Though the country has advanced exponentially in the fight against discrimination against some groups of people, there is still work to be done in other areas. Thanks to recent events that have made headline news, the LGBT community has begun to open eyes to some of the struggles they face. While the journey for this group is far from over, advancements have been made in curbing the tide of negative attention they have received in recent years.

Unfortunately, the racial divide in this country has remained present, or even grown in recent months. Since the Civil Rights Act was begun in 1964, black Americans have had the same rights as Americans of other races. Those basic rights have been maintained and even increased over the years. For a time, it seemed that, at least among a majority of Americans, the separation between the races was starting to shrink. However, recent events that have made the news have brought information to light that shows that belief is not necessarily the case. In fact, the tide has seemingly shifted, in some ways, to allow for increased discrimination amongst people who are actually not black.

Protests, police shootings, and horrible events in schools over the past several months have seemed to highlight Caucasian people, including police officers, victimizing black people. These videos have streamed onto social networking websites and into the media, and have been played over and over again. Sometimes the stories are partially true, and have been edited to an extreme degree, and others they are completely correct and show hardships that should no longer be occurring. In all cases, though, they only serve to widen the gap between races that everyone thought was beginning to come closer to ending only a few years ago.

The backlash against white people, especially police officers, has become so intense that more and more people are afraid to speak out about their personal opinions for fear of being labeled “racist.” Anyone who wants to learn more about this fact can easily find a number of websites filled with information online. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, the only fact that remains clear is that it will take a great deal of work on both sides of the coin in order for the huge space separating the races in this country to truly be closed in a peaceful manner.

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