Arbee:
There was an article blog posted on the Huffington Post recently,
touting the fight for equality of races. The author quoted the famous “I have a
dream” speech. One of the lines in that speech has often been overlooked, and
that involves the word character.
Some thoughts on that subject:
Some thoughts on that subject:
This is an email
response received regarding the above posting on AResponse2. Interesting take.
1st Comment received: I think Dr. King’s speech will go down in
history as one of the most important speeches in our country. But he was
murdered shortly after his beautiful words were spoken. It is easy for
white people, who have every opportunity handed to them from the time of birth,
to decide how people of minority races should feel. Like the old
saying, “you should walk in my shoes”. If I were a Black or Hispanic
American today, I would be angry. As a matter of fact, I am a white American
and I am angry. I cannot believe that any sane person in this country
would think that people of color are treated the same as whites. I
hope this opinion was respectful enough for you. It is just one little
white woman's opinion.
AR2: Did you even read the link I posted? Do you
really think that anger is the way to correct the problem? Do you have
any positive suggestions on how to give those folks a real chance to be self-reliant
and to have a real sense of equality? Anger is easy, being constructive
takes an effort. As far as people of color being treated the same as
whites, they are not. And in so many ways you would probably fail to admit.
2nd Comment received: yes I did read the link and agreed with a lot
of it. But then that is the way white people would like the world to
be. I admit I do get angry~~~~~ angry at the arrogance of white
people. The race problem was not settled with the freeing of the slaves
or with Dr. King's beautiful words or with the Black Panthers or with giving
black people more opportunities just because they are black. This race
problem will not be over for hundreds of years, as it was hundreds of years in
the making. I don't think you can make an angry person less angry by
words. It will take time and lots of it. It will not happen in our
lifetime as I once thought it would. The anger is not just from black people
but just as many white people are angry too. Just look at the angry
people when we had the first 1/2 black president elected. I have friends
that hate President Obama and when I ask them what they hate, they can't
give me an answer but they are sure to tell me it's not because he is
black! I don't think this problem will be solved until we are
not black or white but we are a race of honey colored green eyed wavy haired
people. I wish I could be here to see it. Until that time I will
try to view other people's feelings from their point of view. I think
that would be a constructive first step. White people better learn to get
along with other people that are not white or are not born again Christians or
of the same sexual preference as they are. It is really not that
complicated.
AR2
response: It has been about a week or so
since the above conversation took place and since it has continued to pester my
mind, I find it necessary to respond.
The
original posting referred to Rev. King’s speech and the oft forgotten phrase
related to his fervent hope that his daughters would see the day when a person
was judged not by the color of his skin
but by the content of his character. The basic premise was that our societal
character is what creates the inequality. The anger propagated by the hate
mongers on both sides of the issue, who continue to dwell in the sewer of the
past, can only see through glasses colored through those times. As they speak, so they teach and another
generation continues the hatred and misunderstandings of the past because of
the osmosis of prejudice and mistrust.
One of my favorite readings is AS
A MAN THINKETH, and it presupposes the necessity of self-review of our
own beliefs.
The
discussion that came out of that article prompted just such a review, and
brought to my mind my struggle with such sites as the Huffington Post and Roots. It is really difficult to carry on meaningful
dialogue with those who are so intent on defending their ground that the original
subject does not matter. There is almost nothing in the response I received
regarding anything related to character.
There is much related to the thoughts produced by anger and
prejudice. Rather than working toward a
better understanding of viewpoint, acceptance of others, and seeking mutual solutions,
blame and derision seem to be the standard argument. The comments of the responder did, however,
cause enough turmoil in my thoughts to spawn another fury of typing. Hopefully I can respond to the subjects
embedded in the comments as received. I
posted my answer to the first comment and you can see it above. It was the next comment that struck me with a
sense of futility of getting through the barriers of so many prejudices. I would classify myself as one who is strong
and fervent in my desire to make my side of the story understood, and it has
taken a few days to understand why the second comment advanced my need for
further discussion. Discussion not of the original article but rather one
regarding the points brought up in the comments.
Prejudice
is a very insidious sickness of the human condition and is usually only apparent
in the other guy. Unfortunately, it will
eventually infect all of us in one way or the other, forming our attitudes and
affecting our interaction with others in our world. Christ said “Be ye as little children”. If
only we were able to maintain that degree of innocence. I can truly attest to this regarding racial
prejudice. I grew up in a small town of approximately
600 people. When I reached the age of high school, the only people I didn’t
like were bullies, Japs and Germans. .That was because I had some actual mental
or physical contact with those groups.
All other people were just that, people.
I never learned to distrust or to think that colored people were any
different from me. It wasn’t until many
years later that I learned why. I had
never had any contact with people of any other color so I had never learned
prejudice. For that, I feel blessed and fortunate. I thank you Lord, for those years of innocence. That brings me back to the children. Children are colorblind. They will play,
argue and make friends with any other child until one of them crosses the line
of civility, and that is one of their guidelines. I think that is the kind of
personal judgment that Rev. King was referring too.
I
did learn in later years that my contact with colored races during my formative
years was so minimal due to the cities “Sundown Law”. People of color were not allowed in the city
limits after sundown and knowing this they just never came into our area. My innocence was paid for with that which
remained hidden to my nature, prejudice, bigotry and mistreatment. I could feel guilty about those things but
that would be misplaced guilt. I could
spend my time trying to make retribution for that but it wasn’t me that created
the circumstance. I could be aware of
how wrong that law was. I could have
compassion for those who were harmed.
Having the compassion does not mean that I have to accept the blame for an
act in which I was not involved. I can,
out of compassion, understand the current plight and work toward improving it. I also feel anger toward the ignorance of the
past actions of mankind in their injustice toward their fellow man. Color is not the first to be touched by
prejudice and bigotry there are few if any throughout history that have not
been under that attack. I am currently one
of those who feel its sting. I am one of
those arrogant white people who want the world to forget all of our races past
transgressions. I am one of those
religious fanatics who believe in the deity and the graces offered by my Savior
Christ. I am one of those
traditionalists who believe that marriage is reserved for the union of a man
and woman. I am one of those who
fervently wish we had a different President of our country. I am one of those who wish our young people
would pull their pants up, turn their hats around, and respect the lessons learned
in the past. Just because I believe
these things does not negate my belief in the fact that we all put our lives on
pathways of our own choosing. The mile
walked in my moccasins may be different but I also understand that your mile is
unique to you and I hope your journey ends well. God speed.
To trade one form of
prejudice for another doesn’t make you better or different but it can make you
a bigot of another color. arbee
No comments:
Post a Comment