Thoughts on Race

The following I wrote for an upcoming College Writing II class on Monday.

Are we as a society still tangled in the shackles of race and racial divide? At the heart of racism is fear; because race implies a real difference among us, those differences implies a perceived superiority and that superiority may lead to predominance that is either perceived or could become very tangible. Fear of the unknown, fear of the unthinkable, fear of our actions of the past, fear of our own ingrained hatred and finally the fear that we may once and for all be the very same. If we can only comprehend that all people of every race, creed, religion and sexual orientation---cry, eat, laugh, die and worry it will introduce the concept that we are all the very same, that we all have the exact same intrinsic value. But by not acknowledging those simple truths we not only threaten our very future but we make the present inaccessible.



One can imagine that one of the reasons that some people cling steadfastly to their ideas of hate so strongly is because they fear once hate is gone forever they will be forced to deal with the tremendous pain of what we have done in the past. What we have caused, the real price of our actions based on perceived notions of difference that simply do not exist. Everything we possess now as a society is in our very hands, we have no right to assume otherwise. If we will not falter in our care and duty to that society now, we will once and for all end this racial nightmare and change the very fiber of our planet.


There is only one true and honest path; to pursue with fresh resolve that confronting the violence, stamping out blatant bigotry and ending flagrant hatred with the same determination that we attack the causes from which they spring – conflict, ignorance, poverty and disease. The world we seek and that we need to demand, is a place where every child can grow to adulthood in health, peace and dignity – in short, a world fit for children. A world not only fit for children, but a world in which our children can thrive, grow, excel and achieve their greatest expectations and wildest dreams of success. A world that every single person experiences before we are taught to hate, taught about those differences and that those differences separate us. The world where we, as children never saw color, sex, religion or politics: we see the child we want to share our blocks with so we are not playing alone.


By cultivating, embracing and pursuing these ideas we give every child the same equal opportunity they deserve and we as a society owe them. Can we finally let centuries of unjustified bigotry go, unshackle the chains that not only bind our minds but our very souls?