Recently I've seen a few posts on both MSN and Yahoo news sites regarding prejudice and proms. Both stories I noticed weren't promoting prejudice but rather illustrating how stupid and ignorant such behavior truly is.
Prejudice is a learned behavior. If one were to put a group of toddlers in a room with a few toys they would play and share without regard to race. Yet, as they grow older they are exposed to impressionable thoughts and actions of others which colors their attitudes.
As a child growing up I lived for a time in the segregated south. Water fountains were labeled: "White and Colored." Signs on a store front often read: "Colored at rear door." Yet, as a kid who was not raised in an atmosphere of prejudice I would go to the "other side of the tracks" with my peers in search of enough kids to make a throw together baseball game in a vacant lot.
As to be expected when the teams were chosen it was the colored or black kids on one team and the white kids on the other. Those familiar with baseball know, at that level, there is a good deal of chatter and harassing talk from the team in the field directed toward the batter. If my team was in the field it was not unusual to hear: "Pitch to him ... that nigger can't hit." Or if we were at bat we might hear our opponents shouting: "Give him an easy one ... that cracker can't hit." And, no one felt intimidated or threatened. They were not hurtful words to anyone who was playing.
After the game was over we would all reach in our pockets and see how much money we had. Combining the coins we went to the closest mom and pop store. With a prominent sign painted next to the door: "Colored in rear." Consequently, a few of us white kids went into the store and bought whatever number of drinks we had the money for. Then, sitting on the curb outside, side by side, we'd take a drink from the bottle and pass to the child sitting next to us. It didn't matter if that person were white or not. We were all equal in each others' eyes.
In today's divisive world and our current climate in the United States perhaps we should look to the children that have not yet been tainted by grown ups thoughts and actions. Perhaps, one day, we can see each other not as Democrats or Republicans, or white, or black, or Hispanic or Muslim but as individuals. Take a look into a hospital operating room. When the patient is fully draped and the incision made. The blood is red no matter the color of the skin.
Let's join together to end this behavior born out of ignorance and realize how much better the world would be if we all simply got along.
