What is race? What makes us different from each other? Do we really differ from each other or is it just that the wrapping paper is different? According to the medical community we all contain the same stuff inside, we just have dissimilar outsides. Basically a human is a human like a cow is a cow. Except we taste like chicken and they taste like beef.
From an anthropological standpoint we all evolved from one common female ancestor located in Africa. If this is so, and there are those who will argue my point but who cares about them, then Africans, who have been around longer than anyone else should be considered the 'Superior Race.' They've been here much longer than Asians and Caucasians. They started it all. Without their survival skills, and ability to adapt and evolve we wouldn't be here. And if this is so then why do we view the first Africans and their progeny as inferior? In actuality they are far superior. They survived under outrageous conditions for thousands, nay, millions of years! They still survive under outrageous conditions - war, drought, famine, poverty - and continue to persevere. God bless 'em. I mean here we are with our bottled water, laptop computers, Prius', antidepressants, Viagra and bankruptcy court. We have homeless in this country who would be envied and considered middle class in almost any third world nation. They live with constant war and what that brings - rape, a thirty year life span, starvation, constantly waiting for the machete to fall. If they have housing they live in hovels or refugee centers. What the hell do we have to be depressed about! We live in freakin' paradise.
They use solar stoves, eat meals half the size of a Happy Meal, and get their drinking water from wells, polluted rivers or streams that are also used as places to relieve themselves, wash their clothes and throw out refuse.Think Ganges. So tell me who do you think will survive after the bomb goes off - please don't say Keith Richards and cockroaches. It sure as hell won't be us First Worlders. I just hope I go quick.
And what about religion? The three major faiths - Islam, Judaism, Christianity- all have the same patriarch, Abraham. We're like a dysfunctional family. We quibble over semantics around the kitchen table like jealous siblings - one kid says 'Well Daddy gave you Canaan,' the other complains, 'Oh, sure but he said your people would cover the Earth.' We need to get a grip here. We come from the same father (some of us). In terms of race, the same mother (all of us.) This is why I hate the holidays.
I come from a multi-racial, multi-ethic family. If you can name it it's in there. We ARE Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition. I'm a Jew, my cousin is gay, my uncle his kids are black, my husband is a pasty white Irishman - a Benedictine Oblate to boot. We've got Italians, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans, Ultra Orthodox Lubavich Jews, Protestants, Unitarians, Agnostics, Secular Humanists, Buddhists. We even have a Canadian! Go figure. We all get along. We actually have a heck of a lot of fun when we get to see each other at weddings and funerals. Race, religion, none of that ever comes into play, how can it? We love each other and respect and revel in each others differences. If you want people to respect you as a person then you have to do the same for them. It's all about loving your fellow man. We are all inferior beings, we all have massive flaws. We come in all shapes, sizes, accents, dress codes, interests, beliefs, and on and on. The wrapping paper that covers the gift inside needs to be torn off quickly so that you can see the value of what lies beneath. PEACE.
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