Ignoranamus Maximus

This original posting can be found at Words of My Life by Kevin Numerick:

 

I very much dislike racists. Bigots. Anything of the sort. One of my good friends had something happen that deals with rude, ignorant foolish people of this type. It really pisses me off. Some prick ass schmuck worker of some company kept coming up with lies that were easily disproved by simply having someone else request the same service and get a different answer.

I cannot tell you how much this makes my skin crawl with irritation. It's 2008 people, it's more than time to get over this type of garbage. I know you likely agree if you are reading this blog.

Now, don't get me wrong, I know in some things I am rather naive, especially when it comes to different cultures, but I sure do not sit here and judge others for it. In fact, in my short time here, knowing some of the people I do, I have taken time and indulged myself into some of the other cultures within our great country. I found out just how much I didn't know. A lot. There's still plenty to know, plenty for me to learn, that is why I just don't get this crap.

When I was in college in New Mexico I joined the Black Student Union. Yeah, that's right, I sure did and it was one of the best things I ever did. I got some quarky looks sometimes, being the white boy in the black student union, but I just tried to use that to get others to listen and say, oh hey, I should check this out too. I even remember sometimes when handing out flyers the responses I would get were just silly. "No thanks, I'm not black."   Well no shit…am I? Nope, it was about having the chance to gain knowledge about something I didn't know.  Apparently they didn't look at it like that.

In the end though, we, myself and the rest of the group, took that school organization that was crumbling and made it the most successful one on campus with the highest number of people involved. It was an awesome experience. We did all sorts of stuff. Some of which has become an annual event for the college now. I'd say that is some success.

I also joined the Hispanic Student Association. This wasn't quite as large, but there were a lot of great people involved with this group as well. I really learned a lot of differences between the cultures, and being from norther Michigan where almost everyone is white, it was amazing to me. I told you, I was/am naive, but I really like learning about all of this stuff. The most important things I learned though, were the similarities.
I also spent quite a bit of time learning about the older cultures of New Mexico. The Native American tribes and history of that state are incredible. I walked through cliff dwellings, listened to the stories of some elders, walked through museums and saw artifacts, art, and the horrors that the Spaniards brought with them when they first came to this country. It was all a bit overwhelming sometimes.

In the end, I learned that we are all in search of the same thing. Happiness. Even with our differences, we are in search for a common goal. And that brings us back to these idiots. I just don't get it. I don't. We're all here, we're all people, we're all uniquely joined together through this world, this country, and bring to each other new growth and knowledge, and we all are striving to make it in life, to be happy, why must some spit on others as if they do not have that same right to dream, to live, to love, to be happy. It's just not right. It's not acceptable.

You're not black, brown, purple, yellow, red, green, or any other color. You're my neighbor. My friend. My lover. My child, my brother. That's all I see. Maybe someday everyone will see people like that.