It’s a personal choice. A born-and-bred rural “California Girl” who grew up in the Sixties and Seventies (yes, in the oh-my-God 20th century), I believe maturity didn’t finally hit me until I turned sixty-ish ... and that’s still debatable. But all of those inane years likely created a different perspective than most of those who are currently going to school, running businesses, raising kids, and think “socializing” is online.
And I am SO glad!
That doesn't mean I think I’m better than anyone else, or that others are better than me. It just means we’re different. And those differences should be respected. Which brings me to my first serious subject. Racism.
Told ya it was serious. But seriously, folks, it shouldn’t be. If I had been an adult in the Civil War days, I would have been one to run an underground railroad for slaves to escape the South. I don’t believe ANY PERSON should be slave to another. You’d think our way of thinking would have progressed since then with the laws passed to abolish slavery, and we ALL would have come to consider EVERY PERSON equal.
It is high time PEOPLE—yes, we are ALL categorized as that (though some are skating on the edge)—recognize that past behaviors shape who we are today, but that we can and should dissipate our prejudices to create true unity. Divide and conquer is the downfall of even the longest and strongest civilizations.
And yet, here we are, still fighting amongst ourselves over the color of skin. Many people of darker ethnic backgrounds are still holding grudges and many with lighter skin heritage are still oblivious to the concept of acceptance. Good grief, Charlie Brown, when are we gonna grow up?! Have we learned nothing?!
I don’t care who wants to pretend Orwell’s 1984 doesn't exist today, as those with their heads in the sand seek to ignore or even change that which went before. We cannot erase the past. History is as history was. That said—we also cannot be held responsible today, for what happened centuries ago—or in the case of some youthful disparages, might have occurred only a few decades ago.
If we have a shred of intelligence, we’ve matured and likely don’t follow the same rabbit down the same stupid hole (or attitude) that we once thought was pretty cool.
Racism is an adolescent attitude. Mature American citizens know that UNITY is our only hope.
Smile ... there's a camera on every corner ... Big Brother will wonder what you've been up to. 😎
