Thank you so much for your comment and insights. I so agree with your points. I have always said that all of us are a bit racists (sexist, homophobic, ageist, classist, etc.), it is just a matter of degree. Our work in to rid ourselves of these social loadings and the natural tendency to be tribal people. Yet, I know that the term is explosive and I do not want to compare someone who is actively working to destroy another race and creating policies and practices that discriminate against a race with someone who holds unconscious biases and displays microaggressions. The same label of racists for both those behaviors milks the intensity and horror of the what it means to be racist.

There are racists and there are antiracists. We could all be better antiracists and many of us are underfunctioning antiracists. I also agree that if we had a culture where we could openly explore these attitudes it would be to everyone’s benefit. Of course, we would have to draw the line with hate crimes and ideologies that are just unacceptable but exploring why someone holds their race as superior or better than others, or why someone would endorse policies that disproportionately affect one racial group over another is work that I am interested in and that will hopefully bring us to that more perfect union. We are such a divided nation and turning us and them into we requires a lot of re-education and multicultural competencies.

I am saddened to hear your assessment that white women in the South who represent the 55% voted against racial equity intentionally. I believe you. History has documented white women’s role in white supremacy in this country since its inception. It is no different now. Thanks for the reminder of that awful fact.