For the better part of two centuries, outsiders have been offering explanations that range from racist to learned-sounding - the supposed inferiority of blacks, the heritage of slavery, overpopulation - for why Haiti remains the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
I remember as a boy when the conversation on civil rights was won in the South. I remember a time when one of my friends made a racist joke and another said, 'Hey man, we don't go for that anymore.'
There is not a racist bone in my dad's body. He doesn't even laugh at distasteful jokes.
Most of us don't think forwarding a racist joke or speaking in an insulting 'comedic' accent is appropriate at the workplace. Unfortunately, for those raised in the toxic culture of conservatism, the sort of mentality that leads government employees to do those things is widespread.
Donald Trump is either a racist or peddling to it, and both are frankly unacceptable and make him unfit to be president of the United States.
I can very much look into the camera and say, 'I believe Donald Trump is a racist.' You don't get to make textbook racist remarks for a year and not be a racist. You don't get to make textbook sexist remarks for a year and not be a misogynist.
In a country where the individual is 'innocent until proven guilty,' conservatives have been forced to actively disassociate themselves from an ideological lineage to white supremacists, anti-Semites, and other racist miscreants.
I am a sensitive, emotionally conditioned human being, and I have suffered racist abuse.
I get racist letters all the time from people who aren't Bradford City supporters. You just laugh at them, tear them up and throw them in the bin.
When I started at Portsmouth in 1974 there was a strong National Front element in the crowd and they would abuse me even though I played for their team. Racist abuse was part of the game and it was never challenged.
