discrimination

discrimination

the practice of unfairly treating a person or group of people differently from other people or groups of people

"They are showing up in droves to see Donald Trump: Men and women, overwhelmingly white, frustrated with the country's first black president, fearful that they are being displaced by minorities and immigrants, and nostalgic for the way America used to be." -CNN

Wait, what!! nostalgic for the way America used to be??!!  What time-frame are we talking about people?  I guess its fair to assume prior generations, using at least 50 years ago as a baseline for this; prior to around 1960.  So white Americans are fearful, and want to go back to the pre-1960 era.  As we travel back in time together to an era, where many of these very people haven't been born yet, let us take a moment to reflect on how great America used to be, because clearly it was vividly amazing for them.  During a period of time ranging from the 17th century all the way to the 1960's!:

"Legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights were given to White Americans that were not granted to Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and Latin Americans. European Americans were granted exclusive privileges in matters of education, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal procedure." -Wikipedia

So white America is fearful of the loss of exclusive privileges, furthermore, nostalgic for discrimination throughout our seemly not great nation.  There is more, lets go back again to pre-1960:

"However, non-Protestant immigrants from Europe; particularly Irish people, Polish, and Italian, suffered xenophobic exclusion and other forms of ethnicity-based discrimination in American society, and were not considered fully white. In addition, West Asian groups like Jews and Arabs have faced continuous discrimination in the United States, and as a result, some people belonging to these groups do not identify as white. East and South Asians have similarly faced racism in America" -Wikipedia




We achieved our independence from England to form the great nation of the USA, I guess in exchange for treating anyone not "white" unfairly, although this probably happened even before 1776.  And boy talk about a term; "unfair" - this hardly describes what all the "non-whites" along with women of every color really endured during this time of "great America." Sure lets all go back, what a great time for our country, we can't let the minorities and immigrants displace the whites.  But don't stop there, bring back lynchings, public hanging, "A" branding on women who are accused of cheating on their husbands and please, please bring back corporal punishments in the schools and wearing the dunce cap sitting in the corner.  You have to have it all if you want to go back to a time where America was so great. Was it?  "Is making America great again" really great when only one particular race is treated kindly and allowed privileges?  I think not; better yet I know not.

See individuals sometimes fear what they don't understand, fear what is different, fear even what is new.  We shouldn't fear immigrants from countries all over the world who are trying to make a better life in America, the same as most of our ancestors did years ago.  Nor should we categorize or discriminate against an entire group based on the actions of a few. We shouldn't fear or speak badly about someone because of the color of their skin.  Part of what makes America great (yes that's right, it's already great) is the diversity and freedoms of all people that make up this nation.  I don't ever want to go back to a time that some of us thought was so great.  Everything I have ever read, watched, or heard only made America great years ago through the eyes of one group, and although many of them blazed a trail for this country to be what it is today they are long gone; the rest of us that are left must continue to make it even greater than it already is.  Hopefully this will continue on election day 2016 when the first female is elected to the highest office of our great country.

Don't be afraid of something new, different, or even unknown, it's this change that often leads to higher levels of greatness...