Even though we fought the Civil War, we got the 13th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution passed, and it seems like racism has been quelled, that's certainly not the case. Recently in Jena, Louisiana at Jena High School, six black students were charged with attempted murder. They were nicknamed the Jena Six. It all started because a few weeks before, a black student had asked to sit under a tree which was, unbeknownst to him, the "white tree". The next day there were nooses hung from the tree. The principal recommended that the students responsible be expelled, but the racist superintendent of schools in Louisiana overruled his decision and decided to give the 3 white students only a 3-day suspension. Tension rose over this issue, causing fights at the school which led to the charging of the Jena Six.
Racism is still alive today. And it's bad, even though it's mostly hidden from the public eye. But on the other hand it can go the other way. Some white people think that Affrimative Action is just reverse racism. Affirmative Action is the thing that gives more scholarships to minorities, and the white people with no ethnic background get left out, and with the prices of college going sky-high, it's enough to make anyone angry.
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I don't think racism will ever go away. It's like that Avenue Q song about racism: "everyone is a little bit racist sometimes." Because of the 9/11 attacks, our generation will probably become racist against those from the Middle East. It's terrible that people are still fighting about something that should have been resolved over a 100 years ago.