In linguistics, a figleaf is defined as language used to prevent a bigoted statement from being perceived as bigoted,[1] for example, that a person making a racist statement is not racist.
[1] The concept of a figleaf was created by Jennifer Saul, who coined "racial figleaves" and "gender figleaves", who says that they come from the social norms, "Don't be racist" and "Don't be sexist".
An example of this may include saying that "Black men are prone to criminal behaviour", followed by saying that they have a higher rate of incarceration.
[1] A common instance of a racial figleaf is the statement "Black men are prone to criminal behaviour", followed by "But don’t get me wrong, some of my best friends are black", suggesting that one who says this cannot be racist if they have black friends, further suggesting that the listener is not racist if they believe, accept, and repeat this.
This suggests to the listener that the speaker is not sexist if they have respect for women, further suggesting that it would not be sexist for the listener to agree and repeat it.