I’m a white man in tech, with a very sensitive soul that has felt great sympathy and sorrow for each and every one of those black killings you mention. Until I read this article, I didn’t know there was anything I could do about it on an individual basis, even so far as making one person feel a little less alone about it. It is good to know that it’s okay to approach a black person and say, “How are you doing, *really*?” and be sincerely concerned about them. Past experience suggests that there’s a chance they might get mad and “go off on me,” so there’s a bit of fear there, which may be why your white colleagues never said anything to you before, until the sheer magnitude of this week’s events tipped them over the edge of that obstacle.

I’ve been saying on Facebook all week that I am heartened somewhat by the fact that these events seem to have pushed us, as a nation and as individuals, to take the conversation to the next level, which is long overdue. I hope this momentum continues and that good finally comes out of it. Your experience with your white boss, and the white police officer, suggest to me that a lot of our fear of each other is imaginary, perhaps whipped up by the government and media (much as some of the conspiracy theories would have it. Not that I believe in conspiracy theories, but sometimes there is a grain of truth). For the most part - - though not always - - I have found that individuals are almost always good people, or at least trying to be. Many are victims of their own bad habits, but even then I feel compassion for them. And it is independent of race, too, as far as I can tell.

I find myself thinking now of a I very young black couple with whom I exchanged a few words in passing at a gas station a few weeks ago, and had the thought that they were really good people that I would like to have gotten a chance to know better. I hope they are all right this week, wherever they are.

Lastly, I really do need articles and instructions to tell me what I can do to help - - despite being a man in the tech industry, I do not have the “growth-oriented mindset” you speak of. I have done pretty much the exact same thing for the last twenty-seven years, and have mostly been perfectly happy to do so.

Anyway, that’s one man’s opinion.