I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong. I was a firm believer that racism would die with older generations. I firmly believed that as people who fought against the Civil Rights movement died, so would the hate. I felt as if the next generation would have an easier as my generation was much less racist and wouldn't instill that hate in the next generation. I thought my parents' generation raised us as a whole to be less racist, and I was wrong.
When I saw hundreds of white supremacist, neo-nazis and whatever else they're calling themselves march it wasn't what I expected. I didn't see old guys with dirty beards who looked as if they'd be dead in a few years. Instead I looked into the face of hate and it was the same age as me and even younger. These were clean shaven young white men, some didn't even look old enough to drive, some weren't even old enough to grow facial hair. I was wrong about my generation being better. I was so wrong.
You spend so much time screaming into the face of hatred and when it finally screams back, it looks like you. Your breath temporarily leaves your body and you realize that while your peers are fighting for equality it isn't against old people that will tire out soon. It's against people who are the same age. These are people I could have gone to school with, played in the same park and yet here we are.
I'm a cynic by nature, I try not to be, but I am. This is something I wasn't cynical about. I really tried to keep the positive outlook. In a few years all the old racists will be dead, that's what I would tell myself. Now tiki torches have illuminated the faces of racism and they aren't old and brittle. Instead they're young with Macklemore haircuts, tucked in polo shirts and hats that read "Make America Great Again."
I know now that racism isn't going away anytime soon. It will not ride into the night with a scream as it dies. Instead racism will stay a burning flame constantly fueled with hatred. It will continue to be passed down from generation to generation like an Olympic torch. When one generation falls another will be there to pick up the torch.
Maybe one day a generation will come along and eliminate racism. It just won't be my generation. I would look at my generation and say "wow, racism is crazy," and my white friend would "sure is," and we'd keep it moving. Meanwhile his brother is planning to march with tiki torches and tell everyone about white genocide. Racism is like a cockroach, if you see one there's a dozen more you don't see. I was wrong, I was very wrong. Racism is young, and it'll get younger every year. Racism is forever young.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet. You can also check out his playthrough of Sleeping Dogs or Skyrim
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