I've discussed it here before, so I have no problem putting it out there. I just figured that was more or less known by most people who interact with me here.

Also, I did say this, at the bottom of my post:

"I don't know whether or not I pass any of Dave's (or anyone else's) metrics for what would qualify as a quality "ally"- a term I don't really care for, because I'm so deeply entrenched and invested, but it's also not my direct, 1st person, lived experience either."

So I definitely didn't leave it out, I just didn't say it overtly. Because again, people here know that about me.

>That is to say, you have a vested interest in defending Black
>people and cutting folks off for their anti-Black views.

Certainly.

>Could that answer the "why" in RagOnMe's post as it pertains
>to you?

Not in my case, unless I misunderstand your question relative to Ragonme's. I've always had close proximity, just not to that degree.

Yes, it's the old "some of my best friends are Black", but it's still true. The woman who was my biggest rock throguhout my teenage and young adult years, was a Black woman, and her children are more or less my siblings. I've posted about my relationship with her son on here, in fact, though I don't know that I ever said "oh yeah fyi he's Black". It's not just that family, but that's the best example.

Still, I can't deny the larger impact and perspective marrying a Black woman and having Black children hasBut I think I would have reached this point without that happening, because I already had a foot out of that bubble by the time I even met my wife.

And I was having those conversations with those people when I still thought of them as friends and family, because my naivete led me to believe I could be a voice of reason.

I was wrong. And far less educated than I am now. But I'm confident that I'd still have wound up chucking those deuces to those sample people, for the same reasons, at some point. Maybe even sooner, because a significant catalyst was me leaving the church. How and why that is, is another discussion, which i'm perfectly happy to have if you're curious about the correlation.

But, to answer your question in a broader context, certainly.

Proximity can change a lot of things. So, I'm sure there are plenty of white liberals with little or minimal proximity to Black people, who just aren't as passionate about that, because it doesn't effect them.

And I don't mean to minimize that, if that's how I came across.

Mainly, I'm speaking from within my personal bubble, since the question does apply to me, and I do know people who are just as loud and fervent on the issue of racism as they are anti-lgbtq sentiments.

And for me, I rarely occupy spaces where that's even necessary now.