See my response below. I write about minority pain far more often than white pain but I do think we can talk about issues even if they aren’t THE MOST IMPORTANT issue right now. (There is only one MOST important issue, after all.)

With this friend, for me, the empathy won out because he has had a very hard life and faced serious struggles, even related to race. (He’s Jewish and has faced anti-Semitism, which is also on the rise.) So it can suck to feel ostracized by people you identify with.

If you eventually finish the article, you’ll see that that’s one of the main reasons I suggest we not hate on people for skin color alone — a lot of white people are queer, have disabilities, or are just white-passing but are actually minorities. I have a part-Hispanic, part-Black friend who looks white enough to pass and she says that some of the worst racism she’s faced is from her own family and the Hispanic/Black communities and I know it’s really hurt her.