Let’s Check this Rampant Racism to Save the Next Generation

America is racist.

Since its founding, different groups have been excluded from discussions or barred from participating in the democratic process our founding fathers imagined.

What is scary isn’t that there is racism — that has always been a part of this country, but that even those aspiring to lead this country are trying to outdo each other with their blatantly racist pronouncements — and there is no backlash, and no one seems to care about it or this surge in racist behavior.

That is why no one was shocked when brown-skinned Ahmed Mohammed, 14, of Irving, Texas, who is also a muslim, was wrongfully arrested for displaying a homemade clock to his teacher.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a more intense xenophobia has gripped every corner of this country, appealing to already-racist white people.

The mainstream portrayal of Muslims disparages them as terrorists who hate Americans and imply we should all be scared. There are numerous incidents of muslims being ejected from planes or denied access to places they have a right to be.

Even Republican presidential candidate, Ben Carson, said in the second debate that a muslim should never ever become president of the U.S.

And those in power continue to insist that we are all created equal?  Why are we told that our skin color and origin do not matter and cannot prevent us from reaching great heights in this country? Are we really all equal?

We don’t think so.

As if the arrest of this innocent school boy is not enough, so-called conservatives are rubbing salt into the wound. Immediately after Mohammed’s arrest, Bristol Palin, daughter of Sarah Palin, the 2008 vice presidential candidate, used Twitter to bash President Obama’s efforts to reach out to the young student.

Within the last week, mega-controversial 2016 presidential candidate, Donald Trump, refused to correct one of his supporters’ claim that President Obama is a muslim and was not born in the U.S. During the same exchange, Trump’s supporter asked when the Muslims would leave “our country”.

Since when does this country have a tag that strictly names white people as the owners or sole inheritors of the North American land that is the USA?

Trump returned to the mainstream stage when he announced his candidacy for president in the summer. But it was not his announcement that made headlines. It was his outright defamation of Mexican immigrants.

Trump called immigrants who come from Mexico, “rapists” and “murderers”. His words have led to hatred toward Mexican immigrants. But it did not stop there.

The hatred moved into more communities. When we have such a loud voice of hate, it resonates with silent communities of hate spread throughout the country.That is why Trump, despite his outrageous pronouncements, is leading the Republican pack in the polls. Crazy but true.

Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric eventually turns into anti-non-white attitudes, or what some of us refer to as white supremacy. A negative incident involving a non-white person is elevated and generalized as reflecting whole communities of color and of foreign descent people.

Our legacy to the next generation should not be about intolerance. We can be much better than that.