Ok, I have had a chance to read every post on this thread, some more than once. Here is what I see in my 53 1/2 years:
Racism exits in both the black and white segment of society.
We have white people that embarrass the white race.
We have black people that embarrass the black race.
The difference that I see is that SOME blacks feel a sense of entitlement, much more so than whites. The difference that I see is that the overwhelming majority of crimes are committed by black men, look at the prison population numbers. The difference that I see is that many black children grow up with no father influence whatsoever, once again, look at the numbers. The difference that I see is that education is not a priority for many black people.
For the older men and women who grew up with segregation. Yes, you were treated wrong. Yes, you faced things that make me cringe. Yes, you were denied basic rights. That pony ran a long time ago and we can agree with MLK when he said, "he wanted to be judged on the content of his character than the color of his skin." IMO, the vast majority of us respect and agree with that. I owe you respect as a fellow human being. I owe you the common courtesy of addressing you as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Sir or Ma'am. I owe you to treat you as an equal. I have no problem opening the door for you or to say thank you for a kind deed.
In closing, I guess it really does come down to the golden rule for ALL of us, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you.". If we ALL lived AND practiced that one rule, our cities, counties, state and country would be much better off.
