On Aug. 12 white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Ku-Klux-Klan factions rallied and rioted in the streets of Charlottesville, Va., to protest the “anti-white movement” that has “plagued” the nation for decades. People were upset that statutes of Confederate generals and Confederate flags were being taken down at some public sites in the state.

It’s a shame that something like this would happen in America in 2017 and the reality of this event set back our country 50 years. If something like this occurred in the 1960s the response would be “yeah, and the sky is blue.” However with all of the hurdles America has jumped and the lives we’ve sacrificed such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s, you would never think that in a million years, a group of Nazis, white nationalists and KKK factions would gather in one place to protest that white people were being oppressed and are superior to their melanin-filled counterparts.

Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, N.W.A, former Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and John Kennedy all famously fought for the equal treatment for black people across the United States. For decades we thought there was little to no discrimination or prejudice in America, but with recent events there is clearly a long road ahead. If you think about it, this is only the portion that lived in and around Charlottesville, which resulted in the gathering of thousands, so imagine how many there are within the United States in its entirety.

A personal experience which really put the regression we are going through into perspective took place over the summer of 2017. I was working at Atlanta International School for a summer day care, and I was with this 5-year old named Veronica. Being a camp counselor, I was meant to play with the kids and take care of them and as I was playing with Veronica I called her a “little goblin,” as a joke of course. Her was reponse was “No, You’re a monster.” When I jokingly asked how I was a monster,  she said “All people with brown skin are monsters.” Being someone of “brown skin,” I told her not to say that, but she insisted and said “No, but it’s true. My parents told me that.”

No 5-year old is born thinking that black people are monsters and when I heard that, I truly realized that racism and bigotry probably won’t end in my lifetime. The Charlottesville riots are evidence that there are deeper issues in this country that needs to be addressed as opposed to putting a travel ban on middle-eastern countries or denying transgenders the right the serve in the military.

It is time to move forward as a country, without taking five steps backwards at the same time.