We all have implicit bias. I do, you do, it’s simply part of life, based on our personal experiences, our environment, and perhaps even our genetics. In no way, shape, or form did I ever equate “implicit bias” with “racism.” There’s a difference.

For example, I was raised in a primarily white, Jewish town. As I grew up, a large population of Iranian Jews began emigrating into the community. As a result, it became much more orthodox, with many non-Kosher establishments closing, main street becoming less populous, and businesses eventually shifting to accommodate more Persian tastes.

Did I object? I used to. It made me uneasy to see my town change. It made me angry at these new, different people coming in.

I’m not saying I’m a racist. Instead I’m saying that I developed an implicit bias against the Persian members of my community, because I disliked how my community had changed, and projected it onto them. But to actually blame them for it— as if there was some grand collusion over decades — is, in my opinion, illogical and unfair. Therefore I must acknowledge and move past my own implicit bias.

So please, don’t put words in my mouth, and also, please don’t take my words out of context. In this case I was responding to someone who called a certain group of Trump supporters, “Bubbas,” and referred to their demographic being swept out to sea.

My argument was that they shouldn’t be referred to as such — essentially lumped into a gigantic category of white nationalist identity politics — and that instead we should open up lines of communication that say, “Hey, your communities are changing, and you feel kinda weird about it, and that’s okay. Let’s work through it instead of pretending it’s not there.”

I honestly think we’re on the same side of this argument. I also don’t think all conservatives vote that way because they’re unhappy with how America is changing demographic-wise. As far as I can tell, you seem to be a fiscal conservative, perhaps a libertarian. Again, I was responding to a very specific point against a very specific group of folks who are on record as being uncomfortable with the shifts in our country, but who I was arguing actually don’t deserve to be called racists, bigots, etc.

After all, liberals and conservatives both have implicit bias, and it is absolutely not the same as racism. In fact, the liberal implicit bias against conservatives is a problem you yourself have highlighted in our conversations, and it is exactly the sort of thing I personally reject.