Racism is, of course, both taught and learned. You cannot have one without the other. These are not separate issues. I do think it is great that the question is being asked even though some who are writing about it may think it is pointless. However, it is so much
deeper than that.

It is deeper because, unfortunately, this country was built on racism. Everything about this country depended on racism being an ingrained part of its inner fabric. It began with the original Constitution which stated that a black man was 3/5 of a man, meaning he had less worth than the men who wrote the Constitution. When you begin on a premise such as this, everything from there goes downhill because this document set the foundation for everything that came afterward.

This document taught caucasians that those who did not look like them, they were superior to them in all areas of human activity - economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex and war. This set the premise for segregation because caucasians were taught that those who did not look like them, were beneath them so there was no need to integrate and deal with them on an equal playing field.

Once this premise was established, it was well learned and people of color were discriminated against in all areas of human activity - economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex and war. People of color struggled under these conditions and made the best of a very bad situation.

Now, moving into the 1960s with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement; with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the helm pointing out the err of the Constitution and teaching everyone, including those people of color who needed to hear it, that men should be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. Other caucasians who came to this conclusion by their own personal convictions - that segregation and the reason for it (racism) was wrong - stood up and fought for justice and equality for all people.

Here we are in 2008, and the issues of color still remain. This country is about to make a historical decision on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - whether or not to vote for Barack Obama, a black man, as the first African-American President of the United States of America or vote for John McCain because he is not African-American. Of course, you should vote for whomever you think is the better candidate. However, this is the main reason why we still have a large number of caucasians who are undecided as to who to vote for.

If we are not willing to speak openly and truthfully about racism and what it has done to each and every one of us, we will never make any real progress. Our famous or infamous Dr. Phil made popular the statement, “you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.” And if we don’t acknowledge these truths as a nation, we will never heal as a nation. You cannot just say what’s past is past and leave it at that. We must embrace the truth no matter how painful and let the healing begin. If we don’t deal with our past, we will be doomed to repeat it. That brings to mind an offshoot of Dr. Phil’s saying, “how’s that gonna work for us, America?”