Slang dictionary
Coulter’s Law
[kohl-terz law]
What does听Coulter's Law mean?
Named after a 2015 tweet from provocative conservative political commentator, Ann Coulter,听Coulter’s Law听states that the longer it takes the news media to identify a mass shooter in the United States, the less likely it is to be a white male.
Where does Coulter’s Law come from?
Coulter’s Law听began with a tweet by Ann Coulter, a conservative political commentator and writer known for her outspoken xenophobia. On December 2, 2015, Coulter tweeted a response to the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California perpetrated by a couple from Pakistan: “The longer we go without being told the race of the shooters, the less likely it is to be white men. #sorryNYT.”
The longer we go without being told the race of the shooters, the less likely it is to be white men.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter)
Coulter’s tweet criticized the media for, in her perception, shying away from immediately disclosing听 the racial identity of a shooter when that person is not a white male, the typical identity of mass shooters in the US. The idea is that, due to their liberal worldview, the mainstream media deny evidence that might confirm conservative fears of Islamic terrorism in the US.
Calling Coulter’s Law听a law听follows the lead of other informal “rules” or observations online, such as Poe’s Law or Godwin’s Law.听Urban Dictionary added an explanation for听Coulter’s Law in 2016. Coulter herself hasn’t, as far as we know, acknowledged her namesake, but she doesn’t seem to mind that people invoke it in discussion every time there is a mass shooting.
Examples of Coulter’s Law
Who uses Coulter’s Law?
Those who use听Coulter’s Law tend to align with Coulter’s xenophobic ideology. Typically, these internet commentators will write such as things as听Coulter’s Law is in effect听when mainstream media do not disclose the racial identity of a shooter in the hours following news of a mass shooting.
Coulter's Law in Effect : Toronto Islamic Terrorist now identified as Faisal Hussain, after more than 20 hours after recovering his body
— Cowdog 馃嚭馃嚫馃椊馃嚭馃嚫 (@kryptokoi)
Discussion about听Coulter’s Law is听very common on the subreddit r/The_Donald, a forum on听Reddit that supports Donald Trump through commentary and memes. These Redditors not only comment on violent crimes (and so-called examples of Coulter’s Law) in the US but also elsewhere in the West, including Canada and the UK.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of Coulter’s Law like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of Coulter’s Law that will help our users expand their word mastery.