Swalwell's point when he quoted Biden's 1980-something "pass the torch" statement...

[Kind of Blue]

29. The Rules of Engagement

I think Dr. Robin DiAngelo's 9 of 11 Rules of White Fragility apply here.

1. Do not give me feedback on my racism under any circumstances.
If you break the cardinal rule:
2. Proper tone is crucial – feedback must be given calmly. If there is any emotion in the feedback, the feedback is invalid and does not have to be considered.

3. There must be trust between us. You must trust that I am in no way racist before you can give me feedback on my racism.

4. You must give feedback privately, regardless of whether the incident occurred in front of other people. To give feedback in front of anyone else—even those involved in the situation—is to commit a serious social transgression. The feedback is thus invalid.

5. You must be as indirect as possible. To be direct is to be insensitive and will invalidate the
feedback and require repair.

6. As a white person I must feel completely safe during any discussion of race. Giving me any
feedback on my racism will cause me to feel unsafe, so you will need to rebuild my trust by never giving me feedback again. Point of clarification: when I say “safe” what I really mean is “comfortable.”

7. Giving me feedback on my racial privilege invalidates the form of oppression that I
experience (i.e. classism, sexism, heterosexism). We will then need to focus on how you oppressed me.

8. You must focus on my intentions, which cancel out the impact of my behavior.

9. To suggest my behavior had a racist impact is to have misunderstood me. You will need to
allow me to explain until you can acknowledge that it was your misunderstanding.