'I'm not racist': Common claim after racial slurs

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FILE - In this June 23, 2011 file photo, Chief Judge Richard F. Cebull speaks during a naturalization ceremony at the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse in Billings, Mont. The chief federal judge for the state resigned in 2012 after emailing a joke in which a young Obama asks why he is black and his mother is white. The punch line involved a dog. "Although (the joke) is racist, I'm not that way, never have been," Cebull said. (AP Photo/Billings Gazette, James Woodcock)

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'I'm not racist'... FILE - In this June 23, 2011 file photo, Chief Judge Richard F. Cebull speaks during a naturalization ceremony at the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse in Billings, Mont. The chief federal judge for the state resigned in 2012 after emailing a joke in which a young Obama asks why he is black and his mother is white. The punch line involved a dog. "Although (the joke) is racist, I'm not that way, never have been," Cebull said. (AP Photo/Billings Gazette, James Woodcock)
Jerry Lewis repe... Comedian Jerry Lewis poses for photographers during a photo call for the film Max Rose at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Distraught mom b... FILE - In this May 20, 2013 file photo, LaTisha Garcia carries her 8-year-old daughter, Jazmin Rodriguez near Plaza Towers Elementary School after a massive tornado carved its way through Moore, Okla., leaving little of the school and neighborhood. This picture, published on hundreds of front pages around the world, has become one of the enduring images from the storm. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki,File)
Boy Scouts vote ... Matthew Ray, 15, of North Richland Hills, Texas, holds signs near where the Boy Scouts of America are holding their annual meeting Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in Grapevine, Texas. Delegates to the meeting are expected to address a proposal to allow gay scouts into the organization. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Cockroaches quic... This image made from video provided by Ayako Wada-Katsumata shows glucose-averse German cockroaches avoiding a dab of jelly, which contains glucose, and favoring the peanut butter. For 30 years, people have been getting rid of cockroaches by setting out sweet-tasting bait mixed with poison. But in the early 1990s, a formerly effective product stopped working. Some cockroaches had lost their sweet tooth, rejecting the corn syrup meant to attract them. Later studies showed they were specifically turned off by the sugar glucose in the syrup. Scientists reported Thursday, May 23, 2013 that the key is an altered behavior of certain nerves that signal the brain about foods. (AP Photo/Ayako Wada-Katsumata)
West Bank and ro... FILE - This Jan. 31, 2006 file photo shows Hany Abu-Assad, director of the Oscar nominated Palestinian film "Paradise Now," posing for a photo at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif. Abu-Assad is also director of “Omar,” one of the more buzzed-about films at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. The film is set in the West Bank, and the Palestinian conflict is a key part of the plot. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, file)
Q&A: What is kno... This undated image provided Thursday, May 23, 2013, by the British Ministry of Defence, shows Lee Rigby known as ‘Riggers’ to his friends. Rigby has been identified by the MOD as the serving member of the armed forces who was attacked and killed by two men in the Woolwich area of London on Wednesday. The Ministry web site included the statement "It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce that the soldier killed in yesterday's incident in Woolwich, South East London, is believed to be Drummer Lee Rigby of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers." (AP Photo/Ministry of Defence)
Clashes in Leban... A Sunni gunman fires his machine gun during clashes that erupted between pro and anti-Syrian regime gunmen, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Thursday, May. 23, 2013. Opponents and supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad traded heavy machine gun fire and mortar shells in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli, leaving five people dead in what was described as some of the heaviest fighting there in years, officials said Thursday. (AP Photo)
Latest deadly to... This combination of Associated Pressfile file photos shows left, a neighborhood in Moore, Okla., on Tuesday, May 4, 1999, after a tornado flattened many houses and buildings in central Oklahoma, and right, flattened houses in Moore on Tuesday, May 21, 2013. This week’s twister killed 24 people, obliterated entire city blocks and caused damage that’s expected to top $2 billion. Four tornadoes have hit the town since 1998, including one in 1999 that everyone just calls the “May 3 tornado,” which had 300 mph winds and killed more than 40 people. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter; Tony Gutierrez)
Obama defends dr... President Barack Obama talks about national security, Thursday, May 23, 2013, at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington. Declaring America at a "crossroads" in the fight against terrorism, the president revealed clearer guidelines for the use of deadly drone strikes, including more control by the U.S. military, while leaving key details of the controversial program secret. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Muslim hardliner... Police search team leave the scene of a terror attack in Woolwich, southeast London, Thursday, May 23, 2013. A member of armed forces was attacked and killed by two men on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Ohio kidnap case... FILE - This May 6, 2013 file photo shows neighbor Charles Ramsey speaking to media near the home where missing women Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight were rescued in Cleveland. Ramsey, the man who famously put down his Big Mac to help rescue three women held captive for a decade in an Ohio house will never have to pay for another burger in his hometown. Ramsey has been promised free burgers for life at more than a dozen Cleveland-area restaurants. (AP Photo/The Plain Dealer, Scott Shaw, File)
Tea party storm ... IRS official Lois Lerner is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, before the House Oversight Committee hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny IRS gave to Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. Lerner told the committee she did nothing wrong and then invoked her constitutional right to not answer lawmakers' questions. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
10 Things to See... AP10ThingsToSee - Cyclists ride on a mountainside road during the 15th stage of the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) cycling race, from Cesana to Col Du Galbier, Italy on Sunday, May 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Fabio Ferrari)
US, Israel raise... U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, meets with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem Thursday, May 23, 2013. The United States and Israel are raising hopes for a restart of the Middle East peace process after more than four years of hardly any talks. (AP Photo/Jim Young, Pool)
Euro Tour CEO ap... FILE - In this June 16, 2002 file photo, Sergio Garcia, left, and Tiger Woods talk on the 11th hole while waiting for play to resume after a rain delay during the final round of the U.S. Open Golf Championship in Farmingdale, N.Y. Garcia was at a European Tour awards dinner Tuesday night, May 21, 2013 when he was jokingly asked if he would have Woods over for dinner during the U.S. Open. The Spaniard replied, "We'll have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken." Woods took to Twitter on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 and said the comment wasn't silly, rather it was wrong and hurtful. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)
Japanese man, 80... A team of climbers led by 80-year-old Japanese mountaineer Yuichiro Miura stand on the summit of Mount Everest on Thursday, May 23, 2013. Miura on Thursday became the oldest man to reach the top of Mount Everest, a Nepali official and Miura's Tokyo-based support team said. The photo was taken with a telephoto lens from an altitude of 5,550 meters (18,208 feet). It is not clear which of the climbers in the photo is Miura. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT
Pakistan arreste... FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2010 file photo, an unmanned U.S. Predator drone flies over Kandahar Air Field, southern Afghanistan, on a moon-lit night. An American citizen killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan in 2011 was arrested by Pakistani authorities three years earlier but escaped after being released on bail, officials said Thursday, May 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
With Weiner, NYC... New York City mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner discusses his policies with a passerby while greeting commuters during a campaign event outside a Harlem subway station, Thursday, May 23, 2013 in New York. Weiner, who ran for mayor in 2005 and nearly did in 2009, is getting into the race to succeed three-term Mayor Michael Bloomberg about two years after a series of tawdry tweets, and obfuscating explanations that capsized his promising congressional career. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Markets roiled b... A man walks past an electronic stock indicator showing the Nikkei 225 index which nosedived 1,143.28 points, or 7.3 percent to close at 14,483.98 in Tokyo Thursday, May 23, 2013. Japanese stocks plummeted Thursday after a spike in government bond yields and unexpectedly weak Chinese manufacturing spooked investors sitting atop months of massive gains in share prices. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
Nixon library ho... FILE - This March 17, 1973 file photo shows released prisoner of war Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm being greeted by his family at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., as he returns home from the Vietnam War. In the lead is Stirm's daughter Lori, 15; followed by son Robert, 14; daughter Cynthia, 11; wife Loretta and son Roger, 12. On Thursday, May 24, 2013, some 200 former POWs, almost all of them former pilots, will reunite for a three-day celebration at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba LInda, Calif., that coincides with the 40th anniversary of a star-studded White House dinner hosted by President Nixon to honor their sacrifice. At the time, Nixon was embroiled in Watergate, but the former prisoners, now in their 60s and 70s, credit him with their freedom and have no qualms about expressing their loyalty for the 37th president. This photo won the Pulitzer Prize for News Photography in 1973. (AP Photo/Sal Veder, File)
Man shot by FBI ... This May 4, 2013 police photo provided by the Orange County Corrections Department in Orlando, Fla., shows Ibragim Todashev after his arrest for aggravated battery in Orlando. Todashev, who was being questioned in Orlando by authorities in the Boston bombing probe, was fatally shot Wednesday, May 22, 2013 when he initiated a violent confrontation, FBI officials said. (AP Photo/Orange County Corrections Department)
For Philadelphia... In this Tuesday, May 21, 2013 photo, bicyclist Rudi Saldia and his cat Mary Jane pose for a portrait during an interview with the Associated Press in Philadelphia. Saldia often buzzes around Philadelphia with his year-old feline Mary Jane perched on his shoulder. Their urban adventures have turned heads on the street and garnered big hits on YouTube. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Brave woman trie... A police officer holds a floral tribute handed to him by a member of the public to be placed at the scene of a terror attack in Woolwich, southeast London, Thursday, May 23, 2013. The British government’s emergency committee met Thursday after two attackers killed a man in a daylight attack in London that raised fears terrorism had returned to the capital. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
LeBron, Heat dig... Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) scored in the last seconds of overtime to defeat the Indiana Pacers in Miami on Tuesday May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/The Palm Beach Post, Allen Eyestone)
Seen and heard a... Director Amit Kumar poses for photographers during a portrait session for the film Monsoon Shootout at the at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 19, 2013. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)
Government suppo... Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy attends a meeting with small companies in central Madrid
Hamas rebuffs Ar... Palestinians hold a placard depicting senior Hamas leader Haniyeh during a rally in Nablus
Job market resil... People wait in line to meet a job recruiter at the UJA-Federation Connect to Care job fair in New York
Obama tells Mexi... U.S. President Obama delivers a speech during his visit to Mexico City
Hungary court al... Marton Gyongyosi, a leader of Hungary's third-strongest political party Jobbik, attends an interview with Reuters in Budapest
Column: The glob... U.S President Obama speaks beside Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto (not pictured) during a news conference after attending
Muslims in Myanm... Muslim men from Win Kite village look from behind the fence which residents built to protect their village from mob attacks
Taking sides in ... Massarwa attends a remand hearing at court near Tel Aviv
Dozens dead as A... Smoke rises after what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Homs
EU sees deeper e... People walk past the shop window of a jewelry store in central Barcelona
Prosecutor in Bh... Security officials inspect the damaged car, which prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfikar was travelling in, when he came under attack by u
Obama blesses Me... U.S. President Obama alights from Air Force One as he begins his visit to Mexico City
Engineer who war... File picture shows people rescuing garment workers trapped under rubble at the Rana Plaza building after it collapsed, in Savar
Analysis: TPG-Ax... An electronic display identifies the post that trades SandRidge Energy stock on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
Exclusive: At Te... File picture shows the burning remains of a fertilizer plant after an explosion at the plant in the town of West, near Waco, Tex
North Korea coul... A North Korean nuclear plant is seen before demolishing a cooling tower in Yongbyon
Analysis: Doubli... U.S. President Barack Obama nominates Pritzker and Froman at White House in Washington
U.S. seeks North... An undated still image of a video footage shows a portrait of U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae
States balk at m... President Obama's fiscal 2014 budget proposal is released and distributed to Senate staff members on Capitol Hill in Washington
FBI releases pho... The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames during a protest
Gaddafi's son Sa... Still image taken from video of Saif al-Islam, son of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, sitting behind bars in Zintan
U.S. rethinking ... U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel and British Defense Secretary Hammond hold a joint news conference at the Pentagon in Washington
Obama rounds out... U.S. President Barack Obama announces new nominees at the White House in Washington
Analysis: Canadi... Cranes stand at various condominium developments in Toronto
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