re: Before all this woke stuff started several years ago, didn’t race relations seem good?

It did, but, that's also from "our point of view."

Have had a conversation with one of my good black buddies, who plainly told me there were a lot of things they just didn't force the issue with - mainly, they are flat out terrified of the police. This dude is a super sharp, pretty fahkin' wealthy investment banker - and still says he gets shite from police officers in the southern parts of Georgia on family road trips to Florida to see family. Things like "where did you get this car?" type stuff.

I also got a history lesson on redlining, and how that's impacted black communities and the general wealth gap. Was also given some cold, hard facts about how home loans are given out these days - in 2020, a white person with the same credit profile as a black person is virtually certain to get a better interest rate than their black counterpart, particularly with regional banks.

The way some stuff has gone down has been uncomfortable, however, after hearing some of the stuff that they go through on a daily basis, I can at least understand and appreciate the ongoing plight of inequality.