Thank you for directing me to this article! I knew there to be much more depth to this word, but a quick Google search was not satisfying.

The way in which I saw the word vilified by conservative whites amplified the racist attitudes that Trump's comments and behavior have allowed to come out from the dark pools of hate, seems to have set us back decades in civil rights.

However, I can't help but wonder if all that hate is helping to awaken more whites to the insidious racist culture that we've grown accustomed to, and therefore is ultimately a good thing.

As I see it, the contemporary zeitgeist of righteousness, division and fear is a prominent sign of impending open heart's, compassion, and awakened consciousness. People think I'm nuts when I say such things, but fear always precedes change for the better. The sooner we can let go of fear, the sooner that can happen.

Not everyone is capable of releasing fear and opening their hearts, but not everyone has to. Change can happen with just some of us up-leveling our consciousness by dropping our judgments, dispensing with inflammatory attitudes, statements and behaviors, and making a sincere effort to understand others.

If we can accept that to understand the fears that drives others does not mean to agree, pardon, or condone their behavior, it simply means to open our hearts to what another has experienced that drives their behavior, and stop with the tit-for-tat.

More than ever in history, we all need to work on this to move forward.