In the past year, the U.S. has changed drastically. With the reign of the second Trump Administration, dozens of new laws have attacked policies that promote inclusion for people of color (POC), such as defunding the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR) and universities that refuse to abide by Donald Trump’s irrational decisions. Trump’s actions not only represent himself, but also the collective consciousness of the general population of the United States. Since last year, casual racism has risen at an alarming rate within society. Casual racism refers to conversational, day-to-day language used to peddle negative stereotypes and prejudice against minorities. Casual racism becomes apparent globally, especially with the shift in popular humour and how companies choose to advertise to consumers, leading to harmful impacts.
One particular instance of casual racism manifests in the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle advertisement. Several weeks ago, the ad spread like wildfire over the internet for its concerning messages featuring the American actor, Sweeney. In one of several ads, Sweeney dresses herself in a pair of blue jeans while explaining how genetics works. She states that parents pass their genes onto their offspring, which determine their child’s hair color, personality and even eye color. At the end of the ad, Sweeney executes a play on words with jeans and genes to declare her ownership of blue jeans. A male voiceover cuts in, proclaiming Sweeney has great genes.
After its initial release, the ad quickly became quite infamous due to the message that the videos alluded to. The sentiments of Sweeney possessing blue genes, as well as the narrator claiming that Sweeney carries favorable genes, strangely embody rhetoric aligned with those who believe in eugenics. Eugenics describes the belief in selectively breeding favorable genes in order to change the genetic makeup of the human race. Nazi Germany infamously aligned with eugenics and used this doctrine as the main motivation for the Holocaust. Eugenics has since proved unscientific and strongly unsupportive of ethnic minorities.
The American Eagle company responded to criticism surrounding Sweeney’s ad by denying that the ad bore any relation to eugenics, but throughout the campaign, the company allocated additional focus toward Sweeney’s looks and allure, instead of the brand of the woman’s jeans that Sweeney appeared to be wearing. With the excessive emphasis and appraisal of Sweeney’s Eurocentric features, the look and quality of the product marketed sent an arbitrary impression that the campaign wanted to appeal specifically to a White audience. American Eagle puts Sweeny’s traits on a pedestal, which presents the impression that people who do not have White skin and blue eyes bear inferior genetics. Proponents of the ad, noticeably numerous right-wing political figures such as Trump, JD Vance and Ted Cruz, who all enacted policies attacking Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D.E.I) initiatives, defended and praised Sweeny and American Eagle.
“Yeah, I hated that [advertisement] very, very much because, like, what do you mean your ‘jeans are blue?’ You can get jeans in multiple colors for starters. Two, we see your eyes are blue, you’re kind of scary. You could’ve said my jeans are awesome or, my jeans are hot. What do your blue eyes have to do with the jeans?” magnet sophomore Eisan King said.
Casual racism also extends to social media, where trends emerge that encourage messages of prejudice. On TikTok, viral videos arose with users joking about harmful stereotypes toward ethnic minorities. For example, one trend involved users of the app peddling the stereotype of Indians not maintaining adequate hygiene. Another trend involved users fabricating Artificial Intelligence (AI) videos depicting gorillas with exaggerated nails and lashes, speaking in heightened African American Vernacular English (AAVE) with the intent to create caricatures of Black women.
“I have definitely seen more racist posts and stuff on social media talking about Indians and discrimination against them. It makes me feel disappointed and concerned because it’s 2025. Come on now, let’s learn to appreciate and respect everyone’s culture. My culture is so beautiful and it should be respected, but I go on social media and see people making fun of it,” magnet sophomore Shivani Bhugra says.
Plenty of people defend this type of content as jokes to try to undermine the impact these types of videos hold on impressionable viewers. By passing off racism as dark humor or as frivolous statements, these hateful comments further encourage and normalize hating and judging a person solely on the basis of their heritage, culture, skin color or ethnicity. Continuing to jest at those who come from a different background or those who hold the status of a minority pushes society far back from the amount of progress that society has achieved. Content, like AI gorillas or the framing of Indians as maintaining insufficient hygiene, contributes to media like minstrel shows and other racist caricatures from the past, which aim to degrade POC.
These comments of prejudice result in negative perceptions and possible hostility toward non-white people. This becomes highlighted in countries, such as in the U.S., U.K. and Australia, where immigrants and POC continue to become a constant target of discrimination every day. These instances clarify why these types of racist sentiments hold an impact, and why causal racism should not become a norm.