This article addresses the ways in which opposition towards Gypsies is debated, with particular regard to whether or not this opposition constitutes racism or prejudice towards a group shown to be vulnerable and subject to discrimination. A discursive analysis of a corpus of internet discussion forums about Gypsies in the UK is undertaken. The analysis demonstrates that opposition towards Gypsies can be presented as racist; however, such accusations are met with criticism so that writers become accountable for making them. While writers do go to rhetorical lengths to dissociate themselves from being presented as racist, there is nevertheless an acceptance that opposition to Gypsies may constitute prejudice. This prejudice is presented as an inevitable result of Gypsies' behaviour and, of particular note, appears to be deemed acceptable. The implications of this finding for the discursive literature on taboos against, and denials of, racism are discussed.

This document is the author's post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it. CURVE is the Institutional Repository for Coventry Universityhttp://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open 1 "A stinking filthy race of people inbred with criminality" A discourse analysis of prejudicial talk about Gypsies in discussion forums.

This paper demonstrates the value of conducting discourse analysis on data gained from internet discussions. Drawing on examples of two studies that utilised discourse analysis to look at online discussions about areas relating to prejudice towards the very different groups of Asylum Seekers and Gypsies it is shown how a longstanding feature of race talk, which is that there is a norm against prejudice, can be seen to be in a state of flux. The first example shows how particularly unguarded talk about race relating to Nazis can be identified. The second shows how ‘prejudice’ can be presented as acceptable, with only ‘racism’ presented as unacceptable. Together these examples show that unusual talk about race can be identified in online settings, which is why it is argued that the internet can be a valuable source of data.