No matter what religion you practice, race you belong, or continent you come from there are people within communities that hate (and of course those who do not hate.). Once someone identifies their nation with their race/religion there is going to be problems for everyone else that doesn't fit into that mold. Religion, race and culture are tied together in a way that makes it difficult for people to step outside their personal identities to consider the needs of others and/or the greater needs of their nation. The vast majority of population will never truly see beyond what is in the benefit for themselves to what is in the benefit of everyone (A limiting human condition).
The problem we often face with dealing with such issues is that we lack unison of purpose. There are laws, some check in with their moral conscious, and there may be a general societal interest to help guide us but sometimes we get it wrong. The problem is that when push comes to shove, few are willing to step outside their roles to do the "right thing" (They don't want to sacrifice to uphold a bigger principle.). We keep struggling because politically we can't get everyone to work together toward our national purpose (A place that is often exploited by knowledgeable criminals.)
The problems of extremism and hate are unlikely to go away anytime soon without political and institutional alignment around core national values. Sure...we might push police reform down the road another 15 years (I doubt it will go that far before another national blow out occurs. Statistically, I think we are running risks the longer we wait. Doing something, even if its not perfect, goes a long way to prompting society that we are unified in our long term vision.) but certainly we can try it (Avoiding our responsibility to deal with this divisive issue today could mean a perception of irresponsibility in the future.).
I'm an optimist by nature. While we sometimes turn a "blind eye" to hate in our own communities (due to ignorance, lack of understanding and sometimes personal/institutional bias.) we often want to do the right thing but run into wider social contingencies. Even in such situations truth begins to overcome falsehood but that can only happen if we continue to talk and debate. Silencing through intimidation isn't the answer and never will come to a positive solution...unless such behaviors are challenged (A method of realigning people and/or departments back to our core American beliefs.)
Sure there are people who will violate our most basic laws to distort/suppress truth but in the end truth often just makes more sense then post-constructed stories. You can sense through people's actions, words and cues that they are telling the truth. Truth is one of those things that when people hear they will recognize it. While its ugly to hear it is is still part of getting better as a people and a nation.
I've seen people do some pretty horrendous things in support of hate based behaviors simply because of personal loyalties (They think they are showing loyalty but when someone has an issue and they don't want to get help it is more beneficial to encourage them to deal with such issues right away to minimize the impact on everyone. Pretending like the "pink elephant" doesn't exist only pushes the problem down the road where it becomes bigger and more destructive; remember that victims have rights too! Do you see the parallels between dealing with mental health issues and dealing with larger scale "American Family" issues as it relates to hate? Both follow the same sort of dynamics where distorted thinking can lead to group distortion. Truth is sort of the blunt backstop that keeps everyone oriented toward the facts. I think Michigan Extremism and Coding might be helpful to ponder and think about for use. ).
We can't just root out hate if we don't take action to stop intentionally bad behavior when we see it (False police reports, theft, bullying, defamation of character, etc...). I'm White but spent a lot of time with White people as well as Black People, Arabs, Muslims, and many others. I started with a simple question, "What makes these people so different than us?" Its probably a little more personalized than that but yes...that is one of the essential questions...that has lead to some wonderful insights into both the beautiful and ugly of human behavior (The tunnel vision by which we declare knowledge.).
There is nothing but our values and beliefs that make us any different than another nation or another people. There are those who support good moral conscious and those who don't. There are the healthy and the unhealthy mindsets. Healthy people don't know all the answers and weigh the options before acting. Unhealthy people may look like they are debating but seem to come to the same conclusions over and over (i.e. changing information won't change their opinion as a result of rigidity in thought and inappropriateness of behavior. Think about it.)
It makes little difference what country you come from our what religion you follow (Good hearts are different than bad hearts.). Good people will try and do good within their cultural perspective and bad people will manipulate culture for their personal and/or political goals. The American creed of working hard and achieving, fairness, freedom, etc... is based in our willingness to 1. first believe in certain values and 2. act to ensure those essential values are integrated into society.
Turning a "blind eye" and not focusing on some of the tough questions isn't a solution; its an avoidance strategy. Facing our national issues means looking at them, learning from them, and acting with wisdom to improve them. Sometimes there is a need to gather more data that could lead to better decision making through an appropriate delay but we should never push off our responsibilities ( or failure to fulfill them) simply because we lack the willpower. If you don't understand something then go collect the data and come to understand it better for yourself. Then....make a decision. Beware of how cultural ethnocentrisms can limit full knowledge of a problem. America isn't about cultural confirmation of a particular race or religion but about the promotion of an idea related to human freedom and the ability to earn one's own bread without molestation from others. Its a collective idea that can still be sold to the world. (A global America needs to uphold its universal values for a global business generation. While this is a smaller study we can see how institutional quality and foreign investment are related. See Institutional Quality and FDI. One might draw different conclusions but its a hint that people want to invest in countries that have developed institutions they trust and believe to be fair because they have everyone's best interest in mind. Wouldn't you if it was your money?)
