In a six month period just over a hundred years ago, from April to early October, in 1919, race riots bloodied the streets of at least twenty-five American cities and towns.

These were but some of the many riots involving ethnic hatreds between and among various groups that have occurred within the United States during its history. This in addition to various wars, including the French and Indian War (during the Colonial period), the Civil War, and other wars involving American Indians.

Conflict between ethnic groups, whether designated races, nationalities, or some other term, is a problem that has gone on among human beings the world over from the earliest times of human existence.

What is the origin of such hatreds, how are they propagated, and what can we as Christians do to make sure we are not drawn into such evils?

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