Several decades after the civil rights movement, there is still the illusion that there is a  superior race.  It behooves me to think what Dr. King, Malcolm X and others who fought so hard for equality would say about today’s society.

We have become so politically correct about equality that I feel that the pendulum is swinging back to segregation and we need to discover and define ourselves.

Here is the question that we need to ask ourselves:  have we become so advanced in our unification that we now want to be individualized?

For me, the answer is no.  What some don’t understand is that we are all prejudiced about something, even though we say that we are not.

These discriminatory practices are based on ignorance, jealously and other factors that eventually lead to hatred.

One of the biggest things is the fact that we cannot fathom that people are people.  We have the tendency to judge others from their culture, education, position of society, physical appearances or by religious background.

If we would take the time to familiarize ourselves and keep an open mind, we would discover that we are not so different after all.

We must be willing to accept that we don’t exist just in ourselves and there are others out there who are just as important as we are.
Quite honestly, the worst prejudice I have witnessed is when people see a physically disabled person  and they avoid them or, they talk down to them like they are from a different planet.

All people are fascinating, and everybody has a story to tell if only we would take the time to listen.

There is a song from the musical “Hairspray” in the closing credits titled, “Come So Far.”  The lyrics say that we have accepted people, but more work is required to fully accept people as they are, and we must also learn from our prior mistakes.

Here is my proposal:  let’s educate ourselves about other people, be open minded and, most importantly, learn from others.
We can still be part of a group and yet be ourselves.  As a group, we all have something to contribute to this whole. Without participation, we neglect to share, would leave our world empty.

We need to move forward and see human beings. Not a color, title or anything else.