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Letter to the editor: No place for bias, prejudice

By Joan Jackson

Marion

Published: September 21, 2009

Are we united as long as we agree with one another?
Do we ALL have to sing the same song, vote the same, go to the same church, watch football, drink the same beer/whiskey, play baseball, dress alike, drive dirt bikes, wear Daisy Dukes, drive monster trucks, wear hip hop jeans, call our mom "maw" and our dad "paw?"
That ain't going to happen.
According to the 2000 US Census the United States population identify themselves with the following descents: Germany (19.2 percent), Africans (12.9 percent), Ireland (10.8 percent), England (7.7 percent), Italy (5.6 percent), Scandinavia (3.7 percent) and Poland (3.2 percent) and fewer percentage identify themselves as descendants of other various countries.
In other words, 19.2 percent of Americans say that their ancestors came from Germany, 12.9 percent say their ancestors came from Africa and etc.
So we have a black president. According to the above statistics that should not be a surprise or shock to any American.
To some it was a long time coming but it would have happened sooner or later.
It was in the numbers, it was in the cards, it was to be. It is time for Americans to believe that America isn't about one race or one segment of people.
There is no place for prejudice, bias, skin-head and backward thinking.
Hatred is fertilized and fed when we move backwards and shut our eyes to any kind of change for the future.
Today is about helping all Americans, today is about reaching out to new ideas and new hopes and dreams for not just the minority but for all Americans.

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