Racism

Yes, the title says it all. This blog is to see if anyone out there is against racism like I am. On Sunday, me, my dad and sister went to Traders World, that big flea market, to see a friend, she's this real nice black lady that I've known for all my life. She's the world's nicest person. Anyway, since we know her, every time we see her, we hug her and say it's good to see her. Well, obviously this didn't fly well with the countrified locals and this white guy gives me and my family a dirty look, he must have thought that it was a crime to hug someone of a different skin color. I thought we were all past the skin color issue. I mean, it's not 1950s anymore, it's 2010.


I'm the kind of person who looks past skin color, race, ethnicity, etc. I have friends who are of different ethnic groups and I look past that, I don't see them as Italian, black, Latino, etc. I see them as friends, buddies, etc. I just can't see what the big deal about having family/friends who are supposedly "different". I look at it this way-- having someone of another ethnic group/race exposes you to another of the fascinating cultures of our diverse world. I mean, I can barely stand it when I visit my aunt Lois and uncle Justin start talking bad about other people because of the way they look, their physical appearance,etc. And in high school, don't get me started. Guys wanting to be like the rap singers openly use the N word to describe friends, sorry but you don't use ethnic/racial slurs to describe friends, and when it comes to other words, teens today use the word Gay to say stupid. You don't use the word Gay to say that someone/something is stupid, it only makes yourself sound stupid. I hate when people turn things around to make something sound cooler to them, but makes them sound like they have no IQ. Because last time I checked, the term Gay meant someone who likes someone of the same sex, and homosexual is a less mean term.


If this were the 1950s, I'd be called a whole bunch of bad names because quite a few of my buddies are black, but I don't see it that way, hypothetically if someone were to ask me what it's like having black friends, I'd simply tell them, they're not my black friends, they're my friends. I don't see any of that racial/ethnic crap that some may see. You wonder how I got on this topic, the above mentioned event got me started, and plus, having an aunt who openly uses racial slurs is ridiculous. She doesn't like anyone, whenever she talks about someone, she almost puts them into a separate group, she doesn't like anyone of Italian descent, Asian descent, Latino descent, African descent. I try to put it into the least offensive way. But I can't just sit here and listen to people bad mouth others because of something simple as being of another ethnic group. If I see/hear someone insulting someone based on race in public, I will come right out and tell them it isn't right.


But it just isn't right, seeing people face injustice because of how they appear. I'm the kind of person who believes in treating everyone with respect and dignity and that means everyone, no matter how they appear. And I think Rodney King said this, "Why can't we all just get along?" And in the "I Have a Dream" speech, Martin Luther King believed in a world united, and somehow, he gets shot for believing in a world where blacks and whites and everyone lives together peacefully. I just don't understand the mindset of some people, how some people can be complete a--holes to people because of how they appear. Wake up people! It's 2010, not 1950s anymore. So just get over your racist attitudes and get over it!