A few thoughts here, if I may offer them.

I can readily acknowledge that different racial groups proportionally do not experience things equally like poverty and police brutality, even though numerically more white people than black people get killed by police. Historically, yes it was common for black people to die for being black, and inarguably racial bias does still play a role in how police officers and other people deal with blacks. But why is a third of the US prison population black? I believe that has more to do with the disparity of wealth between racial groups in this country - which of course has been caused in large part by our nation’s history of slavery and segregation - plus the relative concentration of the black population in poorer, highly populated areas where police presence is likely to be heavier. Again, racial bias may sometimes play a role in the interactions between law enforcement and blacks, but to look at it as a racial issue misses the far greater picture of the problem. There are those who blame the problem on “black culture,” but I believe that for the most part, this unfairly places the onus on blacks as a whole and alienates them from the conversation about how to resolve the issues that have largely affected black Americans.

I too find the term “BIPOC” to be problematic. If I’m talking about people in general who are not white, I just say “non-white.” “BIPOC” selectively emphasizes certain non-white groups and almost contradicts itself.

You said that you would never enter into a conversation with Native Americans about reservation inequality. I respect where you’re coming from there, because I do think we should be ready to acknowledge our limitations in experience. At the same time, I’ve learned that ultimately it is futile and unproductive to hold one’s opinion back simply because one hasn’t lived the experiences of others. A wealthy or middle-class person may not know what it’s like for the poor person who steals from people at gunpoint, but they probably still know that stealing at gunpoint is wrong. Sometimes you just can’t live the experiences of another person, but you still need to express your opinion about it. That’s especially true if the other person’s experiences affect your own. It doesn’t give the other person’s experience and opinion any less weight.

White supremacy, instead of just referring to the ideology of the KKK, has come to refer to simple disparities between racial groups that are favorable to whites. I do not accept that definition, as I do not accept the definition of racism as being something that only whites are capable of. I believe also that blaming white supremacy casts the blame in the wrong place. There is no widespread conspiracy - at least that I’m aware of - to keep non-whites down in society.

All of this is to say, while I have my problems with “woke” culture and believe that race-based equity is a destructive practice that harms those it is meant to help, I am not actively looking to dismiss anyone’s experience and would love to see improvement in the lives of my non-white neighbors. Interpersonal racism does happen all the time and I personally have witnessed anti-black racism. Hopefully our country can, in the near future, take a step back from the culture war going on and take more time to listen to each other. I say that as somebody who, in the past, has had deeply bitter feelings towards those who look at me a certain way.