Let me start by saying that I’m sorry if I offended you. I’m honestly not trying to. In fact I’m really trying not to. I disagree with you so strongly that I want to rant and rave and at the same time I believe that you’re trying to help.

Let me just say this. I think you’re dead wrong about there not being division because of anti-racist efforts. Of course, you’re right, racism existed long before them, but my entire purpose in writing this article is to highlight that many of these efforts are becoming actively harmful and divisive. You don’t have to take my word for it. Have a browse through the comments here, from black people and white people, affirming this. Read how many comments are from white people saying they feel alienated by the current tenor of anti-racism. It’s easy to see why.

I’ve had countless similar conversations in other forums on this topic and the feelings of the vast majority of people are the same. The convoluted, codified language, the race essentialism, the self-flagellating tone of “I’m just a white person so I can only hope to unravel the impact of my whiteness…”, all of this serves to alienate everybody who hasn’t steeped themselves in the orthodoxy. Worst of all, it’s not helping us in any material way.

Over 1000 more black people died in homicides in 2020 than in 2019. 81% of black Americans want the same or higher levels of policing in their neighbourhoods. Black people are 30 times more likely to be killed by a civilian than they are by a police officer. When you say you’re devoting your time to reading, and I believe you, my question is what are you reading? Because these are the data which concern me, and I never hear them from people who speak about “folx”.

I’m glad you’re taking the time to talk. Believe me, there are other things I could be doing with my time too. But I’m spending it with you because every person I can encourage to think more clearly is a victory. There are these vocal fringes of the black community who are taking us backwards rather than forwards, and convincing people like yourself to help them.

I know I won’t convince you here. So please, start with the questions I asked earlier, and push deeper for answers. What does success look like? What are the key obstacles? How is what you’re doing now bringing us closer to your definition of success? Why is there such a singular focus on police violence when it accounts for 1% of black deaths? Google Tony Timpa and ask yourself why his death wasn’t national news. These questions are not, pun intended, black and white. But morphs, and my sincere fear, based on a great deal of research, is that it’s morphing into “anti-racism”.