It seems that anyone can be branded as a racist these days, for example by stereotyping people from different counties in UK in what could be taken in some circumstances the wrong way. Even if it is in a lighthearted way people seem to be nervous about doing so and would rather say nothing at all than have to deal with the trouble it could cause. I remember being called a 'carrot cruncher' 14-15 years ago by a so-called friend originally from the East End of London assuming that I lived right in the middle of a rural area just because of my south-west accent, nothing could have been further from the truth but I put up with the ribbing at the time as just banter. If a comment like that happened now and I felt that it was reasonably derogatory I could be within my rights to take it further. On the otherhand there are those who could in principle use the race card with loopholes like this to act as a diversion against police in an attempt to wriggle out of crimes that have or have not been committed.