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Beautifully written piece; thank you for that. Nice to hear someone of your generation discuss this. (And a pastor no less.) It’s sad how overly simplistic the race conversation has become in contemporary times. The idea that things are worse for black people in 2022 compared to the era of Jim Crow or slavery is absurd, and yet the antiracism movement pushes this idea constantly. The data does not back their claims up. (Police brutality is an obvious example.) Two books are helpful for understanding race and also the historical plight of low-income white Americans: ‘Power and Liberty’ by Gordon Wood, and ‘Black Rednecks and White Liberals’ by Thomas Sowell. Here’s the truth: Everyone is ‘racist’ on some level. We’re human. We naturally notice differences in people. Our internalized biases, genetics and childhood environment rise up to form preconceived ideas about others. But we also all have so much more common than apart, regardless of race. DiAngelo and Kendi are con-artists, in my opinion; they found a profitable way to exploit racial animus and white guilt. All people of any race can be racist. All people of all races can hate. Much of it comes down to culture and class, whether it’s the urban ghetto or white Appalachia. Indentured servants were very similar to slaves; they were even sold at auctions. Poor whites also couldn’t vote or own property for a long time. We fought a nasty civil war to face our grotesque racial reality. The 1960s voting rights bills went into law. Segregation ended. There is now a thriving black middle-class.

Here’s a question: Why is it that every time white woke people discuss ‘black people’ in general they are assumed to be poor and ghetto? Isn’t THAT racist? John McWhorter answers this in his brilliant recent book, ‘Woke Racism.’

Anyway. Thanks for the discussion. Antiracism is ridiculous. We need to get away from all the ‘anti’ this and ‘phobia’ that. We’re human, goddamnit. Let’s start acting like it.

Michael Mohr Sincere American Writing https://michaelmohr.substack.com/