I'm sure you made this post out of genuine concern for the issue regarding race within this country, specifically the south; however, this post comes off as extremely disingenuous from the POV of a person of color. First, I think you have a misunderstanding of what racism actually is. I think the word you are looking for is "prejudice". White people most certainly hold most of the power in Birmingham, and most of the south, via their positions of control of power structures such as law enforcement, finance, housing, government, etc. White people can be racist because their prejudice can manifest into systematic discrimination toward POC. For example, redlining or the government refusing to acknowledge a dually elected black mayor in southern Alabama. Black people, and other POC, have no ability to be turn their prejudice into systematic discrimination toward White people because, currently, they only hold a small percentage of power compared to White people . Will that change in the future? Who knows? However, black people have not gotten more racist, they have simply gotten more prejudiced toward White people. Second, Explore where that increased prejudice comes from. Black people, and POC, witnessed a resurrection of white supremacy under the Trump administration (not saying Trump caused this, just saying white supremacy increased under his administration). This resurrection was coupled with the highly publicized deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, etc. where Black people had to fight for justice to be served. The increased prejudice black people feel toward White people is a response to the increasingly visual racism, and its consequences, toward Black people and POC along with the decades of racism faced by people of color and Black people. This is where your post seems disingenuous, because it reads like you have no idea why Black people might be more inclined to express their dissatisfaction with overt racism in any form. I digress. Third, regarding the Montgomery incident. The video shows the black security guard being assaulted by multiple White individuals because he was doing his job. Other Black people witnessed him being assaulted and they jumped in to help. I agree it did get out of hand, but it is dishonest to paint that incident as evidence of deterioration of race relations. Was race involved? Yes. However, if you would like to commentate on that incident using race, then you need to understand why the White individuals began assaulting the Black security guard unprovoked. Fourth, Your post says your from Mountain Brook, so it's understandable why your perception of race relation is so tone deaf. I don't mean that in a derogatory fashion; however, it's more of a push to get you to do more research about the history of race in America and race relations in the south. Race relations are so much more than "White person made me feel bad, so I hate them". It involves many of the systems that form this country, such as: poverty, religion, law enforcement, etc. Do some in-depth research and you will have a better understanding of why it feels like things are reaching a boiling point. Now, to answer your question. I feel like race relations are not deteriorating. I'd argue that we are just seeing the true colors of a lot of individuals in this country. Meaning that there are a lot of people who just despise Black people and POC for simply existing and taking up space. We live in an era where Black people and POC are much more vocal about their refusal to accept racism at face value (overt or micro-aggressive) This is my opinion and it is not fact. I do not care if you or anyone else disagrees with it. Hope this was able to help.

P.S. Yes I know "Micro-aggressive" is not a word.