…..they’d admit that they simply find black people, along with just about anything black people do, unfamiliar, confusing, and terrifying:

One of the key leadership figures in the Ferguson crisis has been Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson. It’s a shame, then, that Soraya Nadia McDonald had to explain that Johnson has not been photographed flashing gang signs with members of the community.

***

The gesture – which looks a bit like an A-OK sign turned on its side – is obviously harmless. It’s evidence of membership in a fraternity, not membership in a gang.

But that didn’t stop a variety of conservatives from pushing the line that Johnson was somehow involved directly in gang activity.

But I guess it would be rude to call those people racists.