In today's time, it seems although we are under another race war. What I have to say isn't going to be pretty. Most of you won't even agree with me, and that's okay. Honestly, I really don't care. What I have to say, however, is the absolute truth.
Racism still exists, but not in the way it used to.
It seems like every time an incident happens that regards possible racism, the argument always gets tossed back to the time of slavery. We hear people of the black community say, "Whites always want to forget that slavery happened, but they just can't let 9/11 go." I have a huge problem with that, and here's why:
Those are two COMPLETELY different events. Both are negative, and both damaged this country, sure. However, 9/11 was an act of terror on all of us, all races within our homeland. None of us alive today know what it was like to live during slavery. Throwing up, "You white people beat our people and treated them like dogs!" every time someone white disagrees, is completely uncalled for. We can't help what our ancestors did, and I'm truly sorry for what they did to your ancestors, but I will not apologize to you for it. You didn't have to endure it, and I don't owe you anything. I will respect you as long as you respect me, color and all.
We were alive when 9/11 happened. We all felt that, and it was real. It tore this country apart emotionally, but still we rose. We rose from the ashes and conquered our enemy, united as one. We stood together, and didn't let our difference in skin pigmentation stand in the way. We fought together as brothers and sisters for the common good to rebuild what our enemies tried to destroy. We rose stronger than ever all because we were finally a nation united. So no, we shouldn't forget what happened on 9/11. It was real.
Racism still exists. I'm not going to deny it. I am a white female, and I am telling you that racism still exists. But, it is no longer just whites that are racist against blacks. Blacks are becoming an equal number to the problem. Just like with whites, not all blacks are racist. Let me be clear about something:
We are all human. We all experience the same emotions, and dislike towards someone is definitely one of those. We aren't going to like everyone we meet, just like not everyone is going to like us. That's okay. What's not okay is when they happen to be a different race, and we get accused of being racist for not liking them. The word racism is defined as, "Poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race," and also, "The belief that some races of people are better than others." If I'm standing behind you in line at the grocery store, and you start cursing very loudly while there are children nearby, then yeah, I'm going to have questionable doubts of tolerance towards you. Your skin color has nothing to do with it. It's absolutely sad that we live in a world where it's not okay to be human. That being said, anyone that is hateful towards another because of their skin color is not okay.
I don't consider black people African-Americans. They are Americans. Their ancestors may have come from Africa, but they are still just Americans. I am from Scotch-Irish descent, but I don't consider myself Scotch-Irish-American. I am American. You are American. This is America, and we need to stop the hate.