As a white union rep, when dealing with personal cases for people of other races, the first question I always asked was whether they were comfortable dealing with me, or whether they wanted their case handled by a union member of their own ethnic group.

I don't ever recall anyone turning my help down. Usually, the reason was "I trust you." or "I know your reputation." or "I've known you for years, Tony, I'd rather deal with you." Occasionally, I got something like "You're the scariest person I know, so I want you on my side." or "They'll listen to you because you're white." The oddest was "No, mate, you're a Northerner, you get it!"

Now, the thing is, that I never went on spiels about racism. When discussions about race were going on, I listened and didn't talk much, and I didn't make a big deal about anti-racism, just treated everybody the same, regardless. No flag-waving, no virtue-signalling, just straight talk and fair dealing. If we could all do that, there wouldn't be a problem, surely?