I am going to be honest… Four years ago I didn’t give two craps about politics. I was a typical “screw-the-government” 18-year-old with the mindset of “I don’t get involved with politics. Everyone has their own agendas and my vote does not matter.” But in the past year of watching the train wreck that has been this presidential race, I knew I had to pay attention.

It did help that every two seconds something about the race was being thrown in my face. Every news hour began with “Trump said this about …” and “Hillary’s emails are…” Unless you have managed to live under one hundred feet of rock, you are paying attention to this presidential race. You need to pay attention to the presidential race.

September 26, 2016 is the day America will remember for the rest of history.

It is 7:59 p.m. Central time zone as I write this and my first presidential debate is about to begin.

8:00 p.m. SHOWTIME!!

10:00 p.m. Central

Dear God what did I watch? As someone who is not as “involved” in politics, this did not seem like what we need to see in presidential candidates. But I want to put any biases aside and talk about what really mattered to me: race relations in America. Yes, there were other topics discussed, like our job markets, national security, trade, etc. You could read any other article about how the candidates dressed, acted and their rebuttal. I could write thousands of words on all of that, but what I want to focus on is the racial tension in America and how the candidates plan on handling that as President. And boy did I get some discussion about that.

To put this into perspective, dear reader, I am an African American woman, who has been a witness to the brutality and cruelty of African American men and women in America. I know the problems with race in our country are topics no one wants to discuss, but we need to in order to find a remedy.

Lester Holt, a journalist for NBC News, is the first African American moderator of the Presidential debates. One of the major topics Holt wanted to focus on was “America’s Direction: How do you heal the racial divide?” Senator Clinton began by referencing the recent tragedies in Tulsa and Charlotte. She begins the discussion by talking about bringing the African American communities and the police forces together. She wants to restore trust and respect among both groups. She wants to use her “criminal justice reform” to remedy these problems. She recognizes the police officers that want reform, as well. Clinton says we need to find ways to get guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals.

Holt then went to Donald Trump for a rebuttal. Trump began with the phrase “law and order.” He believes that the American justice system needs to bring back the concept of “law and order” to lower the race crisis and also stop violence in predominately African American and Hispanics neighborhoods. He brought up the staggering number of murders in Chicago and how they will continue to rise if America does not follow his plans. He also wants to re-institute the “stop and frisk” method used by police to stop gun violence in inner cities. He wants to single out the gangs filled with illegal immigrants with the “stop and frisk.” He believes this will “protect inner cities” from future violent acts.

Holt immediately (attempted) to stop Trump by explaining that the “stop and frisk” method has been deemed unconstitutional and has since been found ineffective. Trump argued with Holt about the legitimacy of the method being unconstitutional. He told Holt that thinking it was unconstitutional was “wrong”. Holt mentioned that it is seen as racial profiling when a majority of the “stop and frisk” arrests were African American and Hispanic men.

Clinton rebutted with the “bright” spots in the African American communities. She reiterated Holt’s point about the ineffectiveness of “stop and frisk.” Clinton brings up the fact that African American and Hispanic men are more likely to be arrested for nonviolent crimes more often than white men. She wants to have second chance options and get rid of “private prisons”.

After that rebuttal there was some talk about gun policies and attempting to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. It was clear that both candidates agreed on that part.

One term I found very interesting was one Holt brought up: “implicit bias.” The National Center for State Courts describes “implicit bias” as:

“the bias in judgment and/or behavior that results from subtle cognitive processes (e.g., implicit attitudes and implicit stereotypes) that often operate at a level below conscious awareness and without intentional control.”

The term was used in reference to police, but Clinton believes that everyone is a culprit of implicit bias. She does realize that police need to be trained more to keep away from creating implicit biases and she plans to put money into the training of officers to deal with these type of situations.

Trump then dropped the “Super Predator” bomb, a term Clinton used in 1996 against young black men. He reminds us about how horrible it was and how she apologized for it. It really didn’t have anything to do with the point he was making except for a lead in for his “stop and frisk” justification.

Clinton again rebutted about the unconstitutional and prejudice ways of this method of search.

To be honest for the rest of the “race relations” discussion, both candidates went in circles. Trump critiqued politicians and their “abuse” of the African American communities. And Clinton made her case about being prepared for the debate. (*Mic drop,* trying not to be bias.)

The most interesting part of the entire race discussion and possibly the turning point of the debate was Holt bringing up Trump’s incessant claims and demands for President Barack Obama’s birth certificate to prove that he was not born in the United States. We all remember Trump’s hounding of the first Black (African American) president to present his birth certificate to prove that he was not born in Africa. As soon as Holt brought this up, Trump immediately attempted to sift the negativity to Clinton by bringing up former campaign workers for Clinton.

Trump says he is the reason that Obama gave the birth certificate up. Holt brought up that the certificate was produced in 2011, and Trump continued to fight the facts for years afterward.

Holt tries to get back on track about “healing in racial tension in America.” Trump says that because he made Obama produce the birth certificate, he has a better relationship with the African American community. Clinton, snickers, and brings up that Trump’s political career began with the witch-hunt of Obama’s birth certificate.

Then we get another bombshell with Clinton bringing up a case from 1973 in which Trump was sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination. He would not rent one of his developments to African Americans. Clinton believes this began his reign of racial injustices, leading to the Birther (Obama’s birth certificate).

Although Trump claims that in the cases with him and the justice department ended with “no admission of guilt”. You have to wonder about these cases. And the “super predator” Clinton used to describe young Black men.

Each candidate made a few solid points in their efforts with race relations. I can see pieces of each of their arguments being used to patch our nation's race problems. Unfortunately, they did miss the mark on making a plan to fully "heal" the problem. Are these really the only choices we have to “heal” the racial tensions in our country? Do you believe that as a nation under the leadership of one of these two people, we can find ways to begin mend the horrendously broken justice system?

I may regret asking, but… Who do you believe can help fix the racial tensions, implicit bias, gun violence and other unjust situations that divide a nation that needs to be united?