Posted by
federal rb on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 12:40:08 PM
To hear Obama and all the chattering classes out there you'd think that racism is abundant and keeping people of color from living their dreams. Is there racism out there? Sure, whites, blacks, and hispanics from the receiving end to the inflicting side also. But what everyone is overstating is the actual endemic force of being prejudiced. It is my belief that all or most of us are prejudiced. The difference is that racist people act upon on the prejudices.
I would not go out of my way to inflict pain or bar advancement from any minority unless that person did something that was untoward to me or had it coming to them. Much the same as any white person that had it coming to them. Isn't that a color blind approach? Everyone talks about the following anecdote as an example of racism: I saw four black men walking down a darkened street and I crossed to avoid them. Now imagine if those four black men were wearing suits, would you cross then. I think most of us wouldn't And now imagine four young white men looking haggard and mean, would you cross then? I say yes. Isn't that a color blind approach?
I think we are going in the wrong direction. I truly want to believe in the color blind society. I want to judge people on the "content of their characters." We will never get beyond our prejudices to this color blind society we say we want to attain, if we attribute everything that is wrong with our lives to someone of another color that is holding us back. We have to get beyond this or we will forver be marred with the us versus them mentality. Or we'll have to wait 200 years when we all become ethnic mutts. Maybe that is our only hope.
We have a constitutional right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There are no guarantees. You just have to live, love, laugh, be a good person and make sure your children go further in life than yourself. It doesn't matter what color you are. Just take advantage of whatever opportunities are in front of you and do the best you can. The only thing that is holding us back is ourselves.