I think we should be honest about racism in this country. Whenever I grew up back in the 80s and 90s, the area was made up of both black and white people. Yet there was some sort of self inflicted segregation from both sides. Different churches, different restaurants and etc.
I didn’t have any black friends back then. There was this silent agreement that different races shouldn’t have that much contact.
Also we were taught that the confederates really won the war, but that the northerners somehow stole the victory. We were also taught that the war had nothing to do with slavery, just states rights. We were taught to dislike Abraham Lincoln and that Jim Crow laws were necessary. I believed in this stuff up until a few years ago. I even got angry whenever people said I no longer should fly the confederate flag. I don’t own such a flag no more.
I’m really sad whenever thinking about my own despicable behavior.
The war is haunting us still, but we can’t get any reconciliation before we understand that we weren’t right about everything.