Thank you for your responses but I think you have entirely missed the point.

Race is indeed a social construct which was enacted into law to oppress our ancestors who were either stolen from their homeland into slavery or oppressed within their homeland through colonialism. Everyone has an ethnicity I agree, and whether we like it or not or accept it or not, everyone has race imposed on them.

The basis for race and racism was founded in the 18th century on the introduction of a taxonomy of the human race based on skin colour (white, yellow, red, brown and black) and associated (false) character traits . These characteristics are today racial stereotypes which benefit white people and which still exist in the form of systemic racism.

As white people, I say that you are “punching down” because not only are you speaking from a position of white supremacy, but also you choose to state your case in response to Rebecca’s experience of racism rather than writing your own article to state your case.

To those who experience it, racism is very real and life threatening. To conflate racism with discrimination denies the specific nature of this form of discrimination and the lived experiences of people like Rebecca and myself.

To compare the historical lived experiences of one group based on their nationality or ethnicity, with the historical and current lived experience another group based on their skin colour is a false equivalence and is irresponsible.

I ask you to research the terms “white race” and “black race”, how they were enacted into law by the British in Barbados to create a clear distinction between the white indentured servants and the Black enslaved people, and how this continues to be the fault lines on which racism continues to thrive in today’s global society.

Yes of course you have a right to free speech, but when this free speech is used gaslight another this is not only unfair it is unethical.

I will read Racecraft because I would like to understand your perspective. However I recommend you to read one or both of my recommendations. The first is “Superior - The Return of Race Science” by Angela Saini, and the second “Black and British A Forgotten History” by Professor David Olusoga OBE. There are many more that I could recommend but these two are a good place for you to start to understand my perspective.

The following is a quote that I hope will enable you to understand my perspective. “The future of an anti-racist world will never just happen. Just as racism was created, so must we create a future without racism.”

Finally, I look forward to reading your independent articles on this subject. I will not be responding further your points in this article.