As a white dude this is the most important line in the entire article:

“(Some were, eventually, so I guess thanks for realizing that being wrong and saying sorry isn’t actually like setting yourself on fire.)”

Some of us white dudes can get kind of defensive when our cultural biases and differences of experience become plain, and we step in something a little bit. It’s annoying and kind of embarrassing. Well-intentioned people make mistakes, and ignorance makes us look foolish. It’s not the end of the world, and you won’t look like less of a man for admitting you fucked up. Institutionalized racism is everyone’s problem, and it requires everyone’s work to overcome, and sometimes that means swallowing your pride a bit.