William, I unequivocally agree with what you wrote, and I really appreciate it. I can tell you exactly what it means to me, even though I only viewed the photo and not the article — because I am very familiar with that photo. It screams of egregious racism and bigotry. It screams of segregation, it screams of whites only. It screams of the old south, the Confederate South, the good ole’ boys South, The slaveholder south, etc. Thus, let me rephrase that please, it screams of evil and hate. And that’s wrong regardless of the race—and other characteristics— of the perpetrators and/or victims. I know because I know that picture well for my work for over two decades as a senior executive and spokesman for the US EEOC. And for the Obama Presidential Campaign before that. And for President Clinton as a political appointee, and the Clinton-Gore presidential transition office, and the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign. And former liberal Democrat congressman Richard Gephardt, Office of the House Majority Leader, US Capitol building, before that…

And in a Washington DC-based global political polling and consulting firm before that — for clients including the winning presidential campaign of Nelson Mandela; and a young (unknown) Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton after that; and even the liberal former Prime Minister of the UK, Tony Blair, of the the left-wing Labor Party after that — Are you still following me. Yes, I also know that the Royal family are racist colonizers and former slaveholders, and discriminated against Meghan Markle and made her life hell, and all the rest of it. But that was the best game in town and that was my employer, so I think we were still on the the correct side. And, disclaimer, I really love the British. I love the British accent, I think it makes British women more attractive, maybe because it’s totally different in the language I speak. But that’s diversity right.

The list goes on and on, but I think you get the picture (no pun intended, really, just a “Freudian Slip” before that). Fact check it all if you don’t believe me, most of it’s public record which you can Google, or at least do a background check for, which I had to do by the way to obtain a secret security clearance as 20-something who had a sought after “blue pass” and worked in the White House. It’s funny how many people you find out aren’t really your friends when you can no longer give them White House tours on the weekends because you got a new job elsewhere — and even for legitimate reasons like a much higher paying career stability. So I know a few things about a few things, as the saying goes. Again, that’s not to say I did not have any white privilege. I was born and raised into an upper middle class family on Long Island, New York. Yes, I even lived in an affluent town

And the best thing about it is I didn’t get these jobs because of white privilege, or money, or political contacts or any of the factor you would have likely guessed, like advocating for nationwide diversity-equity-inclusion (in concept and in theory), ditto that affirmative action, And compensatory and punitive damage awards, and social justice — or for any of those things — I got there from persistence, perseverance, grinding it out with a “rolling up your sleeves and sweaty armpits”work ethic. Yes, I was even the victim of a egregious religious discrimination and antisemitism, during a job in high school unloading inventory on 18-wheeler trucks at a hardware retailer loading dock, as a summer job. So, yeah, even though I am a middle-aged straight white male, That doesn’t mean I haven’t experienced severe discrimination in the workplace firsthand — that’s why I dedicated my life and career to the noble cause of equal opportunity, freedom to compete, fairness, and advancement based on a level playing field — based on merit, talent and ability — not artificial barriers that are based on broadly universal indoctrinated societal stereotypes, on both extremes of the political and ideological spectrum.

Now let’s be completely honest here, that’s not to say there was never any white privilege because that would be a bold-faced lie — because I cannot control the circumstances into which I was born, that’s just the luck of the draw, that’s just rolling the dice, that is just random probability, That is just the good Lord’s doing. So it doesn’t mean I never experience any real adversities or hardships along the way, like growing up with a manic depressive mother who physically and verbally abuse me severely. But that’s for another post, since I decided to go to the authentic route on this platform. Or is Taylor Swift might say are you ready for the new me yet, are you ready for it?

Boom-boom-boom!

OK, I probably made my point.

Now I have to go read the actual article to which I’m responding above (yes, scroll all the way back up and click on the highlighted quote)…

I’m pretty confident that I will agree with the viewpoints expressed in that article too.

And then tomorrow I’ll make this post a auricular article with all the bells and whistles and post it in one of those medium publications what do you think you’re gonna get high engagement but never do. So maybe this will actually work? I guess we will find out soon enough. Thanks for reading this rant…