Growing up I was unaware of what it actually meant or how it can effect people, I only knew the litteral meaning of it. When I graduated and started working I started noticing that it was in a small way all around me. People would favor those who shared thier mother tongue or are from the same state as they are. It used to seem unethical and unfair but there was hardly anything one could do to stop it. It also started burshing off on me, I started developing an aversion towards not only those who did it but all those who were from thier state or spoke the same language. I would try hard not to show that side of me to anyone but it kept bubbling inside me and eventually come out.
I used to think the Holocaust was a thing of the past and that the world has learnt the right lessons from it. But, I realized how wrong I was when in 20th century people were killed in the name of religion in a secular nation. I moved to the US I saw a totally different face of racism. People would kill each other in the name of it. It was no longer about where one is from or what language they spoke or what religion they belonged to, it was about the color of the skin. In a short span of time there were 3 brutal murders of innocents. Victims only fault was the color of their skin.
When did all this start? I kept wondering. I read on wiki that bible mentions that people with dark skin are considered to be cursed. Obviously some people took it too seriously and decided to ignore everything else. I guess there was nothing about killing them altogether.
Racism has different effects on people and the society. You killed one of ours so I will kill two of yours goes on in a vicious circle. I guess that at some level we are all racists but the extremity of it varies greatly and some manage to keep it under the sheets while others don't.
May be I was over thinking about all this but it suddenly occurred to me that I was subjected to racism when I was in high scool. I loved to participate in skits and dances and I am pretty sure I was good at it too. But, my art teacher would always tell me that I am not good enough and give away all the good roles n positions to this one girl in the class. Slowly many had given up trying but I kept working hard to improve and kept trying all 4 years of my high school. I don't know how many days and nights i have spent wondering what was wrong with me. I used to feel so disheartened that my stomach used to hurt. I went on to college and gave up on it altogether. Today I realized that there was absolutely nothing wrong with me. The girl my art teached would select for the lead roles was from the same state as she was and that was it. I feel raged for all the nights I wasted worrying about it. I wanted to make a career out it and I probably could have if not for racism. I don't regret being what I am today but just thinking about what happened makes me sick. I wonder how many kids are out there going through the same thing.
When will all this stop? Why can't everyone realize that as human beings we are more similar than different? We can find 100 ways to differentiate one another but there are 1000 similarities for each difference. I hope everyone realizes this and makes the world a better place to live.
