I do think that there are people who actively try to divide the country on racial lines because it personally benefits them. Most notably, Al Sharpton and Jesse

I do think that there are people who actively try to divide the country on racial lines because it personally benefits them. Most notably, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. David Duke gets media attention every time there is a national election because for some reason his opinion means something. I think there is currently a hysteria about a racism epidemic in the US that doesn't really hold true. A lot of what was said in parent comments is true and I agree with. Though I don't think it really reflects today. At least not where I'm from. Perhaps there is more of that on the East coast, but I think as you go to the midwest and west coast you get less of that kind of division. There are definitely racists, but there are a lot more who live with a "live and let live", or attempt to adopt a "colorblind" (which is now racist apparently), worldview. I think most whites in the US feel like they are the scapegoats for some other groups misfortunes. When no one alive had much to do with past injustices. Can you really blame past injustices for decisions of people today? In 1965 the out of wedlock birth rate was 25% and now it is almost 75%. Single parent homes come with a host of problems and much higher rates of crime, drug abuse, and lack of education. So the likes of Jesse Jackson and Sharpton look at things like police shooting statistics (which is misleading in how they characterize them) and act like that is the biggest problem facing black people in the US. People feel enraged by what is perceived to be "unjust" police violence, sometimes rightly. Jackson and Sharpton raise their own profiles, and essentially run a "don't get called racist" money laundering operation through foundations they run. The real problems don't get addressed and those who attempt to are called "racists" or "uncle toms" and the cycle continues. It is disgusting and sad.