I didn't read 100% of all the previous posts, so forgive me if this viewpoint has already been stated. I have read before that to some degree racism is used a tool to dehumanize an enemy, which makes it easier for a man to overcome a natural human tendency to view killing another human being as something vile and repugnant to his nature.... Makes sense to me. If there is anyone reading this post who is at least 50 years of age and has never uttered a racial slur of any kind in his lifetime...you are a better man than I am. I don't know about you, but on 9-11 I was not calling the enemy "Islamic Fundamentalists". It was more like "F'n Ragheads!!!!" or similar utterances, and I am probably more liberal than most of you here. I would like to believe that I overcame all that stuff back in the 1960's during the Civil Rights movement, but that's just not realistic. We are all human beings regardless of what ethnic group we belong to, and this never more apparent than when our country is at war with a culture unlike the one we grew up with. Does that justify racism?.....Hell No! Do we all have a ways to go before this truth finds it's way past our upbringing?....Hell Yes, It Does! Each succeeding generation seems to be closer to that ideal than the one before it as witnessed by our Society today, but let's not condemn the generations before us..especially the Army, Navy,Airforce and Marines who fought WWII .
Sincerely,