When you’re surrounded by people with a certain ideological point of view, its very easy to go-along in order to get-along. Often, being more racist is a mechanism outsiders will use in order to prove they’re part of the clan. When you don’t have your skin color to prove your racist bonafides, you need to be outspoken to let your racist neighbors and coworkers know that you’re on their “team”.

You would think that might have made them sensitive to people on the receiving end of racism

Abuse begets abuse. Treat someone like shit and they’ll learn it is acceptable to treat other people like shit. The only way to curb the cycle of pain is to discourage the behavior. That’s what it means to “Go Woke”, in the end. Standing up to bullying and protecting the vulnerable means interrupting the process of indoctrinating the next generation in the violence of its elders.