This is more of the direction that I am coming at this from. I do not want racism to exist. I want all men (and women) to be treated equally.

I just want things to be fair.

If a smart person has talent, send them to a great school. If a person wants to start a business, let them start a business.

Growing up on a dairy farm, and then having to sell a dairy farm and move into the city due to financial constraints, I did not understand racism at all. It was in the Midwest. In Wisconsin. Not a lot of different ethnicities, there. A lot of Germans and Polish moved to Wisconsin during the Homestead era, but not many people want to up and leave everything for Wisconsin. They can’t stand the winters.

As of today, I am doing well. I will say, though, that if you look at the rest of my family, they are not doing so well. I was lucky, and tried to push through it.

I sold my car to get to California to take a job in Silicon Valley.

My wife and I slept on the floor for the first six months because we could not afford any furniture. Because we chose to spend our money on paying off all of our college school loan debt.

We ended up acquiring a mattress because someone at my wife’s work found out that we did not yet have a bed to sleep on, and they were throwing it out.

Removing the race equation, I feel like it is up to the individual to “make a go” at it. In the end, we all want to:

• Own a home
• Have a family
• Make sure that our kids live a better life than we did

None of that is wrapped up into racism. To achieve the elimination of racism, we need to eliminate the feelings of racism that people feel, and provide opportunities to people to do so.

I did not have enough money for college.

I went to the Marine Corps. I did two tours of Iraq, and I was there for the invasion, too. I left the Marine Corps, and I was was given the Montgomery GI Bill, which helped me get to school and make something for myself.

Anybody from 18–36 can do what I did.

Join the Marine Corps, and make a life of themselves. I am proof that you can make something of yourself, despite the odds.