Shefali O'Hara
2 min readAug 1, 2021

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I have a question - let's say that you're right and non-black POC are more willing to break bread with others... why do you think that is? Because black people are not the only ones who face discrimination, and they are not the only ones who face harm, as the recent spate of attacks against Asians makes clear.

I have black friends all over the spectrum - Libertarians, a couple of Republicans and several liberals. None of my friends would "happily harm" people. I mean, I've met some truly racist people (including blacks!), but I don't befriend them. Some of the worst racists I've met were rich white liberals. The only Hispanic person they talk to is their maid and there are no black people in their lives. I've also known blacks from the Caribbean who were extremely prejudiced against American blacks.

You can say that the GOP is full of racists, but they weren't the ones who had a Senator who was a Grand High something in the KKK (Robert Byrd) and there is plenty of video of Biden saying racist things. The reality is that there are lots of people in both parties who are pretty awful. Yet both parties can do good things.

LBJ (a Dem) was personally a racist, but he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which smashed Jim Crow. A Republican (Nixon) signed the executive order that founded the EPA. We think of the environment as a Dem issue but the first one to want protection for it was a progressive Republican, Teddy Roosevelt. The first Pres. Bush raised taxes to reduce deficits; Clinton favored welfare reform.

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Shefali O'Hara
Shefali O'Hara

Written by Shefali O'Hara

Cancer survivor, Christian, writer, engineer. BSEE from MIT, MSEE, and MA in history. Love nature, animals, books, art, and interesting discussions.

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