Strategic Racism - when we know but then again, maybe we don't?

This article addresses discrimination and racism as they are expressed and simultaneously denied in Danish political rhetoric. Drawing on public iterations and political interventions as illustrative material, I discuss how racism functions strategically to support certain political agendas. The article is twofold. On the one hand, it defines and addresses distinctions (and lacks thereof) between ideological, systemic, and structural racism and discrimination. On the other, it develops a notion of strategic racism in the context of Danish political rhetoric.

In Denmark, like most contexts, racism occurs in ways that are both universally recognizable, and in ways that are particular to the context. This article addresses some prevalent forms of everyday, normalized Danish racism and discrimination, and how these are expressed and implemented in selected political contexts. In particular, the article addresses some widely shared misnomers about racism and how these contribute to understandings, expressions, and denial of discrimination and racism. A central argument is that certain challenges that arise in connection with certain shared (mis)understandings of racism can be used strategically. Further, it discusses how one aspect of this (mis)interpretation is the emphasis on intention as (strategically) implicated and manipulated.