from the pub. And they will always go to the pub in the first place, knowing that many of us do not drink. Exclusion is built into their whole culture. For themselves, they make every excuse to include themselves. When someone is not as qualified, they will get the job. When someone has no experience, they will change the format of the interview to make them get the job, taking out any assessment of experience. But for you? Even if your job slightly differs from the job specification, they will pretend that you don’t have the experience and that you are not specialised enough. If you are qualified, they will say that you are overqualified or that your qualifications are not specialised enough. They are absolutely corrupt in preserving opportunities for themselves and think we are too stupid to see it. Let’s not talk about relationships. It is not worth commenting upon the stupidity and bias.

A: So to destroy the racist, you would have to destroy Pangloss.

S: As Voltaire realised, you cannot destroy Pangloss. This culture is made up of the Pangloss. It is the culture of the Pangloss. And for the revolutionary? Pangloss is the one that you cannot be.