51吃瓜

There are all sorts of retorts people resort to when criticized or called out for a mistake or wrongdoing of some kind. (Heaven forbid anyone just say, 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry. I was wrong,鈥� anymore.) One of the most maddening kinds is increasingly being referred to as听whataboutism.

You know it when you hear it. 鈥淗ey, weren鈥檛 you supposed to do the dishes last night?鈥� you ask your roommate as you stare at a sink full of crusty dishes. Instead of acknowledging it, apologizing, and jumping to clean up, your roommate opens a fresh can of whataboutism: 鈥淏ut what about that time last week when you were supposed to take out the garbage and you didn鈥檛?鈥� Wait, what?听Can’t they just do the dishes?!听

Whataboutism has a Russian link?!

Whataboutism is considered a form of the logical fallacy 肠补濒濒别诲听tu quoque, Latin for “you also”鈥攎ore like “And so are you!” in contemporary speech. The idea, here, is that a person charged with some offense tries to discredit the accuser by charging them with a similar one or bringing up a different issue altogether鈥攏one of which is relevant to the original accusation. It’s basically like blowing a raspberry at someone and saying, “I know you are, but what am I?”听Classy, right?

The term听whataboutism dates back to 1978, when it applied to propaganda techniques used by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. When the West criticized the Soviet Union, say, over human rights abuses and oppression, the Soviet Union would point out crimes committed by Western nations (e.g., racism, lynchings). This type of whataboutism, , is “practically a national ideology” for the Soviet Union.

The term whataboutery is found slightly earlier, in 1974, used during the conflict between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. A letter published that year in The Irish Times听described the “Whatabouts” as “people who answer every condemnation of the Provisional I.R.A. with an argument to prove the greater immorality of the ‘enemy’.”

Both whataboutery and whataboutism听are听portmanteaus听that combine two words: what听and听about,听based on the structure of the common retort听What about …?

The whereabouts of听whataboutism

If we鈥檙e being honest, we鈥檙e all guilty of whataboutism. It鈥檚 often a knee-jerk response or a last-resort defense when we鈥檝e got no good way to answer a criticism or charge. It鈥檚 also a pretty good way to shift the attention off your mistake and onto your accuser.

Ugh I hate when tweets go big. Everyone be like 鈥淚 get the positive intentions of your message but…鈥� NO, stop there! I don鈥檛 need to hear your whataboutism.

— Bryn (@brynismyname)

Critics who claim “All Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter” in response to the Black Lives Matter movement are engaging in whataboutism. They deflect attention from the original issue (Black people are , for example) to another issue听without addressing the first. Bringing听reverse racism听(or the rights of non-marginalized groups) into the conversation is basically whataboutism distracting from the original issue and grievances.

Whataboutism has been used, or called out, in the context of some of the other leading issues in the late 2010s, such as the Me Too Movement. After Senator Al Franken, for example, stepped down over sexual misconduct allegations in 2017鈥�18, many accused him of听whataboutism when he raised the fact that President Donald Trump has faced sexual assault allegations.

Speaking of Trump, he pushed听whataboutism鈥攁s a word and practice鈥攊nto the spotlight. Search interest in the term jumped during the investigation of Russian meddling into the 2016 presidential election, including the Trump campaign’s possible collusion and conspiracy with them. In response to various allegations, Trump took to those two very words that give whataboutism its name: “What about all of the contact with the Clinton campaign and the Russians? Also, is it true that the DNC would not let the FBI in to look?” he tweeted on March 20, 2017.

I'm so tired of whataboutism. And it comes from all sides.

— rick wilson, shart survivor (@ScottGWrites)

Not all whataboutism听roads lead to Trump, we promise … but they do very often lead back to politics and Twitter. Whataboutism gets leveled at topics ranging from race to Brexit to, yes, those original whatabouts, Russia.

And, yes, plenty of everyday听whataboutism听gets called out, too. It seems like the tactic of our times.

Doing more than finger-pointing

Whataboutism is worrisome because it pushes aside personal responsibility. Apologies鈥攁t least apologies done right鈥攕eem to be a dying breed when everyone seems to point fingers and dodges, ducks, or dances around any admission that they may not be perfect. Might someone be hypocritical for calling you out for something they鈥檝e done too? Yes, but that doesn鈥檛 excuse your refusal to act responsibly and offer a genuine, thoughtful apology.

We’re never going to completely wipe out听whataboutism, but听we can work to change our own behavior. The next time someone calls you out, you might say, 鈥淵es, you鈥檙e right鈥�… then go do those dishes. One little step forward at a time.

If you’re ready to own up to that little mistake, you can first brush up on whether “my apology” or “my apologies” is correct.