The Collector Store

A City Divided: St. Louis Residents Comment on Racial Tensions In The Area

Fabian Schwuchow

By Stacy Beasley

“We must be unanimous; there must be no pulling different ways; we must hang together.” John Hancock, July 4, 1776. Our founding fathers built this country on the principle that in order for us to prosper, we must stay together as one people. 234 years later, it’s hard to say if we have lived up to those values.The U.S. has changed rapidly just in the past 50 years. We are more tolerant, accepting and equal than ever. Yet we still seem more divided than we’ve ever been.

“You can’t talk about race or politics without someone being offended. It separates us into groups,”  said Kyleigh Macmann.

2017 has been a turbulent year for the American people. Sadly, race and politics still seem to divide our country . From the color of your skin to the choice of your religion, so many factors separate us as a people. Tensions between police and citizens are higher than ever, with over 730 fatal police shootings in 2017. We believe its not too late and america can be reunited.

“There are a lot of ignorant people, values are passed through generations and nothing changes that,” said Macmann

Bigotry and racism seem to have taken an unfortunate incline this past year, and political ideology has us at each others throats. What’s to be done? How are we to become the UNITED states of America that our founding fathers intended? We gathered the opinions of ten citizens of all different races to see what can be done to bring our country together.