And I meant every word sincerely.

But if you do acknowledge that racism is "that bad" and not just primarily in the heads of those who suffer it, then why do you devote so much of your time and energy to complaining about those who want to talk about it? Your own words and actions speak for themselves. I'm just the messenger mirroring yourself back to you. You label them "angry" as if that's a thing they don't have a right to be, and you complain endlessly about them for being out of line and creating disharmony and disunity by speaking up. I'm not making that up or putting words in your mouth. I'm recounting my experience of you and the things you've often said.

And here's what you've said just today: "People who believe in ubiquitous and systemic racism tend to perceive it everywhere they look." This strongly suggests that ubuquitous and systemic racism doesn't exist except in the minds of those who "believe in it." I don't need to put words in your mouth - I've been listening to them for some time and I have a large memory bank full that supports every assertion I have made based on things you have actually said.

You don't believe in systemic racism, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. You've made that clear, so that's not me putting words in your mouth. That right there says that racism is not really as bad as some people are making it out to be.

You think that a meme which meets the legal definition of defamation is justified because it expresses the "frustration" of people who don't like their peace being disturbed by protesters who are fighting for their humanity, their dignity, and their very lives to be respected. But you've made it clear you don't approve.

Those are just a couple of concrete examples. So where do you actually stand on this? Racism is either a major problem worth speaking up about and marching about or it's an overblown issue inflated by people who "believe" it's worse than it is. You can't have it both ways.

You are correct that a lot of people believing in something doesn't make it true, but a lot of people experiencing something, and suffering the pain that comes with that experience, does make it true - particularly when those experiences can be verified in other third-person ways - which they overwhelmingly can be without substantive refutation or rebuttal. But when you listen to the devil on your shoulder rather than the angel on the other one, you buy into that BS and act and speak accordingly anyhow, even though there is no substance to it other than dominance hierarchy and hate - which you then project onto those who are speaking out. They are the actual hateful ones in this scenario, according to you.

You have a split personality around all of this stuff, and I've already told you privately why I think that is. Sometimes Dr. Jekyll regains control, and feels bad about the things that Mr Hyde has said and done, but that doesn't erase their impact.

We have a duty to not inflict our own pain on the rest of the world. We need to be more self-responsible than that and deal with our stuff as best we can so that we don't cause more harm out there than already exists. That's what I believe anyway. I'm gonna say that a lot of Buddhist masters agree.