Even before the Trayvon Martin verdict, if we were really “touched by the better angels of our nature,” as Abraham Lincoln once said, we would know that the state of race in America is just one symptom of the sad state of America.

Though black Americans are prominent, often profiled targets, most non-rich Americans are targeted as well. Nevertheless, more than any other minority group, African Americans are the focus of prejudice. More than any other group, opportunities for blacks are stifled. More than any other group, demeaning stereotypes are pitched.

Much evidence points to this. The median household income for blacks is $33,000, $55,000 for whites. While 56% of blacks believe there is discrimination in the U.S. today, only 16% of whites do. Blacks are 13% of the U.S. population but make up 37% of the prison population. Drug use for blacks is the same as others, but though 13% of the population, make up 38% of those arrested for drug offenses. In 2011, a NYC “stop and frisk program” allowed police to temporarily detain and search almost 686,000 people without clear evidence of a crime. In a city 44% white, more than 90% were minorities.

African-Americans are more easily profiled by appearance, but such profiling is a product of generations of negative stereotyping in many communities throughout our country. It is social conditioning folded into the fabric of our culture, something even the media perpetuates in news slants and selections, reinforced through the entertainment medium, and ethnic depictions, so much so that George Zimmerman, like too many other Americans, presumed guilt for a teenager walking down the street in a Sanford, Florida suburb, because of the color of his skin. Zimmerman’s target, Trayvon Martin, even to the point of killing him.

That presumption of guilt, whether believed or just pitched, is widespread in our society, especially among the GOP. Republicans presume the unemployed are deadbeats. They presume that Americans who want health care are takers. They presume that the poor prefer to be poor because they are lazy. They presume that the rich deserve to be rich. They presume that a health care plan that worked at the state level under Mitt Romney will not work nationally because the Democrats passed it.

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) should be feared, and Republicans plan to alarm seniors this summer having “Emergency Health Care Town Halls.” It is quite curious that a Republican majority in the House, lacking any other achievements, took the time to repeal “Obamacare” 39 times, a plan that saves billions and provides health care to millions who couldn’t otherwise afford it.

Spread fear and derision, and by all means undercut the poor and minorities, but very subtly spread this scorn to even the middle class. That’s why Republicans have not permitted a jobs program to employ America. That is why they will not support spending for education, tried to kill the consumer protection agency, won’t support crumbling infrastructure when money is cheap, didn’t want regulation of Wall Street under Dodd-Frank, vote to cut the EPA by 34%, vote to cut renewable energy by 72%, will do nothing to improve Obamacare, and in fact, intimidate the NFL from helping to promote it.

It is clear that there is one political party that consistently votes against helping the poor and the vulnerable – even against supporting the middle class. Yes, it is the Republicans.

Now the Republicans didn’t become an obstructionist, do-nothing party by accident. They found through experience that they could still win elections even after shafting the non-rich population.

Here is where “the better angels of our nature” come in. We need to vote out of intelligence, knowing who votes against us at all levels of government. We need to vote out of empathy, recognizing those in need. We need to vote out of investment, realizing that a good education, opportunity for those who struggle, a good infrastructure to promote enterprise and commerce, and a healthy environment are vital to our democratic future and economic enterprise.

If we take notice, Republicans are against progress in all of these areas. That is why we call them the “do-nothing,” obstructionist party.

If we start to vote smart, there will be no room for obstruction, no room for mean spiritedness, no tolerance for demeaning attacks, and few if any Republicans left after elections. As a result, Democrats may come out of their defensive crouch and really help the majority. And eventually even Republicans will realize the democratic tradition they have rejected and come back in the fold of human beings. Or perhaps a whole new party will emerge.

Money perhaps will no longer buy Republicans, pro-business Supreme Court justices and a corporate government.

This is a future that is possible, but we must direct it, ourselves.