Dear Future President;

When you chose to take office as the highest official in our country, you also chose to assume the responsibilities of the position and therefore the many burdens. I believe that the largest and most shameful burden our country carries is our treatment of different races and groups. From the moment our nation began to grow, it was followed by oppression and discrimination. We see it with the Native Americans being pushed out of their homelands, blacks being forced into slavery, the Japanese being put into internment camps during World War II, and so much more. Our history is marred by these intolerable acts and we admit them to be mistakes yet we still allows them to occur today, just in new incarnations. Racism is not dead; it is very much alive. But the scariest part is that we refuse to recognize it. Instead of realizing the systemic racism that surrounds us, we justify it as "law and order". We've hidden it behind a curtain of laws and regulations that make it seem like it's for our own protection. However, the only thing being protected is white privilege. 

     Future president, I ask you to pull back the curtain and shine a light on this issue. Create an atmosphere of love and tolerance, not hated and fear. Push for the repeal of oppressive laws and put an end to mass incarceration that unfairly affects minority groups. Increase police officer training so that all of our citizens can feel safer. This isn't an easy task; racism doesn't just disappear overnight. But if our government at least fixes its discrimination, the attitude of our people can shift as well. As the leader of a country that prides itself on freedom and equality, I ask you to make this true, for all Americans.

Sincerely,

Kelly Moore