A stunning and much-needed article, Ijeoma Oluo. One that resonates through my entire body, soul, and mind.

Lately, I’ve been watching the news and when I see a white guy taken down by police, my instant thought is “would it have gone that way if he were black?”

I am deeply ashamed of anyone who automatically judges / likes / rejects anyone due to outward appearances.

I grew up in a home where everyone was considered OK until they proved otherwise. My parents traveled widely, meeting thousands of others in countries so unlike America in the 1950s and ’60s, and they always talked about them in positive terms.

As my own kids grew up, we had exchange students in our home for a full year — six of them, each for a year — all from cultures very unlike ours. Talk about learning about diversity!

Both of my daughters traveled widely in their teens and 20s, always finding wonderful people to connect with. My older daughter is in the U.S. Foreign Service, serving in far-flung countries with her son and husband, and loving it.

We all have friends of different colors, beliefs, backgrounds, and cultures, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I will never understand the hate that so many feel for anyone who is different. Never.