This girl I know posted a picture of herself on Facebook hugging a man who looked like a recent immigrant from India. This man is tagged “my mom would be so proud.”

At first I was confused. Why would her mom be so proud that her daughter is hugging a South Asian man? And then I thought, “Wait, this friend of mine is being sarcastic. Her mom would actually not be proud. She would be disappointed that her daughter was dating someone from a different background.”

And then I realized my friend is not actually making her mom “proud” in that way. In fact, she finds the possibility of sexual relations with an immigrant so implausible as to be laughable. And if anything, her mother “would be so proud” of her daughter’s antipathy toward a man who doesn’t share her socio-economic upbringing.

And then I thought, “Goddamn. Why am I Facebook friends with such a fucking racist?”