A Quick Observation With Respect To Racism

I'm still supporting Obama, but the sentiments of his pastor really bothered me ... I wonder how common his feelings are in his community.

Here's the thing. During WWII there were people who hid and protected Jews, at the expense of their own safety and sometimes lives. The Jewish people call these individuals "Righteous Gentiles" and refer to them with gratitude and honor.

It is a fact that our country allowed a group of people to be abused and disenfranchised because of the color of their skin. It is true that the founding fathers' "unalienable rights" seem hypocritical considering some of them owned slaves themselves. America was able to prosper and rise because of slave labor, true and evil.

However, hundreds and thousands of people have done what they could to fix it, via things like the the underground railroad, fighting in the civil war, and supporting civil rights; many have died trying to make things right.

I'm sick to death of hearing the media make their reports based on racial differences, of community leaders who have spent their whole lives complaining about their lot in life and blaming society and the system.

The thing is, I have tried to be a "righteous gentile," to do my best to treat everyone with respect and dignity. I make concerted effort to teach my children how insignificant physical, religious, socio-economic, MOST differences are, that we are all children of God, commanded to love one another. When I hear people speak as if no one makes any effort to teach their what is right as far as equality and prejudice, it makes me sick to my stomach; I think he is teaching his children that mine hate them for no other reason than their skin color and his children then feel justified in hating mine. There's no good purpose for that. The world HAS changed in the last 50-100-150-350 years. Stop walking backwards into the future, clinging to the passions of the past.

Accept that people and circumstances are much better, not perfect, but much better. I'm not asking we all forget the evils of the past, never, but give credit to all the people who sacrificed to make things better; stop acting like no one did anything to help. Rather than constantly looking for examples of how terrible things still are, make the effort to see how good they are. You usually find what you are looking for.

That's all.