Today's topic is racism , why it is still extant but mostly unacknowledged in today's America . I'm sure it exists in all races and societies to some extent , but it is a serious problem in our country . Regardless of the denials , almost every restriction and limitation presented by the Republicans and extreme "conservatives" has it's basis in racism and greed . Greed is the dominating factor in most racist laws and policies , because so many have fallen under the thrall of "more" . First , more money enables all the other "more"s demanded by greedy people . The "more" ideal always seeks more of everything , except the sharing of Christian , or any peaceful doctrine's , tenets of how to treat your fellow man . Now , I must freely admit , I was raised in a racist environment , meaning pretty much the world in the 1950s and 60s . At least in the Midwest where I was brought up . There were many derogatory titles for people of skin color other than "pink" lily-white folks of mostly Anglo-Saxon origin . There was a time when Indiana was a hotbed of Klan activity . It's not like the community was extreme or too vocal in their bigotry , they were mostly church going , upright citizens . I wasn't exposed to any black people , or much black culture other than what we picked up from mainstream media . When I was a freshman in high school , we moved to a town with some industry and mining , that had a black community in it's population . Interacting with people of color on a daily basis , it wasn't hard to learn that people are just people , no matter what the prejudiced say or do . At that time , the little town was flushed with the prestige of being the location of a major motion picture a couple years before . Jim Crow hadn't completely flown the coop , but the "colored" part of town was generally nicer than the railroad shacks where some of my peers lived . And many people didn't realize the cultural debt they owed to Sidney Portier and Rod Steiger . When we moved to the country again , our rural , consolidated high school and jr. high had a few black students , and most students had no problem with that . When I joined the Navy , the mix of races was pretty much a cross section of the nation . And , over the intervening years I became more sure of the fact that people are just that , people , and with no real differences in the wants and needs regardless of race . We are all one species , with no plausible  reason to hate or fear "the other" , regardless of skin color or other physical attributes . That " dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal " idea wasn't original to Pres. Lincoln , it is a basic philosophy ingrained in the human soul , the desire to see beyond peoples outsides , and understand their souls , and know that we are all children of one God , or whatever Deity you respect . So in summary of today's lesson , " Why can't we all just get along ? " , there is nothing to hate or fear in the color of a person's skin . We are all the same in God's eyes . Believe it , live it .
  Tomorrow I will try to continue this thread , as I have more to say , if I can remember any of it by then . So good night , remember the Golden Rule , And may God bless you all .