“This has absolutely nothing to do with race”

“Nope, not here, not this time.”

White America’s dangerous N.R.A. fired the nastiest shots at a children’s show, Thomas & Friends, because Thomas has a new Black friend, and the N.R.A. claims the show, with blue and gray characters, has nothing to do with race.

The N.R.A. superimposed Klan hoods on the Thomas trains to show how “social justice warriors” see the characters.

But the N.R.A., and the white people like them, fail to see how race is there even when it’s not plain to them.

These white people see themselves as the norm, without racial connotations, whether the characters or emojis are yellow, orange, blue, or gray.

This white America is hell-bent on inventing and replicating whiteness with the abstract, inanimate, and the obvious.

Here’s a common theme I see — White people claim something they do, or say, has nothing to do with race.

This claim is a towering middle finger that white racists raise and wave like a flag. They curse and ignore history, social science, and the present realities of race and racism.

We see this claim in politics, entertainment, and all facets of life.