Someone asked way back in previous thread whether anyone has learned from this conversation or had their mind changed. I have actually. I'm white, and one of my family members experienced an incident at work where they were called 'white trash' etc by a group of colleagues. At the time, I would have described that as racism, because I was viewing the issue through the lens of racism being purely a discriminatory act because of someone's skin colour. This is how the definition of racism was explained to me by my (white) parents and teachers at school. All my education on racism came from white people, and it hadn't occurred to me to educate myself further.
From reading the experiences from OP and PP on this thread, I can now clearly see why this experience isn't comparable and why it is so wrong for white people to bring up these types of experiences in response to BLM. For my relative, this was a one-off experience. Nothing like this had happened to her before or since, and while it was unpleasant, it was isolated. I'm not saying it was ok, but she walked away from it I'm reasonably sure knowledge that she would never experience anything like this again in her life. I can't imagine how it would feel to experience discrimination your whole life, and from institutions who on the face of it (like the police) are supposed to protect you and your rights. The fact that this incident was hugely notable for our family is a sign of our privilege.
I think a lot of people (like myself before) have a definition of racism that doesn't take into account power and privilege. I don't think a definition like that is fit for purpose. Otherwise, it puts racism as experienced by black people and a one-off incident like happened to my relative under the same umbrella. That can't be right, the two simply don't compare.
This discussion has got me thinking about how I've never stopped and noticed my privilege as a white person before. For example, I have a young son. When he gets older, I will have all the usual worries about whether he is safe, whether bad things will happen to him when I can't protect him. If I wasn't white, I would have these worries PLUS the fear that he could be abused, attacked or discriminated against because of the colour of his skin. Now I understand this, I notice examples of my privilege all the time. I don't think this is about flagellating myself for being white, but I think it's about waking up to reality and acknowledging that I must be a part of standing up against racism.
I do feel uncomfortable, because I have been ignorant and I didn't have to be. I think that discomfort is a good thing. Discomfort brings about change. I'm sure that I have a long way to go understanding this, and I will never truly understand, but I will keep listening and trying. It's certainly not OP's or anyone else's job to educate me. The information is out there and easy to find, I just wasn't looking. That's my responsibility.
So thanks, OP, for this thread. I'm listening.