Fascinating story, and "ouch!"

As an aside, when I grew up we didn't use the term "racism", but I understand its meaning the way you describe pre 2020.

We used the term "prejudiced". You would more likely hear "you're prejudiced" than "you're racist" in my neighborhood.

Maybe that's because my neighborhood was white/brown mix, not white/black. The only black family I grew up with was a city counselwoman and successful business owner, so I never thought to put them down.

If there is insistence on redefining racism to meaning only systemic racism, then I'll be reverting to saying "prejudiced."

Which is, really, a better term, anyway.

And, in most cases, "asshole".