Racism isn’t as prominent as when I was a boy growing up in a small northeastern community. The ethnic population, which included all cultures was all but non-existent. When a ethnic family would move to the area they would soon leave under pressure; the KKK was still active. There was one exception to the rule. I went through school with a boy whose father was the best handy-man anyone had seen. Thus…

Our town and the adjoining two towns had the less desirable citizens as most towns. Most of these individuals were blue collar, God fearing and white. They had moved north in search of work and a better life. They not only brought with them their families but also the white supremacist idealism learned as children.

In the years since my childhood I have lived not only in Michigan but also California, Nebraska, and Florida. The misguided mentality of white supremacy has diminished over the years. Although, I still encounter people who still harbor this idealism.

The Federal Government has legislated equality but this agitates some yet today. In the end it is up the individual to vanquish this idealism in life. Education is at the heart of this battle. If as a child your father told you spinach was terrible you wouldn’t eat it. But once you tasted it and you thought it was good you would begin to eat it. This is education, a learning process in which you not only found you like spinach but maybe you shouldn’t have listened to the propaganda which stopped you from finding out for yourself.

Education takes many forms. It can be an accident where we learn through a chain of events. It is also the teachings of the parents and sometimes the parents learning from the children. Racism is a learned process and when we learn about an individual by hear-say without knowing who this individual is we become interested. We have heard about Joe Blow or Jane Doe and we like what we have heard. We then find out this person is from a different culture and we have to reevaluate our appraisal.

The younger generation is a generation of rebellion. Our new rebellious youth has adopted Rap, Hip Hop, and the Latin lifestyle as their rebellion. In this is education. They are learning the culture and finding out that the people of the culture are the same as they are; thus, dispelling any previous influences.

People learn best by attrition or by repeatedly doing a thing. So on a personal level an individual can frequent events which are multi-cultural. Exposure is a good way to learn. Local collages hold an annual world awareness week where speakers from all walks and cultures converge. Reading poetry like, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes is a good way to understand our African American population.

The best way I know to combat racism is to meet new people and learn about them and their passions, wants, and desires. I will bet they are the same as yours. Once the mind excepts a person the eyes become color blind.