Interesting article. I'd like to just add one thing. I do believe it is wrong for Black people to be prejudiced against White people for the mere fact of the color of their skin. Bias and prejudice is wrong in any form and no matter who is doing it. However, racism, which cannot be spoken about unless we use what it encompasses which is systemic power, is different. You acknowledged the arguments from Black people when this topic comes up but there's a huge factor missing from your comments.
White people can easily escape bias and prejudice. The average White person can go their entire lives without interacting with a Black person if they so choose. I can count on one hand my White friends who have Black supervisors and cannot name any who had to rely on the kindness or compassion of a Black person to keep themselves or their children safe.
White people can live in predominately White areas, attend White schools, and often work in environments where White people are in charge. There is no fear of discrimination based on skin color because often people who look like them are in charge of the hiring and admissions process.
Black people, however, cannot. We are forced to interact with White people who may be racist at every period in our lives. We are taught by White teachers as children, compete with White people to get into good universities, face White employers when we get our first jobs, face White loan officers at banks to get approved for mortgages and encounter racist White police officers even for minuscule traffic stops that often end in death, and so on.
So while it's important to acknowledge that all ill-treatment of another human being is wrong, it's also important to realize that the majority of White people actually have the choice of whether or not they will experience it. Black people do not and have never had the opportunity of CHOICE when it comes to dealing with White people who may be racist, particularly those in a lower income bracket that don't have the freedom to move about the world as the more affluent do. And even those in higher tax brackets still aren't exempt from discrimination and racism.
We cannot design our lives to rule out interactions with White people and we never know who is racist with malicious intent or not. For the most part, White people do not have to fear that a Black person's hatred for them will end their lives without any consequences to the perpetrator. It takes our entire village to ensure our safety and justice, but White people are afforded this right without discussion.
Interesting read and I appreciate your perspective.
