Race Relations
A constant problem in the
developed world has been the relation of races with each other. People
are destined to judge each other for one reason or another, and the
laziest/easiest way to do so has always been to judge based on how
others look. Judging based on color allows for prejudices that are
often unfounded and unintelligent, and which just perpetuate a cycle of
ignorance and regression. Prejudice is not a quality that is a positive
in any human being, much less when it does not allow for common sense
or relevance.
America
is a country that was founded with race relations on the back burners,
and is a country which had much to overcome in that department. Many
claim that America still has many strides to make to conquer the
problem, but not all citizens of a country can be forced to think a
certain way. The greatest thing about our country is that individuals
are allowed to think whatever they want. This being the greatest thing,
it has also been one of the most divisive. No issue has ever sparked as
much debate, hatred and suffering as race. Were it not for race
differences between slaves and masters, the states rights issues of the
South would not have been as heated as they were, and certainly would
not have sparked a national war. This is not to say that the South
would not have had a complaint for states rights, it is to say that it
would not have come about the same way as it did.
Many a problem has plagued the USA since the time of the Civil War, and
many obstacles have been overcome in pursuit of a better country. When
our founding fathers created the perfect country, they gave us the
foundation for a great country, and I will vote that we have created
that great country where people can be themselves. A problem that
consistently arises in my own mind continues to be race relations. The
races were supposedly integrated in the middle 20th Century,
yet I can not find that to be true. "There is a presidential candidate
running for the Democrat Party", is not a phrase I have heard very much in the past year. Barack Obama is not a presidential candidate running
for office with the ideas he has to make out country better. Obama is
the first black candidate. Barack Obama is a black man, and all that
seems to matter to many is that fact. African American. Native
American. Irish American. Indian American. None of these should be an
identification with which we use to distinguish ourselves from our
neighbors. This is not to say that people should not identify with their past or their heritage, because that is the furthest from the point. I believe that our country will function much more correctly if we allow everyone to be an American, whatever our heritage or past, and move on towards making America a better country. This can not be accomplished by continuing to strive for segregation based on where we came from, for benefits or otherwise. Progress is moving forward, and socialism is a failure from the past.
When our
country was founded it was compared to a melting pot, in which
individual ingredients only give a hint of their real flavor. Allowing
people to be separated based on their differences allows for the very
segregation that we have fought to abolish. We are Americans, and that
is all that should matter. If some of these Americans have personality
aspects that they wish to acknowledge, that is a great thing, but these
should not be what we use to define ourselves. If Americans are allowed
to be classified into thousands of categories, they cease to be
Americans, but instead continue to take the minority status that
creates problems and belies the melting pot of all humans in our
country.. Separating by race, creed, religion, sex, etc. is something
that has gotten some countries in the greatest of trouble and is a crux
that we have fought since the founding of our very country.