I sometimes think we’re improving as a society, but then I listen to the news and lose what little hope I have gained for our progress.

Last Wednesday, Iraqi immigrant Shaima Alawadi was found in her home, lying in a pool of her own blood from a severe head wound, by her 17-year-old daughter. Alawadi died three days later.

According to the New York Times, Alwadi was found with a threatening note similar to one she had received earlier in the week. It said, “This is my country. Go back to yours, terrorist.” Since this was not the first threat Alwadi and her family had received during the 17 years they have lived in the US, she ignored it, convincing her husband it was unnecessary to contact the authorities.

Currently, police are calling this an isolated incident, not a hate crime, due to lack of evidence.

The point I want to make is not whether this is a hate crime or not because, honestly, all crime involving murder should be considered a hate crime. The point I want to make today is about the decline in man’s humanity toward man.

On a whole, we, as a society, say that we have evolved, have stepped away from racism and discrimination, etc. We think we can say this because we now have politically correct terms (person of color, mentally challenged, societal victim, free speech patriot), holidays celebrating people we once oppressed (because that makes everything better), and laws to prevent some of the horrific things our society once did (although, clearly, the law hasn’t stopped some people).

However, society is dead wrong. It’s sad, but looking at the Alwadi incident, it’s obvious that society has not really improved. Instead, it has simply found ways to cover its prejudice, to justify its actions.

By trying not to offend anybody, society has caused greater damage than repair.

Alwadi probably came to this country thinking it was safer than her own, and in theory, it is. Unfortunately, she did not know that much of what is said here, for political correctness, is often ignored.

Although Alwaid’s case was an extreme measure of prejudice, it happens on a daily basis to all groups of people. Why? If you’re the minority, the majority is against you, but it goes the other way too. If you’re the majority, the minority(s) is against you.

What I am saying does not apply to all people, of course. In fact, I hope it applies to a very small population. However, on an overall scale (including other incidents of prejudice unrelated to the extreme case of Alwadi), I think that society is in the same position it was 50 years ago. It’s just better at hiding it.

In reality, there is never a good reason to hate someone else, even if you know that person intimately, yet people in society still make rash judgments based on unproven stereotypes and hearsay.

What is it going to take for society to understand that we are all just human beings struggling, in our own way, to get through life?

Okay, by now you probably think that I’m going to break out into a Beatle’s song or start spouting scripture, but I won’t. All I ask is that we stop hiding behind political correctness and really reform our society.