How Racist Are People? Really

Originally Published: November 11, 2005 We live in a world where it seems that political correctness has run completely out of control. As a result, everything someone has to say must be considered before even saying it. In the place where I work, simply saying the word "black" could be considered offensive. Instead, African American must be said. Is there really a problem with saying "black". I am called white, but I have no problem with that. It seems more and more that if a person remotely looks at a person the wrong way, they are automatically considered racist. Example, I was in Mississippi on the Gulf Coast walking from one casino to another. It is night time and the wind is blowing. As I walk, I keep my head down namely because the wind is blowing and I want to know where I am walking so that I don't get blown out into traffic. There is a black family standing around on the sidewalk talking. Now, I move a little out of the way because, lets face it, courtesy says not to walk right into the folks. They get one look at me, and they are hightailing it out of there as if they saw a ghost. A person I was walking with said that they moved, not because they were in the way, but rather my appearance was that of a person who would be a member of the Klan. Is this right? NO! To base an opinion about a person you do not know is completely wrong. However, we are guilty of doing this everyday. Ask yourself, how often do I say something that is really racist without knowing it? I guarantee you that ou have done it or will do it in the near future. While these acts are not necessarily hurting anyone, it can be said that it is the long run which will have problems. People continuously say they are not racist nor do they ever have a racist thought. I can tel you this my friends, the people that say it are racist and elitist no matter how you look at it. So how do we get rid of racism? Answer: Be proud of being an American. We need to stop the sub division of being what kind of American and just BE Americans. I am aware that this is the land of the free and everyone can do what they want, but do we really want to turn into France. Assimilation and a unity of the people will go a long way into helping make sure there is peace between the races. If there is one thing I would tell people to remember, it is this: E Plurabus, Unum...Out of Many, One.