I guess I’m an old school kind of guy. I believe in hard work. Honesty. Being a good husband and father. And, perhaps most important, treating everyone equally, regardless of skin color. You have white skin? Fine. Purple skin? OK. Green skin? Don’t care. Black skin? Alright. Brown skin? OK. Black skin? Fine. Black skin? Alright. Black skin? Yep. Black skin? OK then.

You can tell I’m not a racist because I just don’t think about race all that much. It’s simply not something that’s on my radar. When I meet someone new or see someone on the street, I don’t think, “Oh, he has white skin.” Or, “Oh, he has black skin.” Or, “Oh, he has light brown skin and I wonder what races his parents are.” Or, “Oh, he has white skin but very curly hair so I’m wondering if he’s Jewish.” Or, “Oh, he has brown skin, but he’s wearing a suit, so he’s probably one of the good ones.” See, I don’t care one lick what a person’s skin tone is.

In fact, if you were to ask me the top three qualities I use to judge other people, race isn’t even close to being one of them. Instead, I judge people by what neighborhood they live in, what types of culture they enjoy, and the way that they speak and dress.

Race simply does not matter to me. I grew up in a very white part of the country, but that hasn’t affected me. I have nothing but respect for all races of our country, especially Asians.

Integrity matters. Practicing what you preach matters. So, if you were to ask me what this country needs to do when it comes to race matters, I’d say that everyone should be treated equally. No more, “You get this because you’re white, and you get that because you’re black, and you get this because you’re brown, I would guess half-black, but possibly Puerto Rican, and you get this because you’re sort of lightish white-brown, possibly ¾ white and ¼ South American, but more indigenous South American rather than of German or Portuguese ancestry,” or anything like that. Race doesn’t matter to me, so it shouldn’t matter to our government or school system.

I’m going to say something basic, but people are sure to take it the wrong way, knowing how people react these days. Hard work matters. OK? It matters. If you want to get ahead, you need to work hard. So if you haven’t found yourself getting ahead, it must be because you haven’t worked hard. That’s airtight logic. Therefore, if a whole group of people (not saying which group) hasn’t been able to get ahead, it must be because they haven’t worked hard (again, not saying or thinking about a particular group here).

I understand nuance, though. I know that certain groups have been treated poorly in the past. Should we use policy to right the wrongs of the past? In my view, of course, but just not in a way that makes me question my own beliefs and calls into question the legitimacy of my power.

So, for me, all this talk about whether or not Trump is a racist is one big distraction. He speaks his mind — is that so wrong? For too long we’ve had politicians whose every word is focus-group tested, or who have thought about how their words come across to other people. Trump has been a breath of fresh air. So let’s focus on things that actually matter, by which I mean things that matter to me.

I see myself in Donald Trump, so when people accuse him of being racist, it feels like I’m being accused of being racist. And I’m not. I swear.