General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "I didn't know how racist America was until it elected its first black President." [View all]markj757
(194 posts)I'm black, and I grew up with diversity in my life. I went to a predominately white middle school and high school, served in the Air Force, and worked in white collar positions in corporate America. I have really only experienced one blatantly racist experience in my life when I was a teenager. All the other experiences have been subtle where you have to wonder was it racist or was I just being paranoid. So when Obama was elected, based on everything I experienced in my life, I was not surprised but extremely proud of the America I thought I knew all my life. Like most black people, I know racism exist in this country, but to see the level of hatred and personal verbal assaults, not only on his character, but on his humanity and love of country, and even his family; has forever changed my view about racism in this country, and about a huge segment of white America and what they claim to believe.
It is no secret that the black community has its fair share of problems, and although some of the problems we face today may stem from a legacy of institutionalized racism and injustice, the hard truth of the matter is.....today our problems are almost all completely self-inflicted. And for a huge segment of white America who are so quick to make that point, to see the vitriol and hatred towards a black man who is the epitome of the opportunity and greatness of this country, is disheartening to the core for me of what it means to be an American.
I still believe in my heart with everything that I am, that this is the greatest nation on earth, and I would lay down my life to protect her in a heartbeat. I still believe that even with our troubled history of slavery and racism, we have become the greatest protector of freedom and human dignity the world has ever known. But with the racist things I have seen, read, and heard over the past 8 years, it makes it so much harder to reconcile those beliefs, with the voices of hatred that helped propel Trump to become the Republican nominee for President. But what I try and hold onto, is the same thing that President Obama has expressed. "When they go low, I go high" For me that means, when they show the under belly of racism and hatred that is also part of who we are as a nation, I choose to focus on the millions of beacons of light throughout this country that speaks to our better angels. I choose to focus on my white friends, who have become my family. And I am comforted by the fact that while the people filled with all that race based hatred struggle to find peace in the darkness, I bask in the light!