I had to read John Howard Griffin's book "Black Like Me" for my sociology class. It is, by far, one of the most difficult books I have ever had to read. For those of you who haven't a clue what the book is about, basically, Griffin decided to see what life was really like for a black person in the deep south in the late 1950s. So, he decided that the only way to truly find out, was to become black. He medically altered his skin a dark brown and then went off to live in the deep south for a month and a half, wandering around Louisiana, Mississippi, and New Orleans as a black, unemployed man. Having to read about the outright discrimination he faced was more difficult than I can put into words. He was the same person he had always been, with the same hobbies, interests and education - yet, simply because his skin was now darker, he experienced a completely new world. People weren't mean to him, John Griffin the person, they were mean to a black man. Plain and simple. They did not see "him" they saw a colour.
As difficult as I found the book, I would like nothing more than to have at least 1 more person read it after seeing this. It is only through education that we can finally purge our society of the disgusting evil that resides in select individuals, permeating their actions and thoughts, spilling over unto the lessons they teach their children. It's through education that we can finally attain a society that is decent enough to live in. The situation with the Blacks in Deep South is the same as the Jews with the Nazis not 10 years prior. We like to think that in our post-modern world this type of thing rarely happens anymore, that we should be so educated to not stoop to that kind of a level of barbarism. Not true. Look at the injustices suffered by Muslims, masqueraded under the thin veil of "counter-terrorism." Look at how the youth, the elderly, women and gay men and lesbians have to struggle to be accepted into certain aspects of our "educated" society. To say that we have somehow left behind this discriminatory mask the human race frequently wears is a lie.
The book caused me to look inside myself in a way that merely talking about prejudice, discrimination and injustice never could. It made me look past the "good person" I portray and actually see the person I am. They say that to gain a true understanding of a person, you shouldn't observe how they treat their equals, but rather, those below them. I fear that within me I, too, have discriminatory thoughts and preconceived notions about people, that I should know not to think, but I do. I could sit here and try to blame "America's Most Wanted" all I want for instilling in me to fear certain individuals above others. To treat others from a different playing field based solely on things they cannot control (IE age, sex race and sexual orientation) - or worse yet, things that, because they can control them (IE religion), therefore means they have decided to fit a certain mold. Unfortunately, America's Most Wanted is not to blame. The media is not to blame. Others surrounding us are not to blame. It is our own decision to accept these "truths" we are presented with, and therefore, the blame lays squarely on me for having discriminatory thoughts, however small they may be, regardless if they are chased from my mind as quickly as they enter it.
I offer no real solution to this ever-persistent and very real problem. Education allows us to see humans, not certain aspects of humans. Education allows us acknowledge these faults within ourselves, and hopefully rectify them. However, education can only go so far and reach a certain number of people. Perhaps the ultimate solution is to keep trying. Yes, education can only travel so far, but if we were to blatantly stop trying to bring about equality, would we not have conceded ourselves into defeat? Yes, the problem will never be solved, but there is a chance it may never be universally accepted. It is this chance that we have to rally our hopes around.
In completely unrelated news, Britney's new CD is out today! :D
