Thank you for taking the time to read and respond.

I think what you are saying is that I am doing the very thing I accuse people of doing. In your view I am attempting to gatekeep who can say what by saying that any criticism of Wise or Woods is racist.

I think I actually agree with your point. They should not be immune to critical examination of their points, and if I inferred that, I was wrong. I think we should be able to have a "marketplace of ideas" where the truth finds the top through rigorous debate. I would love it sincere white people would get together and discuss which of Wise and Woods' points are bullshit and which (if any) have some validity.

I think most of the noise of people talking about race is people talking past each other in unproductive ways. Perhaps that is why Wise and Woods make me uneasy. Both are making their arguments too forcefully for my taste - because when you put it that strongly it can preclude any open conversation with people who disagree with them. My essay was trying to examine whether they are too loud or if I am just too sensitive.

In either case, I think that whiteness does exist and these guys are writing about their own experiences of discovering what it means to be white and I can learn something from their experience.