In the text “The Racism We Carry”, Roxanne Gay explores the culture of racism and the manners in which it is commonly present in society. Gay discusses the shocking and openly racist behaviour of Paula Deen in an unsurprised voice. Reacting to this issue in such a manner is quite shocking especially because of Gay’s stong views on racism, but by using such a tone Gay only highlights the problematic normality of racism in today’s society.

As a person of colour, Gay clearly states her opinion on the event that has taken place while also approaching the situation in an objective manner. By using this approach, Gay is able to highlight the much larger issue tof cultural conditioning that is present within all of us. Gay also uses an informal tone in this passage to create a sense of relatability and to build a connection with her audience. An instance of this can be seen in the line “is this where I say “I have southern friends”?”. This line allows for Gay to accept that she to has some biases of her own and that she also must fight against the cultural conditioning that she has experienced. Taking this relatable approach allows for Gay to better connect with her audience and to help them understand the role that they play as members of society with regards to combatting this issue. Gay also identifies herself as an individual who is trying to get rid of her judgements that have formed as a result of her cultural conditioning. This allows her audience to realise that they too have a responsibility as individuals of society to break out of these cultural prejudices. 

Gay makes it a point to highlight that the reason behind the uproar regarding Paula Deen’s racist behaviour is because “she broke the unwritten rulrs about how to be racist”. Being so open and direct with her negative behaviour comes as a shock to everyone, but this only further proves Gay’s point regarding the fact that this incident was a rare case of racism being displayed in an open an obvious manner, however it is a known fact that many people share the same views as Paula Deen except they express racism in subtler forms.

This text provokes thinking regarding similar themes like in advertisements by Procter and Gamble which showcase the realities of the subtle racism that people of colour face on a daily basis.