I understand that they want to be more culturally/lifestyle sensitive and that attempting to increase awareness is part of that, but man, I would not have wanted to be a white person at that tribal trying to portray a convincing level of understanding and sympathy. It's a no win situation. And where does Erika fit in to that equation? Does she count as a person of color or is she a person of not the right color?
There's no need to respond to any of that, as I don't want to derail Survivor discussion, but it has been difficult to not at least acknowledge the obvious theme of this season without it possibly being offensive.
As for the game itself, I think it was the correct move to not target Ricard yet. Voting him out would have evened the alliance numbers at 3, and that's too risky with so many twists. If Xander's extra vote was good for one more week, then I would feel differently. Ricard definitely needs to go at the next opportunity, if there is one. If not, then Erika and Xander aren't playing to win.