Without doubt the left has waged a highly successful campaign of weaponizing language in the war on free speech. Milo Yiannopoulos summed it up perfectly when he highlighted that leftists immediately hit you with an accusation, such as being racist, which instantly puts you on the defensive and makes you defend a position of their choosing. I cite Milo here because there is hardly a better example of being mislabeled a racist. And until someone can explain to me how a Nazi can have a black husband, I’m calling bollocks on that one.

So, the thing I am wondering is, when will we as a society agree to deny power over the “racist” accusation? Why do we endow these words with such meaning? Imagine if someone held racist views – and I argue that the majority of conservatives do not – is that worse than being a murderer? A rapist? A pederast? An arsonist? An embezzler? A kidnapper? A homophobe? A fan of Amy Schumer’s comedy?

Rather than fall into being defensive, there’s two things you can do. First, you need to take the air out of this balloon by simply laughing and asking, “Is that it? That’s all you have? No facts? No logic? Just a baseless accusation to try and win this argument. Wow, you really don’t have a case do you? Come back when you have some facts little one.” Laughing and shaking your head will make them mad and lose their composure, instantly shutting this line of attack down and give you the advantage. Check.

Second, you need to put it straight back on them. If the person calling you a racist is white, that’s the time to hit them with the ‘thou doth protest too much’ approach. “You seem really worked up on this issue when you’re not actually black. You know how diehard homophobes who rail against gays are secretly gay, could it be that your intensity on this issue is really a cheap mask for self-loathing due to your deep-seated racist beliefs? Are you really a Klu Klux Klan sympathiser deep down? Because that’s not cool, you should really get some help with that, you racist.” Checkmate.

Simply put, the best thing conservatives can do is laugh it off and not give any air to this ridiculous accusation. We would be further along as a society if we stopped letting liberals tar us with the racist brush. Oh wait, is that racist? If so, I have a very important question to ask – “What’s for lunch, you racist?”