Saturday, September 19, 2009

Prejudice

I was born in England. My early upbringing was accomplished there, and my father maintained a British attitude all his life. In recent years, I have decided that the English are equal opportunity bigots. Race, creed, and colour really have nothing to do with it--it is just that, if you're not English, they feel a bit sorry for you. Except for the French. Many English people that I have met hate the French. I was in high school before I knew that "damned frog" was not only not one word, but also that it was not a polite and proper term for a French person.

I know I have prejudices. The thing is, I think it's wrong to have prejudices, so I fight them.

I don't really believe in God, but I have to say that IF He exists, and IF He created all humanity, then each of us has equal value to Him. Put in secular terms; I see a spark of life in everyone, and that spark is equal in each of us. That spark is what makes us human, and the outside is merely decoration.

In my opinion, what it's all about is trying to be a good person. Trying to be a better person tomorrow than I am today, which I hope is better than yesterday. Nobody is perfect...if we were, we would be in heaven, sitting on the right hand of God, right? But we are supposed to try and do better. And that includes fighting any sneaky and covert thoughts that we might be superior or inferior to anyone else, on the basis of skin colour, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, intelligence, or wealth. Because none of that matters. The only thing that matters is heart; being the best person each of us can be in the face of the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune."

So, I guess that I'm trying, in my own clumsy way, to say that we are really much more alike than we are different, and the differences make life interesting. This has always seemed to me to be a fundamental truth; one of those things that I don't understand how anyone could not believe.

I do the best I can with what I have to work...with.

It seems to me that there is a current of incivility running through our entire culture, worse than I have ever seen. There seems to be more violence on the streets and in our homes, more anger and hatred everywhere. And more prejudice.

I've seen several Democratic Presidents elected in my lifetime, and none of them has sparked the level of viciousness from the other side that this President has. He is intelligent, articulate and caring, characteristics that appeared to be sorely lacking in our most recent former President. So what's the problem? Could it be (gasp) the colour of his skin?

The most racist among his "detractors" deny, deny, deny that racism has anything to do with their lack of respect, but, honestly...what else is there for them to gripe about? Liberal policies? LBJ effected some of the most liberal changes in our country's history, and folks got down on him for the size of his hat!

These Obama haters are making themselves look like utter fools, and making this country look foolish in the eyes of the world. It's time to grow up, people. Don't try to make him fail, just because you think he should. We liberals buckled down and accepted your war-mongering, wealth-pandering, inarticulate President, when you manged to get him (more-or-less) elected. It's time for you to do the same. If he doesn't improve the country, vote him out in four years. Meanwhile, give him a chance.

8 comments:

  1. Bravo, Ronni!! Very well said.
    I hope he succeeds way beyond anything we have seen before. The hate mongers do not have better ideas - they just want to be disruptive and negative. Go, President Obama!
    Jo Ann

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  2. Thank you, Jo Ann. It boggles my mind that none of these Obama-haters seemed to care that their President was taking money out of their pockets to give to the rich...but woe betide anyone who wants to use some of their money to help the less affluent! Never mind that the money spent now to help the (ever increasing) working poor will save a lot later on, when those of us without health insurance have been rendered totally destitute and unable to work by whatever catastrophic illness overtakes us. The latest numbers I've seen say that 44,000 people die each year in this country, due to lack of health insurance.

    They don't need to make it mandatory. All they need is to make it affordable!

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  3. Ronni, it almost makes me cry. This link is from a comment made by a Congressman in my state of Missouri at the Value Voters conference. Make of it what you will, many of us see it for what it is. The same old tired disguised comparison of African Americans with monkeys. Disgusting.

    http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/roy-blunt-you-have-to-play-the-ball-where-the-monkey-throws-it.php

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  4. and her husband have just spent two weeks in Montana and Wyoming (they spend a lot of their vacation time in the States) My sister said she was astounded and disgusted by the vitriol levelled at Barack Obama by Republicans ringing radio talk forums. To non-Americans this smacks of racism pure and simple.

    One of our right-wing newspapers has a website that published pictures of Michelle Obama with particular reference to her toned arms and some of the comments from the United States were a disgrace. One commenter referred to the Obamas as 'trashy' and 'low-class'. It's not how I see it. The Obamas come across as a lot classier than many of the previous occupants of the White House. I wish him every success with his presidency.

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  5. Hey. At least this President can string more than two words together without making a mistake...AND...he can pronounce "nuclear!" IMO, that should be a requirement.

    I, too, find the whole "monkey" thing disgusting. And I have several otherwise very intelligent and caring friends who insist on expressing such views. But, of course, they are not "racist!" Oh, dear me, NO! It's not African-Americans in general they dislike...just the one who happens to be our duly elected President...and his wife, of course.

    My head hurts from banging it against that brick wall!

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  6. These racists can say whatever they want but the hard cold fact is that our country elected a biracial man for president. Clearly, race is not an issue for the majority.

    I have no patience or tolerance for ignorance like racism. Anyone who wants to bring Obmama's race into it is just an idiot. President Obama won the election fair and square; no ballot shenanigans, no recount.

    The people picked the person they felt was best for the job.

    Period, The End.

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  7. A well-organized machine, run by Dick Armey and filmed by Fox is really made up of a very loud but actually small minority of people who feel strongly against Obama and health-care reform.
    What we Democrats really need to do is demonstrate. Loud and Proud, parades, rallies, great big signs FOR Obama and health-care reform and to end the WARS now! Why we didn't do it sooner when Bush was president I have no idea. Maybe because he was having people arrested just for sneaking into his invitation only town-hall meetings and exposing their anti-war/anti-bush t-shirts?

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