That is a very good way to describe it, Seymour, but not good enough of an answer. Good try, though. I can tell you have a good brain working and that you can describe this complexity in just a few words.

First off, I am in California, been here more than 25 years as an immigrant. The racist black guy was an Oaklander. I was not offended myself, more shocked about him.

I have seen some racist expressions coming toward me as a white person, but all truly minor. So, one black person being overtly racist to me, that's not too bad, right? While I am being judged for who I am by everyone (or mostly ignored, that is), I have hardly any negative reactions coming toward me because of my skin color.

I also know that race is something real here. I had to learn that. Race was never a real thing for me, while I did grow up in a city with many immigrants and racism is not an alien aspect in Dutch cities.

The pain is real here.

So I am glad that you mention POWER as the essence, because that is where the pain was established and where the pain can get removed.

I was happy to learn that MLK reached out to all folks that live in the underbelly of the United States. He saw that the struggle was not just one of racism but also of empowerment. Your remark is therefore right on.

By reaching out, MLK made the struggle a wider struggle. I believe he made the right step there.

As I see it, our voting system is racist in that it causes racist outcomes that particularly benefit the dominant race.

However, within the dominant race, there are also minorities being suppressed. I have been told that the group of poor white folks in the US is larger than folks from African descent. This minority is not recognized as easily; it is hidden. But MLK reached out.

Our voting system sucks, and I can know because I grew up in a real democracy. Don't expect perfection, but the suppression toward the bottom in that system is nothing compared to the downward pressures here in the US.

So, when I see racists struggles, I have to comment that they are part of the larger divide-and-conquer system that is maintained in the US. The minority of voters receive nothing, nada, niente.

There is a way out, and it is actually easy: The US Constitution already does not block real democracy for city, county and states. And the 14th Amendment has been ruled to read that governments must put the better system in place if it is available (it is not available for the federal level, but is available for all other levels).

We can overcome winner-take-all in cities, counties and states and empower voters. We can remove the losers out of our system, US Constitution approved.

I have been surprised how folks are not woke here -at all- about the voting system they suffer from. I have learned that when I point to the real culprit that black and white people turn away in equal manners. Folks here are still not emancipated. This is not a real democracy, and the racist battle is part of the divide-and-conquer game.

Thank you, Seymour. I wish I could say all this in a few sentences like you.

Here is another article I wrote about our system:

https://medium.com/the-national-discussion/and-the-winner-is-the-losing-party-c683c1d739e5