wysiwyg:
Gotcha: Your well-put query (Lucy and all)went right over my knobby head. Thank you for explicating and not just assuming I was trying to be irritating (I wasn't). I sorta assumed by virtue of your posts YOU had some African connection. For the record, one can be white and African if one is born in Africa or descended from Afrikaaners or other European derived residents. Or African-American but not 'black' as an example President Barack Obama was a descendant of an African but not of African-American slaves.

Mudcat in the past had at least one frequent poster who identified as African-American and would frequently address race-based issues. No one to my knowledge has so self-identified recently.

I don't find it unusual for people to opine about races/ religions/ conditions not their own, because people are curious. Does that mean people post stuff that might be ignorant or inaccurate? Surely. But by being in the open they are subject to correction. In general I try not to get 'judgy' about posts because I want to know what people really think and not get them trying to camoflage themselves too much. More often than not people have chosen a way to express themselves that pushed my buttons more than the thing they were expressing.

And there is truth in the notion that we're all from Africa. I think a bit more awareness of this is a good thing, encouraging cross sensitivities

We ALL come from tribes at some point.

And again for the record, I do not identify as African other than as I stated above.