It’s not difficult to agree with this article but this line “If I can tolerate (and especially if I enjoy and value) proximity, claims of proximity maintain, I must not be racist; a “real” racist cannot stand to be near people of color, let alone smile or otherwise convey friendliness.”…just seems mean. It’s almost by default the author is accusing everybody of being inadvertently racist. That you can’t possibly have any friendship, or that any friendship could possibly exist, without it being inherently racist.