Race Relations

I caused some “discussion” on Facebook yesterday by posting the below video of Morgan Freeman on 60 Minutes, where he discussed one major step in eliminating racism:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO214IFRW1M]

His solution is simple, effective, and RIGHT. The argument was brought up that I could never understand because of what others have been through. Fair enough–but that assumption is just as flawed, and just as racially-motivated because it assumes the following statement: that because I am of a different skin color, my experiences and life have always been shining, wonderful things. I can just as easily say: you have no idea, and haven’t experienced what I have. Either way, in the end, it boils down to this: racial prejudice in this country is no longer supported or defended by law–therefore any that takes place is on an individual basis. I do not support it–I agree with Morgan Freeman, it is fully time for us to stop referring to each other by color. Do not blame all people of different color or heritage for injustices you have suffered–to do so is just as wrong and prejudiced. Blame the person who inflicted the injustice.

And it really CAN be as simple as Morgan Freeman’s solution. Not only that, but it is the EXACT hope proposed by MLK in his “I Have a Dream” speech. One can say that I don’t understand, but both Morgan Freeman and MLK both experienced far more, and far worse. And yet this is their hope. In the words of MLK:

“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.”

I caused some “discussion” on Facebook yesterday by posting the below video of Morgan Freeman on 60 Minutes, where he discussed one major step in eliminating racism: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO214IFRW1M] His solution is simple, effective, and RIGHT. The argument was brought up that I could never understand because of what others have been through. Fair enough–but that…