Record 17 · Race & policing
Said white Americans spread racism
May 2020
In social media posts later revisited by the New York Post, Talarico used a contagion metaphor to describe race in America. He made clear the virus in the metaphor was racism, including in people who display no overt racist symbols.
“White skin gives me and every white American immunity from the virus. But we spread it wherever we go.”
Conservative assessment
It assigns culpability by race rather than by conduct, which is the core conservative objection to this style of racial analysis.
Sources
Research reviewed September 8, 2026