I can't understate the importance of your observations here. I've made many of the same points but without the overall perspective you provide as a framework here.

This is not an argument with your points but (I believe) an amplification.

Cruelty is, as you suggest a prime motive (maybe THE prime motive) behind racism--the desire to wound someone else so severely that you can dominate them. But I think many of the cruelest racists are unaware of their motive because they have deliberately substituted another motive to justify their sadism.

Betsy DeVos, for example, uses "school choice" and "freedom" to explain her creation of an educational system that will hobble black and brown Americans. This subterfuge makes her stupid. She doesn't have a clue about how racist her agenda is because like a savvy criminal she has erased the evidence.

A fifth grade debate team could easily poke holes in the defenses made by the Lost Cause proponents.

This kind of stupidity or ignorance is not an excuse for racism. It is an enabler.

Thank you for this wise and beautifully argued essay. I hope it helps others focus their efforts.