In my view, the third sentence here contradicts the first. I agree with the third sentence, that we start from there. But I don’t agree with the first sentence. What you actually write is not the only thing that matters. In multiple threads, multiple posters have suggested that if you wish others to believe your claim (and I do happen to believe it, for the record) that you do not intend to be racist, you should consider modifying how you choose to communicate, according to the feedback that has been given.
Or, more succinctly: it is not enough to simply claim we are not racist, instead we should aim to be “anti-racist”. Avoiding the use of words such as “niggardly” (just an example; I am not claiming you use/used that particular word) is one small way to do that, in that it makes it clearer that those trying to get away with using it in a racist way are not to be tolerated.
Nor am I, really, so I will make this my last post on this hijack, nor will I pursue it in other threads. I am just offering another perspective because I mostly like and respect you as a poster. I believe you have claimed elsewhere that you don’t care what anyone on this board thinks of you (and you may well choose to ignore my suggestion), but in that case, why post at all?