People think they are "post-racial" if they do not regularly use slurs and/or do not self-identify as racist and/or have friends or coworkers who are not white.

People think they are "post-racial" if they do not regularly use slurs and/or do not self-identify as racist and/or have friends or coworkers who are not white. Of course, when it comes down to it, very few people self-identify as racist, making this definition not particularly useful. BUT it is a heck of a lot easier to paper over more subtle forms of racism by identifying racism as only the most outlandish kind, and the rest as someone being too sensitive or what have you. A good rule of thumb is that everyone is at least a little bit racist. It's less of a problem if you're willing to admit it and work at it, but by suggesting that we are post-racial (we have a black president, therefore racism is over), white people let themselves off the hook from having to think much about race most of the time.