Please help me if you can. I'm the kind of person who is always "looking for answers" and I just don't understand what I'm reading and hearing and experiencing right now.

I (erroneously, I admit. I understand at least that much now) pointed out on Facebook that if you're a part of BLM, you should stop interrupting Bernie because he's on your side. The tl;dr of what followed is that I should trust black people to know what is best for themselves.

But why? I know for a fact voters vote against their own interests. My own grandfather votes for people who want to take away his healthcare and raise the retirement age, but I'm clearly not being racist if I tell him he's barking up the wrong tree. I firmly believe that people should be educated, that their errors should be pointed out (as mine were to me), that we should be talking and engaging in dialogue to understand each other.

Not only that, but I feel like the answer I received was nearly as racist as what (apparently) I had said - it assumed that black Americans are a monolithic entity and not individuals. It was an assumption that ignores the fact that while some African Americans are praising the activists, others are decrying them and others are asking when "we" are going to picket Republican events. A relatively famous black activist that my friends follow was shutting down people who were trying to engage with him, asking for his perspective and advice. That's 100% his prerogative, but if we can't reach understanding by talking to people directly involved in these events how do we learn, grow, or try to understand one another?

I'm not even sure what I'm asking at this point. How do I conduct myself in these situations? I have a habit of calling people out, I have a habit of pointing out flaws, why did people who agree with me suddenly take an exception for this instance? I wonder if I should simply be stepping back and staying away from events, but I think that's wrong. I want to be more involved, and besides that, I think that when people hamper Bernie, it's not just them I'm trying to help, I'm affected, too. So silence feels like the wrong answer.