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In May of 2008, the United Nations announced it would be sending a special envoy to investigate racism in America. Many people were shocked, and offended while others welcomed it. "How could they investigate us, when we assist others at any cost?" Those are just a few of the sentiments echoed on various forums and news sites. Unfortunately, although we send our sons and daughters to defend the oppressed in other lands, we are now forced to confront the evil within our own. That said, despite this lingering problem, we are still the foremost leaders of diversity and tolerance in the world.

Most of us are familiar about the stories of the initial interactions with Native Americans, the enslavement of Africans and oppression of those seen as outcasts to mainstream society. Jim Crow signs greeted Blacks in the south. Irish need not apply plagued the those escaping the potato famine. Caricatures of Jews, Italians, Chinese and Blacks with exaggerated features dominated comic strips and books at one point in history. Many of these groups have assimilated into mainstream society, while others continue to endure stereotypes both good and bad. Some would argue that being labeled with the stereotype of a model minority is advantageous. Yet, how would we view it if we were on the receiving end and expected to be perfect? How would we feel if we were followed in a store by a clerk who makes half of our salary, just because of our skin color happens to be brown? How would we feel if someone assumed we were racist just because we happened to be white?

Our country has definitely evolved into a society where skin color is far less of an issue than in many other countries.There is not one country that can attest to giving the world it's first black female Millionaire in the early nineteen hundreds. We have elected the first black president in a Western country and we have always been a place of refuge for oppressed people from other countries. We have newly formed communities of Somalians, Sudanese, Russians, and Mongs to name a few. So regardless of the nasty reminders of race such as the dragging of James Byrd in Jasper Texas, the shooting at the holocaust museum and the incidents that go unreported, we are still a great country.

Our problems seem to stem from fear, media presentations, and self-segregation in various parts of the country. Especially in the Northern States. We don't know our neighbors because we don't talk to them. We look at the exterior, judge them based

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