I'm sorry you've had to watch your husand and children and siblings face down racism. I too have a deeper understanding than some. My son is half-Persian. He is neither white enough nor American enough for swaths of US society – not just white-identity Americans. He's had childhood girlfriends and playmates denied the privilege to be his friend once their parents met his Iranian father; he's been profiled and harassed by police and school administrators; he's been bullied, assaulted, and threatened with gas chambers by peers. He's been told to "go back to Iran" – he was born in Missouri and has never even been out of this country. Not all of my son's bullies were white.

Just because others have not lived the experience of watching loved ones suffer from racism, does not meanthose white people cannot also understand. Most people – white or otherwise – do understand. My son's bullies may include peers who were Black or LatinX, but he has many more friends who are also Black or LatinX than he's had bullies.

That you or I are different because we have particular expreiences was not the point of my response to the poster's essay. My response was pointing out that such a sweeping generalization is harmful and bigoted in its own right – and an unjust characterization. The truth is that white-identity bigots are a very vocal and aggressive miniorty – but, they ARE a minority. The way Mr. Silvercloud phrased his sweeping generalization seems to say that to be born white is to be racist. His statement was phrased in a way that seemed to say we cannot be born white and NOT be a bigot.