On the Basis of Race

America was founded on the principle of freedom. Even so, there are numerous examples of how one group has discriminated against another, depriving them of freedom and leading us to our current situation. Of course, the most obvious example is (and we all know this) that, for centuries, Americans imported Africans as property and enslaved them. We're still suffering the consequences of this terrible episode in our history. But, the ones involved, however wrong they were, cannot rectify their atrocities. We are the ones alive today and only we can solve this problem. And, we're not going to solve it unless we want to. So, let's want to.



It's true that I am of the majority in every category, with the possible exception of my religion; I'm Christian. Even so, I think I have a good understanding of racial and cultural issues. I've been lucky enough in my life to have visited about 35 countries and all but five of the US states. In addition, our family has hosted five exchange students who have represented all the races and each from a different country. From this experience I've learned that, despite our differences, everyone has similar needs when it comes to relationships; we all want to be loved and respected, which is another word for "valued."

Regrettably, American history shows a lack of love and respect between the various cultural groups. And, unfortunately, no one can change history. If we are ever going to move beyond where we are today, which is a place considerably better than where we've been, we must not let history interfere with progress.

Making that progress difficult is the fact that there are still bigoted people on all sides of the issue. Many of them live in a homogeneous world (family, circle of friends, small town) where everyone they know is of the same race and culture. This can make it difficult to trust, let alone understand, someone different. To make things worse, some intentionally make themselves as different from others as possible, which only increases the tension. And, some people will point to the least sophisticated or even the criminal element of another race as an indication of the race as a whole. We should be careful with this as we all know someone of our own race upon whom we would not want our reputation based. Instead, let us consider the many people of every race who are better people than... me, for example.

Conversely, there is not a racist behind every tree, meaning that we cannot use racism as an excuse whenever something doesn't go our way. We must have personal responsibility.

But, Trent, you can't take a problem as complex as race relations and make it as simple as changing our ways because we want to. Well, if we don't make it simple then we won't solve the problem. It's the complexities that are keeping us apart. We just can't go on this way. Maybe we can begin by discontinuing the use of race based statistics and preferences. And, let's do away with all race based organizations. Instead, let's begin looking at others as human, the same as us.