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It took centuries for the United States to achieve even a measure of racial harmony. Many of us saw the inauguration of an African American president in 2009 as definitive proof of that hard-won mutual understanding. Yet the recent shooting of a young Black man in Ferguson, Missouri, and the reactions it provoked have cast doubt on that belief.
Is there a threat of Neo-Racism in the United States?
The country’s social balance now appears to be in crisis. Like any crisis, this one may also offer an opportunity for individual and collective growth.
Whether the events in Ferguson deepen existing divisions or open a path toward greater understanding will depend largely on how the communities involved respond. And the community involved is, ultimately, the whole of American society.
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Below is a painful expression of the cultural currents these events have stirred within the Black community.
