Race Issues

Today I read an article on white privilege/fragility which articulated my views on the subject more eloquently than I ever could. That racism is not a pathology but is a set of ideas and assumptions that live in all of us (to differing degrees of course). This is not an apology for white privilege along the lines of "Coloured people are racist and it is human and natural to be so". Racism is a psychological violence that teaches people of colour to see themselves as inferior to white people and superior  to people of colour who are lower down in the race hierarchy. Racism is not a pathology and "racist" should be used as an adjective not a noun. As the article points out, when you treat it as a pathology you make it sound so rare and abhorrent that no reasonable person could even imagine himself (the male gender is used here deliberately) as a racist. Systemic, institutional and more subtle forms of racism get a free pass.
But, in addition, I had drinks with a white person with whom I didn't have to pick and choose my words when talking about race. That was such a relief! Someone on Facebook shared a video of the Swedish girl who stopped a deportation as an example of a "white ally" in action. That is too high a bar. That act required a level of bravery that most of us would struggle to muster as well as strong conviction  in one's beliefs. You can be a white ally by listening to people of colour emphathetically when they talk about their experience of race. To show solidarity not pity. The virtues of listening are so understated.