I hope this doesn't come across rude or mean, we've spoken enough times that I think I understand the spirit in which this was intended, but it's here that you reveal yourself to be, as you say, "a tourist".

First of all, do you notice how much time you spend here explaining things about the black experience as if I don't already know them? Yes, I know that racism is a problem. I know that white people are treated differently to black people in certain situations. I know that black people are discriminated against in incarceration rates and sentencing and education and employment. I dare say I know these things better than you do.

So the question is, why did I feel the need to write this anyway? A question that you didn't ask. Again, I have absolutely no doubt that you mean well, but you approach this conversation with the unspoken assumption that I'm missing something instead of that you are.

I've spent more hours than I can count speaking to people about racism. In real life conversations, in the comments of my articles, even in speeches and interviews. I understand the differing perspectives on these issues very well. I recognise that I don't have all the answers and that there is more than one way to solve a problem. But just because there are many points of view doesn't mean that they're all equally correct.

A perspective that suggests that children should be racially segregated or be deliberately taught think of themselves in terms of their power and privilege, especially at such a youg age, is wrong. I won't pretend that's not true in the name of "balance".

Trivial, petty articles that do nothing but preach to the converted for clicks, alienate people who might have been receptive to a more reasonable or informative message, or provide ammunition to people who want to dismiss anti racism as frivolous whining by falsely characterising life as a black person as an unending nightmare of micro-aggressions and suspicious security guards (too many of them right here on Medium sadly), make real, productive conversations harder.

I have a great deal of first-hand experience of this. People who might have been open to discussion become combative because they've been conditioned to expect every conversation to be a battle where black people tell white people they're responsible for every evil of the past 500 years. I spend way too much time diffusing the damage done by other writers before I can even begin a reasonable discussion. The effects of this polarisation are visible everywhere, and growing worse.

So when you describe these missteps as a teaching opportunity, I think you do that because you don't have the same stake and experience that I do. These mistakes don't impact you or the people you care about, so you can brush them off as harmless and carry on with your life. This isn't a criticism per se, we're all at least somewhat guilty of this for issues that don't affect us personally, but it's a reminder to listen first when dealing with somebody with a stake in these struggles.

Finally, it's worth pointing out that this article did open eyes that were closed, which was my aim. A number of people wrote in the comments how reading this did just that. Some of them even went on to write their own articles based on the insights it gave them. Here's my favourite if you still have the will to read after slogging through all this:

https://aninjusticemag.com/should-i-stop-writing-about-race-altogether-174f744381f0

This was never an attempt to reject help, it was an attempt to clarify where some people have gone to a place where they're harming instead of helping. That's a part of anti racism work too.