"Racism, tribalism is in full bloom all around the world and we have the dead bodies to prove it. NO ONE has cornered the market and I think in many ways the fredom and liberty the constitution allows us makes it seem worse here. I don't think it's worse and i do think we talk about it and try to do something about it far more than others."
Piney,
You are SO right! We have been dealing with it BEFORE even the birth of the nation, therefore, we were forced to deal with this great idea (melting pot of humanity) of the Romans (who NEVER believed in or even thought of "color" in terms of people) more so than the rest of the world.
ALL of us carry some kind of ignorant baggage that we've been fed while growing up, via TV, Culture, family, or community. It is up to each and every one of us to unlearn the damaging part and to learn how to treat every human being based on their character.
America is not perfect by a long shot...but at least we try to face our short comings. The more we talk about race and confront it, the better off we will be as a nation. I personally believe in one term...AMERICAN, not German-American, African-American, Chinese-American. If you are from here/immigrated here, live here, carry a US passport, vote, you are simply an American in my book, I'm not interested in all that "other" BS.
Some day the entire country will view race as as silly crutch of the 19th century, used to control people for profit.