Race ane Ethnicity - Does Race Matter?

I believe race plays its roll in our world in it's own special, unique way. Instead of people in our society letting go of our history's mistakes as well as around the world, I wish to see people move forward and not let race be an issue in today's conflicts. It's true that in our country our citizens have come a long way regarding civil rights, but I still see in the news and social media that race is still being brought up in a negative manner. There's horrible stories on the news of people being murdered and yet they still bring up the reason for them doing so was because they're black, or they're white, or they were Mexican. But has anyone stopped to ask "Or did they do it in self defense?" Does anyone really know all the facts to those stories, or are they just stories being made up to cause more racial hatred? I definitely think that our country has grown in being more accepting of different races, but I think there is still some lingering biases in areas. I haven't seen or heard of any "hate crimes" in Arizona or in my community, most likely because I don't watch the news, and of any that I can recollect I still don't think race was an issue. If there were any crimes that had different races inner twinned I don't recall anyone using "the race card" and using it as an excuse or to place blame. I do remember being in high school and there were different social groups and it did mostly circulate around races. There would be a part of the school that had different "clicks" like the "Mexican hall" or "Jock Hall" and "Hick Hall", but I believe we just created that type of environment by ourselves and not out of hatred. Though in my town there wasn't really that much of a diversity to begin with.

I was taught that I shouldn't judge or dislike a person until I've gotten to know them or they've given me a reason not to like them, and race not having a role in that decision. Any person can have different characteristics and still be of different races. There has been times though I have to admit where my family has said things that have gone against what they've taught me. I just have to think to myself 'what do I believe in?' and not 'what has my family told me what I should believe in?' I work in an environment where I meet different people everyday, and I've even voiced my beliefs with my co-workers and they have accepted it without any prejudice as the they have done the same and we still get along great and respect each other.

Race doesn't matter to me because like what Martin Luther King Jr. quoted"...they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." I firmly stand behind that for every word of it is true. One day I hope there comes a time where I can voice my opinion about a person, whether it be negative or positive and not have someone call me racists because of what that persons race just happens to be. I hope that I can pass on that belief to my future children for them to take on and form their own beliefs and get to know people one by one as they come and not by the color of their skin.

Washington, Jesse. "TheGrio." TheGrio. Msnbc, 20 Jan. 2013. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.