I've been writing on the topic of race and racism for around four years now. That work has been read by literally millions of people, backed up by countless hours of research. I've had thousands of conversations with people from all across the political spectrum, from all backgrounds, of all skin tones, about racism.

I promise, I’m not saying any of this to brag, I’m saying it to point out that I’ve thought very deeply about this too (also, go back and read your initial comment to me and see if maybe, just maybe, you set the tone of “dismissiveness”).

It's not that I don't have respect for your perspective, I do. I know many people with the same perspective. The problem is simply that you're not saying anything I haven't heard many times before. Yes, I know there are racists, I know there are people who dislike "blacks" (even the fact that you call black people "blacks" speaks volumes to me), but I've spoken to these people, many, many times. I know there's nothing behind that dislike except stupidity and self loathing.

So I stand by my earlier statement, there is no such thing as a smart, secure of happy racist. This is true whether the racist in question is white or black.

Because in the end, whether you’re one of those people in the chatrooms, or the race scientists on Twitter, or the guy on the street giving an interracial couple a hard time, all racism does is eat away at you. Believing that you’re divided from millions of your fellow humans is worse than not feeling that way. And you have to be ignorant to think that way. It’s really that simple.