Did those white folks that switched really vote for Obama or for campaign Obama?

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

19. Just scanning over them they look interesting

I do think that some good points were made about poorer class people being manipulated into focusing on race in order to divide people who could and should unite for the same causes.

The same thing happens over and over again. I did see a comment there discussing the slavery history and some people saying to "get over it." I think that is a history we really need to understand and recognize. At the same time, there are none of the people who enslaved others alive now and it must be addressed and discussed in a way that doesn't come across like current people are being blamed.

I grew up in rural New England where I didn't have any ingrained beliefs or experiences regarding race. My children were raised the same way. We moved to a southern state when my youngest was in middle school. That child is the most kind, loving, fair, considerate and thoughtful person you would ever meet. We moved into a rental community of mostly black, hispanic and muslim families. There were maybe 5 white kids out of 30-40 kids at the bus stop. She was nice and friendly with EVERY group and ultimately had friends from each group of kids. There were a portion of the black kids who immediately assumed that she didn't like black people simply because she was white. How sad is it that her first experience with a larger group of black kids were to essentially be called a racist when she is anything but? There is so much work to be done on race relations. It has to come from all sides, too. More white people need to recognize and stand up against institutional racism and stereotypes and call out real racism when they see it. More black people need to recognize and stand up against assumptions and careless false accusations of people being racists. These are the two most damaging and pervasive problems with race relations today. There definitely are some horrible and disgusting bigots out there who will never change. Trying to fight them is about as effective as spitting into the wind.

If whites focused on noticing and pointing out institutional racism and blacks focused on noticing and pointing out assumptions and false accusations of racism for the next generation I think we'd all be a hell of a lot better off.

My grandson's best friend is a black son of an immigrant. Neither one of them see the color of each other's skin. They play with legos, star wars toys, mine craft, do homework together, exchanged Christmas gifts, etc. This is what is natural...they have a ton in common and their race has absolutely nothing to do with any of it. As adults it's out job to NOT teach kids to be biased against each other over race, and it does happen on both sides. I think if we all start there it would make a massive difference in the next generation.