Racism is alive and well in the U.S.

The woman, Nicole Poole Franklin, 43 of Des Moines, Iowa, tried to kill two kids with her SUV because they were not white.

On Thursday, Aug 19, she was sentenced to 25 years in prison. She earned two concurrent prison sentences, one from the state of Iowa, and one federal.

Prosecutors say she first drove over a curb and struck the 12-year-old Black boy, saying she ran him over because he’s “just like ISIS” and “he’s not supposed to be there and he’s going to take me out.”

Minutes later, she drove up over a sidewalk, striking a 14-year-old Latina girl because she thought she was Mexican, was taking over “our homes, and our jobs” and “wasn’t supposed to be in the country.”

Poole Franklin fled after both crashes and was later arrested after going to a gas station where she called an employee and customers racial epithets.

The prosecutors wrote that “Holding Poole Franklin accountable, not only for her intentional actions, but for the malicious beliefs behind them, is what our justice system should be, and a must to provide just punishment, afford adequate deterrence, and protect the public from further crimes by this defendant,”

Unfortunately, these are not isolated cases. As whites feel threatened by their continued loss of white privilege and white superiority, they revert to more violent ways to express their discontent. However, our world is becoming more diverse and there will be one day in the future when we will be able to live in harmony.