NPR

I have a name for what fueled Joe Rogan's new scandal: Bigotry Denial Syndrome

Joe Rogan doesn't think of himself as a racist. But that doesn't mean his language isn't harmful.
Podcaster and comic Joe Rogan, who also serves as a mixed martial arts commentator, looks on at a UFC fight in 2015.

The latest controversy podcaster and comic Joe Rogan faces right now also highlights a fear which often plagues Black folks: That a high-profile person, who claims to be non-racist and an ally to people of color, may actually be the opposite.And, in Rogan's case, it's all wrapped up in something I've called Bigotry Denial Syndrome.Rogan himself claims he isn't racist. He says in his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience were examples of him invoking the word in conversations where it wasn't used as a slur about specific people or Black people in general. Rogan was following an ethic – he now says was wrong – which held that white people should be able to use the word if their intent isn't

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