Progress of America's Racial Future

I have just finished reading the article I, too, am optimistic about our racial future by Cynthia Tucker in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Cynthia Tucker talks about her daughter coming into a world where racial turmoil is not as heavy as it was in previous generations. Since the United States has elected its first African American president, she hoped that racial generalizations would slowly begin to diminish. Unfortunately, Obama's election has seemed to do nothing for racial relationships in America. Tucker states, "The United States is not yet 'post-racial' and may never be. Because human beings have a primal instinct for fearing and hating 'the other,' even this diverse country may never completely outgrow the invidious distinctions of color and class." I completely agree with her statement. This country will not get anywhere if people constantly rely on generalizations. It seems that individualism has been killed in the United States. Some many people focus on the negatives of a group of people that they have no relation to. Every race has its negatives that people just do not want to own up to. Everyone wants to believe their race or culture is always right and that they can do no wrong. History and other statistics show that everyone has been in wrong at least some point in time. No one can own up to the past or admit they were wrong. Not everyone in a group of people is the same. Racism cannot be destroyed if this country continues to destroy the individual. America still faces racial tension, but there is still hope in the future. The progress of the world relies on the progress of its people. If we all hate each other, then we will get nowhere. Once the world begins to embrace the individual, the global community may have a chance. Stereotypes killed individualism. Now, it is up to the people of the world to revive it. If the world does not want to see the end so soon, then it must learn to accept and embrace its differences.