I think it is declining, but many are trying to get it going again. I think it peaked under Obama (in modern times), but I am reading a book about racism in the South around the twentieth century, and it apparently was REALLY bad at that time, worse even than around the Civil War years and before.
I think you're right. Another thing I have noticed is the racist language used even by people who did not consider themselves to be racist or, who at least, didn't hate people of other races. Over the past few months, I have read dozens of books written for children and teenagers in the early 1900s, mostly available for free on Kindle. Many of these books were focused on the Boy Scouts, which were just getting started in the United States at that time. These were almost entirely based in New England, which is where the Boy Scouts first took root here, and the language and the way that blacks, Asians, and Hispanic people are portrayed is shocking, and it doesn't appear to have been intended to be hateful. From history, I know that the Klan was a significant force in Maine in the 1920s, but they were mostly focused on Catholics rather than on black Americans. I have seen photos of Klan rallies in Augusta, Maine, and one in Dover-Foxcroft, which showed what was represented as more than two hundred Klansmen in white regalia marching down the street, and Dover-Foxcroft only has about 4,000 people now and was probably smaller then. Except for a rise during the Obama years, which I believe were intended to divide us, I think that racism has been in decline for several decades now, and if the media would stop its campaign of division, the decline would be even greater.
Well, I'd say it's in the decline, compared to the problems/race riots of years ago. But, yes there is a "but", many folks where we currently live would think that where we are moving to is a racist area, because of the demographics. Folks here wouldn't live in an area that is not diverse and certain areas of the Rocky Mountain States definitely aren't diverse or that much of.
The in your face “you will like me or else” attitude seems to be waning to some degree especially from the Obama era. There was a short period when it was pretty apparent that there was a lot of animosity going on especially from the younger black folks in our area. They would deliberately try to cut in line ahead of a white person at the local convenience store or play other stupid games to show some sort of idiotic superiority. But, after a few people such as myself decided that they’d had enough, things cooled down considerably. As an example, at the present time if you say good morning to someone of another race, either they will acknowledge the morning wishes or simply ignore you. I’d rather be ignored than have someone attempt to push me around.
Funny, but when we tell Blacks here that we listen to Motown, have the Greatest Hit of both Earth-Wind & Fire and Kool and the Gang...….they seem somewhat stunned, but definitely like it. Of course, this is the older folks, most of the younger folks listen Rap and Hip-Hop here.
During the Obama years there were constant media reports of white police shooting black citizens. Little to no coverage of the determination of why the shooting took place if the white police officers were found not guilty. Rare now to see that kind of reporting. When is the last time Rev. Al Sharpton or Rev. Jesse Jackson were in the news dividing our country? I like googling info. I googled race riots under Obama & got several but this one was more thorough. https://www.conservapedia.com/Riots_during_the_Obama_Administration I googled race riots under Trump & got this. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/racist-incidents-after-trumps-victory A desperate attempt to tie anything negative to Trump. Notice I used the same wording but got incidents not riots. So my opinion race relations are improving, but anti Trump main stream media is doing it's best to keep stirring the pot of racial divide.
I hope that it's declining. It's really difficult to determine since all we hear on the MSM is negative sensationalism. In my everyday life, people are just people... some of us are polite and others of us not so much, but that's just humanity. I would like to add to this discussion that white people are far from the only racists in our society. Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson are two of the biggest racists I've ever seen, yet they constantly position themselves into situations to stir the pot.
When a white law enforcement officer has to shoot/kill a black person, then the racist stuff starts up.
I could be that incidents of racism are being reported more than before, giving the illusion that it's more on the rise.....? Hal
I have found that people, regardless of race, have a tendency to play the race card as an excuse not to better themselves. Doubt that will ever change unless society calls them on it and quits playing along.
"When is the last time Rev. Al Sharpton or Rev. Jesse Jackson were in the news dividing our country?" Worse than either of them: Senior Pastor Jeremiah Wright. "The United States government lied about their belief that all men were created equal. The truth is they believed that all white men were created equal. The truth is they did not even believe that white women were created equal, in creation nor civilization. The government had to pass an amendment to the Constitution to get white women the vote. Then the government had to pass an equal rights amendment to get equal protection under the law for women. The government still thinks a woman has no rights over her own body, and between Uncle Clarence who sexually harassed Anita Hill, and a closeted Klan court, that is a throwback to the 19th century, handpicked by Daddy Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, between Clarence and that stacked court, they are about to undo Roe vs. Wade, just like they are about to un-do affirmative action. The government lied in its founding documents and the government is still lying today. Governments lie." See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Wright_controversy