When the subject of “reverse racism“ comes up, most Black commenters on Medium and elsewhere will eventually admit “there is such a thing as bigotry against white people, but not racism.“ You could have avoided a lot of this blowback by saying “bigotry” instead of “racism“. But I wouldn’t even call this encounter bigotry. Some people are attracted to redheads, some aren’t. No bigotry involved in that case, and none in this example.

I’ve heard stories from white guys traveling in all black bands playing for black audiences, where they did encounter genuine bigotry: verbal abuse, refusal to let you sit near them, etc. They usually said that this kind of bigotry came from the occasional black audience member, never from a fellow band member. And when I was working as a white roadie for an all black band, I never encountered anything except friendliness ,or at worst indifference, from anyone. I sometimes speculated that the positive response I got came from the fact that I was a white guy in overalls, taking orders from a black man in a tuxedo. I was happy to take those orders, for the leader of this band was both a gifted musician and had a good understanding of the music business. He was what other cultures would’ve called my guru, and I felt honored to serve him.