I agree with most everything you said and appreciate the support. That said, there is something to address: > In this case, the individual commenters weren't

I agree with most everything you said and appreciate the support. That said, there is something to address: > In this case, the individual commenters weren't making claims about which groups this happens more to I don't know if this assertion can be sustained (though I can appreciate why you added it to your initial comment). My experience in these debates—having been on both sides and having done this exact same thing myself—is that we tend not to like feeling as if we're on the wrong side of anything. When someone makes a claim that inherently implies a societal wrong ("I'm am Indian male and I keep a beard and [...] I was singled out for 'random' checks at every single airport.") and someone else replies with a claim that the same situation was encountered without any of the same conditions (e.g. "White dude, [...] always getting the random checks too."), there's quite possibly an internal stimulus there compelling the latter to comment on the matter, inherently aiming to suggest away the risk that s/he's possibly part of an instigating group. As I've mentioned before, I've made this exact same sort of diminishing comment in other contexts in the past and have been (hopefully) re-educated on it, hence my keen sensitivity to it. The latter cited comment even went out of its way to attribute the OP's comment to "bad luck I guess." I don't think the latter commenter realized the harm in that statement nor intended any harm with it ("if it makes you feel any better" mid-comment), but it's a textbook example of the kind of diminishing remark that utterly decimates minority morale. Appreciate you taking the time to read this, dang.