On January 16, 2017, eight people were shot on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Among the eight who were wounded, a few remain in critical condition ranging from the ages of 11 to 30 years old. The motive behind the shooting still remains unclear but there is a report that the Miami-Dade Police Department have two people in custody, who are currently being questioned.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” King once had a dream that everyone would be treated as equals and despite the issue of racism dropping in a drastic measure, has it disappeared completely? There are statistics proving that it is still alive and well today in America. Nebraska alone has seven active hate groups but the state with the most is California, with a total of 57. There is also the fact that hate crimes are motivated by race more than  anything else, as there is a 47 percentage rate whereas sexual orientation and religion only come to about 19% of all hate crimes that have been committed.

The thing is, the United States of America would not be itself without other racial groups beside Caucasians, despite that White Americans are the racial majority. African Americans make up 13% of our population, along with Hispanic and Latino Americans amounting to 17% of the population. The U.S is even known as the “mixing pot” because of the wide variety of ethnicity and racial differences.

Will we ever be able to stop racism or hate towards other cultures besides our own? No, but we can continue to make small changes like accepting someone else’s differences whether it be their skin color or their beliefs. That’s all it takes. One small step at a time to make the United States, and our world, a better place to live in.