For years I've owned a greeting card that has a beautiful photo of babies of many races sitting together playing. The photo was on the inside of the card and the outside was devoid of any picture or words. The cover only had a cut-out of a dove holding an olive branch which allowed the different skin hues to show through from the inside. The message didn't need words. It was poignant all by itself. Babies don't see race and the key to racial equity is to keep the innocence of youth which respects all people.
Real world, on the other hand, is fraught with learned prejudices and bias. Common vernacular like "black list", "Indian giver", and "Dutch treat" are rooted in stereotypes. Over the years, politically correct terminology has changed as well. In the late '60's early '70's, an African American was correctly called "black". That evolved to permutations of African, African American, and in the '90's the University of Minnesota was using the term "people of color" in their human relations classes. The latest term bantered around is "emerging markets". The same evolution of terminology has been true for each of the different races.
My monikers are "white", Caucasian, majority, and female (oppressed minority). The last time I looked my skin color wasn't white! Sometimes it's pinkish, yellowish or taupe, and in the summer it can even become light shades of brown. The variations in skin tone for the many races of people I encounter in St. Paul haven't revealed many true "black" or "red" or "yellow" skinned people either.
These terms are used to group people, but individuals may resent being lumped in with others of the same general race. Members of African tribes can tell you very specific differences between the tribes and proudly want to maintain their differences. The same is true of the subsets of the Asian and Hispanic communities. Believe me, the same is true of the Caucasian "tribes" as well. Italians and Brits are definitely very different and proud of it!
The luck of the draw in birthplace determines whether your station in life is minority or majority. It determines how your skin tone is viewed. Sometimes it also determines your economic position. Migrating to a different area can sometimes change how your skin tone is viewed or your station and economic position. A visit to Haiti by my high school daughter demonstrated how change in location can change one's status as she was meanly taunted on the streets, "BLANCO! BLANCO! BLANCO!". Never having dealt with open hostility before, it was an eye-opener for her (but a good lesson) to be hated for her skin color.
The key to "getting along" for me is to find the commonalities . . . not the stereotypes, but the commonalities. Parents holding their babies demonstrates a common bond in all races. We all want food, shelter, clothing, occupation, and a better life for our kids than we had (Remember our parents walked 5 miles to school everyday in 2 feet of snow and it was uphill both ways!). We all also want respect for ourselves and our children. Focusing on our differences forces us apart. Focusing on our commonalities draws us together.
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