Politics aside, why is America so racist now? When I was a kid, people were not racist. We heard about the civil rights movement and how racist people were back in the Jim Crow era, like the '50s to the '80s. But that was supposedly all past us. Now, 20 years later, everyone is back to being extremely racist again and prejudiced. So hateful of each other. Like what the hell happened?
Because people are miserable and desperate and they want to blame someone or something, and bigotry is simple and superficially satisfying.
And because some number of those who actually are to blame for their misery and desperation have self-servingly encouraged them.