It is obvious that race remains an issue in many areas of American society today. Parks, a Los Angeles police chief who was denied a second five-year term, was published in the New York Times on April 10, 2002. After the Police Commission announced their decision, members of the African-American community were outraged, as they thought prejudice was partially to blame. Even prominent black leaders in the community said they were not convinced of the merits of the commission's decision. (Sterngold) In that respect, Dr. Richard W. Thomas, a professor in the History and Urban Affairs department at Michigan State University, believes that a society cannot make progress until it is racially just and unified. He says that this can only occur if the community is truly dedicated to interracial love, fellowship, and unity.
Dr. Richard W. Thomas was born in Detroit in 1939. He was raised as a Baptist in an all black community on the east side of the city. Thomas attended an all black school until the 1950's, when his parents urged him to switch to an integrated school, which they thought would help prepare him for a future in a more racially diverse world. In 1957, at the age of 18, Thomas joined the Marines, which he remembers as his first true multiracial experience. At that time, however, it had only been racially integrated for ten years. As a Marine, Thomas spent the next three years traveling to Okinawa, Japan, Formosa, and the Philippines. While in Japan, he says he experienced his first true understanding of racism when other Marines were calling the Japanese "Chinks- and "Japs."" Witnessing that racism towards the Asians sensitized him to the other forms of racism in the world around him (Personal Interview).
When his three years in the Marines were over, Thomas returned to America with a more global perspective. Upon his return, he had his first encounter with the Baha'I Faith. He says he was very open to their ideas because of his new found global perspective.
The Republicans nominated Thomas Dewey at the their convention in Chicago. ... Hoover, Republican; Norman Thomas, Socialist. ... Landon, Republican; William Lemke, Union Party; Norman Thomas, Socialist; Earl Browder, Communist. ... D. 1944: Thomas E. ... The US had an unemployment rate of 13 million Americans. ...