As a black man that was born in this country, I have witnessed her at her best and at her worst. As I write this, we are going through to what I can only equate to racial revolution. Yes, a revolution a repeat of our past. So, I must ask what we have learned from our past because it seems like we are still fighting for the same things we fought and marched for in 50’s and 60’s. Now many will say we have come a long way. We had eight years of a black president. This man had to be almost perfect, and yes, we may not all agree with his politics or agenda, but he had extraordinarily little wiggle room. One misstep, one word taken out of context and all you would hear is this why blacks cannot lead. Now we have a man who says and tweets things that are very questionable and his followers make excuses for him. He may not be the reason for this revolution, but he has fueled the flames of it. When black men are constantly painted as thugs and black women painted as whores, when you continually show us dying in the streets this is what you get. When I took my oath to protect this country when I enlisted in the military, I never thought I might have to defend her from herself. I grew up at time when the race riots were coming to an end because all our leaders were being assassinated. A void that has never been fully filled. I will share but a small portion of somethings I have experienced in this country. Imagine as a high school student being told by your headmaster, you have two strikes against you one being black, the other being a man. Being told that even if you have all the right credentials you must be two times better than your white counterpart and three times better than a woman. Keep in mind this is being said during the height of affirmative action. Graduate high school and enlist in the military, get sent to a base in Mississippi which is a big cultural difference for kid growing up in New Jersey. Enter a store with friends and being told we don’t serve your kind here.