The case for bigotry

I'd heard many times as a youth that white people were prejudiced because the parents taught the children to be so. I was always bothered by that sterotyped statement because it removed from me the choice of deciding for myself how I would relate to other people but I couldn't prove to myself whether that statement had a ring of truth to it or not. But while in the service, I started observing things that were to lead me to my own answer.

The first thing I noticed happened while I was at a military base isolated from civilization in a remote foreighn country. None of the locals had never seen white or black people in their lives so they didn't not come with any learned prejudices or favortism towards either race. It was only after a few short months there that I began to hear the locals making derogatory remarks and I asked several why? It was because of the way they acted and related to other people I was told.

I adopted a boy from overseas and I noticed his reaction to me and to other strangers. If a visitor was from his own race he didn't not react or reacted fsavorably but he would cry when I came to near him. With that reaction and other things I observed I have come to the conclusion that prejudical behavior towards another is something we are born with and a trait that has to be educated out of us--not something that has to be taught.

No one has to teach a child how to lie or to be selfish. We do have to teach the importance of telling the truth and the rewards of sharing. We never have to teach our children to poke fun at fat people, or tall people, or short people, or red headed people, or people with pimples, or ugly people, or dumb people, or nerdy people, or--and this list can go on for a long time. Maybe you don't like rich people or Democrats, or people with tattoos, or people with a foreign accent. We do have to be reminded to celebrate diversity and to appreciate the role each of us plays in society.

One may oberve the behavior of peoples from other countires and know for sure this isn't just a black/white issue in America. When I lived in Texas, everyone's favorite jokes were about Aggies (Texas A & M) but I haven't a clue as to why. I believe that a babies world is so small and it's ability to communicate is so limited, that it's natural defense is to alert its protectors whenever it preceives uncomfort or threat, real or imagined. A stranger approaching a young child who feels vulnerable with most likely have a negative reaction to that stranger. it's an inborn survival technique and as that baby grows other, it begins to learn how to protect itself and how to more accurately recognize what is and what isn't a threat.

This trait isn't a white thing or brown thing or black thing or even a human thing. It is a natiral instinct for survival. Some people develop the ability to judge a person on thier own merits while others rely totally on childhood survival techniques.

There is one other thing I've learned--name-calling and blame placing isn't ever going to solve the problem. It's kind of like hitting the crying baby to make it be quiet. It just doesn't work. Everyone does know what will work but hitting the baby is easier.