If you’re black, then it’s not in your head. White people really are talking down to you. At least, the liberal ones are, according to a new study to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

As reported Friday by the Washington Post, the study looked at people from different ideological perspectives and their word choices when communicating with blacks and whites. When choosing words off a list, liberal participants selected ones “that would make them appear significantly less competent with a Black interaction partner than with a White one,” the study said.