Thank you for agreeing with me, that individual racists exist, but "the system" is not systemically racist today. Regarding our family's experience as mixed Asian, white, and African...

My two youngest children are mixed race. The second youngest attends medical school, the youngest is graduating with a degree in information systems. As Asian Americans they have experienced racism from individuals, but the "system" is not stopping them... though frankly, the racial quota system used by California state schools to promote diversity kept them out of state schools in spite of 4.4 GPAs with extra curriculars like Honor Society, Academic All-American, captain of the varsity team, etc., there will always be someplace that values them for their talents and there was.

My three older white children have similar experiences. The oldest is a boy with a Master's Degree from Penn. He got his degree by working as an employee at Penn and using their employee benefits to attend college to get his Master's degree while there he met his wife from Africa and he has four children. Today, he is an executive vice president and his wife is a realtor.

The next oldest daughter has a black daughter through her relationship with a Haitian man. She dropped out of college, and she experiences the same challenges as people of other races being a single mom with the exception of the financial support, we provide to ensure she can afford to live in an area with a good public school system for her daughter. Life is hard being a single mom and while more and more children of all races are facing that experience, it is still a disproportionate challenge for black children (and perhaps the greatest challenge they experience along with the poverty such a family situation produces in many instances).

The youngest of the three oldest children is pursuing her doctorate in Nurse Anesthesia after serving as a Covid ICU nurse (she got her nursing degree through a joint community college four-year program in Az at a cost most black families could afford) and was awarded a scholarship for her dedicated service during Covid. Her success is not based on her skin color (white) but her exceptional talent (hence she graduated first in her nursing class and President of her class). Turns out there is an amazing brain instead that "blonde" head.

My five black grandchildren highlight what real privilege is about. The four oldest are in high school and enjoy all the benefits of a two parent financially successful family with strong family values, who believe in the power of education to open doors of opportunity... already they are seeing that happen (even more so because of their skin color... when I asked my black granddaughter how she got a scholarship given how much her father makes... she smiled and said "black privilege" (though I suspect her 4.0 GPA and college credit helped... she has taken ASU summer courses since she was 13 and hopes to graduate high school and go directly into her sophomore year at college. My oldest grandchild is a boy with a 3.75 GPA and has taken college computer courses during the summer at Drexal. Rather than the system being "systemically racist" against African Americans, they are finding the system extremely welcoming as colleges compete to achieve diversity goals.

Another of my grandsons has a solid 3+ GPA but his heart is in sports... he plays on an elite boys' soccer team that travels the east coast. I suspect he will get a scholarship based on his grades and athletic ability.

My youngest two black grandchildren are as you suggest too young to predict how they will fair in high school. But what is clear is for the three older children and my two mixed race children, the "system" is not holding them back. And that is the point, that needs to be made to every black child. They will encounter racism in life, but "the system" won't hold them back. That was not true in the past.

We have addressed the issue of "individual" racism in our family in two ways. First, acknowledging it exists and then pointing out that it is individual racism and not systemic racism. Individual racism for the most part is extremely annoying, but it won't prevent my grandchildren from realizing their full potential and I think that is proving itself in their lives.

Now where you make an excellent point is that most black children don't have someone telling them what I and my children emphasize to them, instead, they hear about systemic racism, CRT, and other such ideologies intended to isolate them rather than encourage them to engage with society. How can you succeed, when you expect your skin color will hold you back? They are told they are victims and so take every encounter with racism as "proof" of systemic racism. And so they give up... tragic.

Does their skin color and hair impact them beyond being the target of "racists" not systemic racism. Sure, they use different hair products (available on Amazon and delivered to your doorstep in 2 days or less). They also take Vitamin D supplements (you should also), since black skin is designed to function best in hot climates, nearly all African Americans suffer Vitamin D deficiency and so should take supplements... most whites should also especially over the winter). But supplements are available at every grocery store or online. Our children and grandchildren are taught skin color, hair, eye color are just physical attributes, they do not define who they are.

I also think you make a good point that growing up in a mixed family, black children learn there are white people that love them and want them to succeed along with their black parent. They see the world less as in "black and white" terms and more in good and evil terms. With all my children and grandchildren as well as among our friends, the diversity of race highlights the goodness that exists in most people.

I need you to stop destroying another generation of black children and help them realize the system can work for them, but they have to work for it to do so... whether they are black, white, or Asian or any other race or mix. Besides being a parent and a grandparent, I was senior executive for various companies including CEO of a company with 42,000 employees. As such perhaps I have the benefit of realizing how competitive the world is and desperate companies are to attract the best talent they can. Particularly challenging is attracting "management" talent that can manage across race, culture, and religion and create a team out of such a diverse group.

So how do you propose teaching young black children these important lessons while they are young? In California, whites are not even the largest minority. Children that can't navigate across race are doomed. I understand that parents and grandparents, who grew up at different time in US history are stuck in that time, but don't allow today's children to suffer from yesterday's bias.