A 250-Year-Old Prejudice

{WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS REFERENCES TO THE CHECKED PAST OF US HISTORICAL REGARD TOWARD RACISM. THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!}

As the Ghost fires off his first ultimate move, both allies and enemies within Michigan begin to realize something was off about him. Dr. Sue covered her mouth with her hands as Ottawan and the Canadian force seemed to subconsciously link over something extremely old. A sense that many Americans believed they'd uprooted in the first civil war, a sense of prejudice.

John and Lemuel's energy pulsed the Ghost's mind as he sent the Canadian dictator flying through several buildings, ending their battle. As he was about to power down, the forty-foot automaton sent chills down his spine as she said, "Caution, friendly hostile intent detected."

Slowly the Ghost turned around to find Ottawan raising their rifles and weapons at him. The only thing keeping them from firing was Constitution and Dr. Sue. Francesco and General Akira both grabbed their rifles and took to joining the trio. 

"The fucks the matter with youse? Guns down now!" Demanded Francesco. However, one of the many Michiganders who'd joined in the fight set the terms. 

"No Italian, no Japanese, none of you are gonna order us around like that. Especially when you're led by him." The man pointed to the Ghost. 

"What? Got a problem with a black hero?" Asked General Akira as she held the man at gunpoint. 

"Not me. Others maybe, but for me, it's the fact he's one of them. No problem with the color of his skin. Everyone deserves a fair shot... just not mutant freaks."

Before anyone could act, the Ghost fired himself into the middle of the crowd. His eyes covered within shadow, the heat of his breath felt on the necks of everyone in the growing mob. "You would DARE involve race and what the fuck I am... AFTER I SAVE YOUR NECKS!?"

His outcry was met by a wave of slurs and words, but that one man said it all. "You don't belong here. The US did away with Slavery, away with Jim Crow, Segregation, and more, but you listen to me, boy. We ain't accepting mutant freaks in OUR UNITED STATES." The mob met the man's feelings with their own. The Ghost was horrified by what he heard. Dr. Sue had Constitution pick them all up, however, the Ghost looked up at her and in his gaze she knew he'd find a way home. 

"Constitution, activate prototype 818!"

The automaton was found to have several upgrades and this one being the most experimental. The rocket-pack the Ghost had field-tested in his battle with Rothschild had been modified and made to fit Constitution. As she lifted into the air, the Ghost fired himself away from them. a stream of bullets tried to intercept him, but he was too fast, in a blur of red and yellow he was gone.

 As he streaked along the winding highway from Michigan heading for Illinois, the two vestiges and the Ghost had a chat.

"THE FUCK WAS THAT?" Demanded the Ghost. 

Lemuel rubbed the back of his neck trying to find a gentle way to put it. John had no such composure. 

"Racism. That my modern hero friend, was the sense of a 250-year-old prejudice that has gripped the United States. Welcome to being a modern Black American setback 250 years."

"John!" Said Lemuel glaring daggers at him. 

"Say what you want birdman, it is the cold hearted truth. America could accept black heroes like you, like me, and now they're repeating the cycle with him."

"Bold to call yourself a hero for someone convicted of burglary and leased to a rail company to dig tunnels."

"Better watch yourself, Mister I came home from war expecting to be a hero amongst the white folk. I'll show you what these hammering hands are good for."

"ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU FOR FUCKS SAKE, I'M TRYING TO FIND A WAY TO END THIS!" Yelled the Ghost within his mind. 

"Your life?" asked John

"Prejudiced white people?" Lemuel asked, looking to at the Ghost confused. 

The Ghost gritted his teeth. "I am of both Black and Irish heritage, adopted and raised by a Norwegian-American Marine father and a Pakistani-American mother." started the Ghost, "I learned my values from my Grandma, a Jenkins woman, and my ethics from Grandpa, another WHITE Norwegian-American man. For fucking YEARS, I was told I'm "Too white to be black" and "Too black to be white", meaning this is and isn't something you two have ever seen!"

John and Lemuel looked at him puzzled, but slowly began to understand. Over the 250 year course of American History, racial division held the US for over 200 hundred of them. The Emancipation Proclamation had done something, so had Martin Luther King Junior, Malcolm X, the Tuskegee Airmen, all of the black figures within history had done something to get the US off of its prejudiced path. However, the Ghost was right. Neither John Henry nor Lemuel Curtis got to see exactly where their sacrifices had led the US. By the year 1990, interracial couples of all varieties were more or less welcomed and/or ignored by the mass population of the US. However, by the early years of 2000, there was a different type of prejudice. An array of mixed race children had been born into a world and country that for the last 225 years, at the time of the Ghost's birth, had been seen in only terms of black and white. The Ghost, like many with and after him, were a shade of gray the vast majority of the US population both black and white, weren't ready to handle. 

"I see now." stated Lemuel nodding at the knowledge he'd gained. "So tell me if I have this right. John Henry here rose up and broke pieces of the racial barrier down to begin laying the foundation I would use defeated the Nazi German version of racism that another two-three generations would use only for all of that to become a new kind, one that specifically targets you and those like you, that emerged and took even stronger roots." Lemuel took off his flight cap and scratched his head. 

"You're right on the mark, Lemuel." The Ghost shook his head as he made minor adjustments to his course as they talked. "None of you could've known this would happen. Don't beat yourselves up."

John sighed and shook his head in disagreement. "Nah, we should've seen who things would've played out. To make matters worse, you now have this "Rothschild" character screwing that up even more now with his introduction of metahumanity. If this was purely just race based hate, it would be easy enough to bust up. Mankind has got to rethink just how everyone is seen and perceived. This is gonna undo a whole lotta shit. Hell, no wonder Lem and I are getting forgotten in history."

The Ghost sighed, "I wish it were that simple. You see...."

"Perfect timing. The insect has entered my trap."

The three snapped back to reality to see a helicopter hovering above the ground ahead of them. Within the doorway of the chopper was Rothschild himself. However, he wasn't alone.....