My point is that you're disagreeing with things I'm not saying. The "translations" in your previous response were the least charitable imaginable interpretations of what I wrote. So yes, you were being uncharitable.

And you didn't say that the things I've said "remind you of those you've found to be ageist", you said:

"The people who came up with this choice phrase are a lot like you. They think older people are the problem because they feel they cannot move on or change"

Let's be accurate.

You don't know the first thing about me. So to make statements about what I'm like or what I "really mean to say" doesn't come off well. If you don't see that then I don't really know what to tell you.

But honestly it doesn't really matter. We've finally come full circle with your admission that Rebecca's statement was hyperbolic. This was the whole issue really. You responded to a comment I made saying effectively the same thing. Then you called me patronising for describing it as overblown, but I would argue that overblown and hyperbolic are close enough in meaning that the argument isn't worth it.

So where do we end up? You hear about my experience, or you see a man like Obama, or a woman like Michelle, or awoman like Oprah and you hand-wave our perspectives away with claims of exoticism and "cuisine" (my favourite food is sushi by the way) because what? They don't fit the authors narrative of the ever-present danger of being killed and oppressed by white supremacists?

And what do I know? Maybe you're right. Maybe your experience of life really is that white people treat you as "subhuman not worthy of respect or human consideration". But I'd suggest if that really is the case in 2020, there's an explanation other than the colour of your skin. And maybe, I'm not saying definitely, but maybe, it has something to do with the way you see them.

I'm not saying that people like Amy Cooper are isolated incidents. I'm not argung that racism is fixed. I think I've been crystal clear about that. Her actions were clearly predicated on the fact that there is a problem with race in America which advantaged her and disadvantaged him. She tried to take advantage of that. But fifty years ago, she wouldn't have lost her job and she wouldn't have been vilified or prosecuted, whether she was caught on camera or not. In fact, fifty years ago, Christian Cooper would probably be dead as a result ofher actions.

Today, not only did she lose her job, but if not for the decency and compassion of Christian Cooper, she'd be in jail right now. Fifty years from now, hopefully there won't be a single white person who would dream of making that call or behaving in that way. Should it be now, instead of fifty years? Yes of course. But in the absence of the ability to snap our fingers, I see no choice but to work as hard as we can to shorten that time as much as possible. Treating white people as the enemy doesn't get us there. And though I agree that we only get there when white people don't centre themselves in everything, I also believe we need black people who are inclined to do so, to not centre their historical pain or fear every time a discussion about race begins.