racisim.

Ok, full disclosure. I am a lily white girl in a lily white world. I have very little contact with anyone of any color, creed, or race other than white where I am.

Another fact to know before I start this post. only 20% of America is .. (wondering which is politically correct at the moment) African American... aka someone with black skin. (cause aren't there people with black skin from other areas?)

anyway.

a few things popped up in my life lately that made me look at my views on racisim again. One was an article about why a woman was supporting Obama (the same article had a woman supporting McCain and was pro-life because she totally enjoyed giving birth.. um.. yea.. ok. you like something so you need to force it on the rest of us.. gotcha) (ok so my feelings on that are much more involved, but that is a different post)

she was supporting Obama because she identified with his mix racial background. They went into her background, and how she was an outsider because of her race. How she stood out, was teased, and made fun of because she was different.

So that's racism? So then what I went through at school.. what was that? I was teased, tortured, made fun of, had my possessions stolen, and basically went through hell because I was red headed and 'larger' than my class mates. I went through a growth spurt that made me 5'7" when all my class mates were barely hitting 5"

I was different. I was an outcast. So was that racisim? couldn't be, we were all of the same race.

But it is racism when your being different is because you are of a different race. So that makes what she went through worse than what I went through?? why? how? because it has a name? I would think that something that doesn't have a name, that isn't defendable in any way shape or form would be worse. Like being ill and not having a diagnosis. Can't cure what you don't know you have..

*sigh*

so many people are quick to jump on the racisim bandwagon. Oh I'm discriminated against because I'm (fill in the blank here) that's the reason why people don't treat me right. They are all evil and I'm just SOL.

people are just evil. what ever your blank is that you think people are discriminating you for, it doesn't matter. We all are discriminated against for one thing or another.. too tall, too black, too fat, too pretty, too ugly, too short,

no one is normal.

no one.

normal is a fallicy. it is a bell curve, we all fall on one side or the other.

the other show I watched was "Cold Case" about two young girls who became friends, one black, one white, in the 70s. there was some clear discrimination in that show. Blatenly not liking them because they were black. (but again, I was blatenly not liked because I was too tall and heavier than the rest of the girls.. so ...) the brother of the black girl was assumed to have hurt the white girl (who was the victom of this show) because he was seen in the yard. He was questioned for hours at a time. He denied absolutely everything. but come to find out in the show, he was in the back yard.

that happens a lot in the crime shows I watch. Black people denying everything, because the small part that they did have that got them involved in the investigation they deny. Seems to me that if there was evidince of something you did and you deny it that you are just asking for more trouble.

Now a lot of these crime shows also show how police used to jump to conclusions and would force confessions etc. So I suppose i can't deny the reasoning behind denying it back then.

and I can't deny the anger and resentment of knowing this used to occur. I know I'm still reluctant to believe in change in people who treated me badly in the past.

But I do know change happens.

so where is the answer.

and when does the inane behavior of people to tease and taunt that which is different from them change from human behavior to the more evil status of "racisim"

All questions for the ages I guess.

I only hope and pray that those holding on to the pain of being judged for the color of their skin or the size of their body don't pass that pain on to the next generation (although I know it has) or the next. Let us get past the pain of what our forfathers did. and what our parents generation did...

Luke 6:31
"Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them."

In addition, the Dalai Lama has stated:
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion

Confucius said in the Analects:
"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." - Analects XV.24, tr. David Hinton

In his Last Sermon, the Prophet Muhammad cautioned believers:
"Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you"

Rabbi Akiba emphasized the importance of Leviticus 19:18.
Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself