A recent Gallup poll has confirmed what many have suspected: White Americans across the country are increasingly using Wordle, the hugely popular Internet puzzle, as a way of avoiding difficult conversations about race.
The comments of Sarah F., a resident of Boca Raton, Florida, are typical: “When I play Wordle it requires my FULL attention. There’s simply no way I can think about, much less talk about, issues such as white privilege and microaggression when I’m in the middle of a game of Wordle. And I’ll be honest. Terms like ‘white privilege’ and ‘microaggression’ serve as trigger concepts for me. They generate an incredible amount of stress and anxiety. Between raising my two pre-delinquent kids and managing a kale/mango smoothie shop at the mall, the last thing I need right now is reminders of my complicity in systemic racism. What I need is Wordle.”