What I learned from that one time I was called a racist

I guess people never forget their first whether it’s a first date, first trip to Disney World, first best friend, etc. How about “first time being called a racist”?

Ordinarily, when I witnessed someone in the public sphere get cancelled over racism like Sharon Osbourne, I often see the person in question defending themselves against the charge
rather than challenging the very notion of what racism means in this day and age.

We’ve gone into such a mania over ridding the world of perceived racial slights that everything from the American version of Chinese food to the ok symbol to symbology like the University of Florida Gator Chomp (whose claims of racism are incorrectly sourced) is not just racist but offensive and worthy of punitive action.

It’s the conversations around these changing bars of racism and how we react to it that is worth most examining. Do we unify people around a cause to change racism and what kind of racism are we talking about? In the last few years, there has been a proliferation of people offering their views and people have reacted to my views with disagreement. However, that is not the same as being accused personally of the crime which has given me a new perspective.

So here’s my story.

A couple months ago, I was in charge of guiding college groups on alternative fall break through a tree planting project in New Orleans. In one group of 11 people, two were black…