“All he had to do was issue a heartfelt response that acknowledges how those decade-old tweets don’t represent his subsequent period of growth. He should be willing to educate himself and others on the direness of publicly demeaning a community, that is still relentlessly terrorized.”

Very well said. I relate to it since that’s what I had to do and must still do to address the racism of my youth and young adulthood. Please note my statement that I must still do so, because I strongly feel that it’s not just a matter of penance for what I did in the past, but more especially that it is my duty to educate others at appropriate times. I can never change their minds about racism (argument and logic are far less effective than first-hand experience), but perhaps when they gain such experience, they’ll realize they’re not the only ones making a journey out of racism.