I am having a hard time with the situation in this country. I am probably, as a white male, not supposed to write about this. It feels like we have taken some giant steps in the wrong direction. The violence, the tension, and the fact that race is an issue in 2016 is embarrassing.

  MLK Day being last week has made me dwell on this more than usual. Maybe I am blind, but in the 90's after the riots in L.A., it seemed like these type of things were less of an issue. It was almost like we took a different approach. Maybe the social media is compounding issues. I don't know.

 I get yelled at when I say all lives matter and not just black or white. We live in a world where perspective is reality. Like it or not. I wonder now if people like Ted Nugent, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson do more harm than good. Throw Macklemore in there too with the whole "White Priveledge." Hey Ben, shut up!

 We see violence against a young black male, regardless of their character, and there are violent protests in more cases than not. We see violence against white , the news reporters that were shot by a black male, and there are no violent protests. I guess I don't know what a black person goes through because I am not one. I have also never not been able to get along with people of any color. I see personality before skin color.

 Our country has a very violent history full of wrongs committed to people of all walks of life. Here's a news flash though, most of us were not alive to be apart of any side of it. Isn't it time to bury the past and learn from it's mistakes?

 The Oscars are the new hot button. Black actors were over looked so there is a call to boycott? How does that help? It sends a message of segregation. The example is to go. The example is be part of the, "we'll get them next time," mentality. We let Hollywood and celebrities influence our lives too much as it is. Hollywood has been kind to it's population. Those over looked celebrities are already living a fairy tale. Their salary might not be what they want, but I guarantee that the middle class would gladly trade incomes. The world doesn't owe anyone favors. I agree that old men with backwards thinking rule our world. We owe it to ourselves to not fuel their line of thinking.

 As white male, it's my job to not judge books by their covers and make assumptions. People of color need to work harder to not fit into ridiculous stereotypes. It can be done. Like a lot of things, it just takes some extra work. I don't have all the answers, but I do know that we should be ashamed that skin color is such an issue in 2016. It doesn't get better until we make it better. I understand that it is tough to love everyone, but it's really not all that hard to exercise some tolerance. At the end of the day we're not black, white, red, or yellow. We are all just human.