Progress turned back

I will never know what it feels like to be a black American. I am a white American. I can only imagine how much more difficult it is, in no way due to lack of ability or willingness, due to ugly history.

White people treated black people horrifically. It is still happening. This is a fact. Own it. Feel it. Embrace it. Change it.

Just shy of 50 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered. It should still be fresh on our minds. Now more than ever.

Our American ancestors, black and white, fought for civil rights for all and we cannot let them down.

Whether you voted for Barack Obama or not, having an African-American president has improved our country in ways we have yet to realize.

After this election and subsequent white supremacy push by our president-elect, I feel that the clock has been turned back.

We cannot let this happen. We must stop spreading racism through our children. People are born colorblind. It is our responsibility to nourish that natural human instinct.

We need each other. When we all do well, we all do well. Stand up, America. If we don’t, it will all fall apart.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 10:17 PM with the headline "Progress turned back."