On June 17, a white male in his twenties with a slender build walked into the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and opened fire, killing nine people. The male has since been caught, and he has confessed his racist motives. This event epitomizes and substantiates the Black Lives Matter movement, as pictures contrasting the police treatment of this white male with that of Eric Garner went viral. The sharp contrast between a cold-hearted killer in a bulletproof vest and a simple man who was selling single cigarettes being brutalized by multiple police officers provides ocular proof of a reluctant truth in this country-that white privilege is inherent in American culture.

American white privilege, a social construct born out of the days of slavery and the Confederacy, is at least starting to be recognized. And yet, remnants of the idea linger and even pervade the nation. The country needs to shed itself of all the reminders that deter us from moving forward. The recent opposition to the ownership, sale, and manufacturing of the Confederate flag is a stride towards a more equal future, and speculation even has it that Obama signed an executive order banning such sales and manufacturing. Especially with the Charleston shooting, animosity towards antiquated and bigoted ideals has skyrocketed. Riding this wave of honorable sentiments, the nation has an opportunity to cleanse itself of racism, bigotry, chauvinism, homophobia, and sexism (or as much as possible) and become the bright beacon of morality, freedom, and equality that it once was.