After opening the 10-game qualifying campaign with an ugly loss in Honduras in February, the Americans came away with a 1-0 win in a Colorado blizzard Friday night against Costa Rica.

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As in life, the good and bad make us who we are and what Red Tails teaches us as Americans, is that even our ugly past of racism is part of what makes us great because, getting past racism by allowing the Tuskegee Airman to fly is what makes us proud.

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One, for many Americans, the w-word isn't as ugly or offensive as the n-word.

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And then, in 12 horrific seconds, a sporting event that has inspired, challenged and rewarded Americans for more than a century was turned into something awful, ugly and painful.

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In between, there is barely a pause for thought, and the film works hard as a historical solvent rinsing away the traditional enmities between the white man and the Native Americans, and conjoining the good, the bad, and the ugly into a battle with their common foe.

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