RACISM, STRAIGHT UP. Charles Blow: “When I see those Black bodies at the border, I am unable to separate them from myself, or my family, or my friends. They are us.”

When you feel empathy for people solely because of their race being the same as yours, that’s racism. Straight up.

Plus, from the comments: “Well, good heavens, if you feel your individuality is being erased, first try not referring to your fellow black people as ‘bodies’ instead of people!”

Also: “I know it’s a trendy locution on the left, but referring to these people as ‘bodies’ always sounds dehumanizing. It strikes me as the language of a slaveowner.”

Talk of “black bodies” or “brown bodies” is a tell that the speaker is peddling racist nonsense.

Plus, a question for Charles Blow: “Why do so many Black people around the world want to leave their Black governed countries, free of the evils of racism, to come to a nation where they will be oppressed by the systematic racism?”