While I commend your heart, and your sincere desire NOT to offend, your article deeply concerns me.

There are far more pressing and systematically oppressive issues that I think our mental energy is best directed towards. Just because a particular phrase has a racist origin, it doesn’t follow that all non-blacks using it have racist intentions. People of all races shouldn’t need a PHD in linguistics to “safely” communicate with blacks, and blacks ought to stop assuming the worst when they hear phrases being used for which they happen to be aware of the “alleged” source. So is it now racist, if a white person mentions they have “bronchitis?” This granular, nit picking of language in my opinion is petty, and destructive to healthy race relationships. Who in their right mind wants to be walking on pins and needles so as not to offend hypersensitive blacks?

I remember ME being verbally attacked when I stated all lives matter, even though I simply meant all lives “ought” to. I was lambasted because of the “source” of the phrase even though obviously my motives were not white supremacy.

I propose police brutality, and racial poverty are FAR higher priorities for precious mental acumen.