Why is racism such a charged word??

A lot of ink has already been spilled on paper regarding the subject of racism, but the issue seems to be as stubborn as a granite mountain that resists any attempts to be broken down by agents of weathering and mass wasting. While many governments and communities have passed legislation to tame this “monster,” it somehow finds a way to raise its ugly head and stare mockingly at us. Each time the issue of racism is mentioned, tensions are high, reason is thrown out the window and replaced by an emotional outburst that only makes the situation worse.

If you doubt the gravity of this situation, all you need to do is to Google the word “racism”. I did and I found about 253,000,000 results (0.32 seconds). Lord, have mercy. We are in the 21st century and have made a lot of advances in technology, medicine, communication, artificial intelligence, and many other areas, but it seems we are having a lot of diffi culties eradicating racism.

When you turn on the news, especially in the United States of America, a day does not go by without you hearing somebody being labeled a racist. The situation has deteriorated since Donald Trump became the president. A day does not go by without somebody calling him a racist. You may be saying that he is a racist and the racist-in chief, as some have decided to label him. But is he? What about the accusation that all who elected him are racists? Are we saying that racism is no longer about the color of somebody’s skin, but between the Democrats and the Republicans?

It seems racism has morphed into a new monster that has taken over the Republican party. If you are a Republican, no matter who you are, this monster has polluted you and you are now a racist. Meanwhile, the minority-loving, protective, and caring Democratic Party has somehow cleansed and sanitized itself of this vile monster. Therefore, all who identify with the Democratic Party are not racists, but inclusive, tolerant, accepting, and loving of all people.

The question is why is racism such a charged word? Why do the politicians like to talk about it a lot? Why is it that after the United States of America elected the first biracial president, racism is still the top item on the news? I have deliberately mentioned that President Barack Obama was biracial because his mother was white and his father was a black man from Kenya. These days, words seem to have multiple meanings, and the main actors behind mass media are the spin doctors who insist on setting the narrative that all of us must follow. President Obama identified himself as a black person, and I do not fault him for that, but the underlying composition of his DNA and who he is does not change. He is biracial, and it is a part of him that cannot be discarded. That said, his election was supposed to be a high point in the life of a country and the world that has had its fair share of racial tensions because of discrimination, slavery, subjugation, lynchings, murders, and all sorts of atrocities. Unfortunately, it seems the issue of racism is getting worse with each passing day. Is this the case?