Prejudice

Prejudice is a more complex issue than one may think. For some people, it is a state of mind rather than an attitude. Personally, I wish it did not exist. Unfortunately, whether low&endash or high&endash, intentional or unintentional, it is here all around us. As far as I understand, either of its form of existence is hard to overcome even when it is acknowledged. The good news is people can change. It takes self-awareness and self- consciousness to begin the first steps. In 2000 while working at Motorola, I met Josh from Davie, Florida. He had just come out of the army after a four year contract. As a young boy, Josh was taught, if you do not look and like him, like he was not supposed to associate himself you. Josh is one of those Brad Pitt look alike white boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. Three of his drill officers at boot camp were African Americans and one was Latino-American. He was furious and wanted to quit. Having to salute and call them “Sir” was one of his biggest problems. He said, he called home and told his family. He father told him to hang on there because he will soon be their commanding officer. After boot camp, Josh was placed in a platoon consisting of predominantly African American including his commanding officer. He had to eat with them, talk to them, fight among them, and even die for any of them if it had come to that. Josh said, it took him about a year to adapt and finally grow out of a lot of negative attitudes (prejudicial beliefs) and/or stereotyping he was taught especially toward African American early on. Josh confessed that, in and out of the service, one of his best friends and mentor was Sgt. Lee, an African American from North Carolina. At the time, Josh’s girlfriend and two other very good friends were African Americans. At his house, Josh had African masks and paintings, a big portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and all sort of black poets and authors books and journals, etc. He also added that, “I love and respect my dad, but I don’t think that I love and respect Sgt. Lee any less. Giving the complexity of prejudice, this may be a very isolated case. Whether his prejudice was covert or he really overcame the attitude, his example proves that one way or the other, we can all change. Right among us today, I believe there are those who would call Josh all kind of names and those who would applaud his transformation. In any case, I remain optimistic that as the world turn, more people especially those with high&endash and/or intentional prejudice will learn to accept others for whom and what they are. And for those who are confused or not sure about their status on the issue of prejudice, take an initiative! Because form the first Eve to every mother in every corner of the world, we will always have a black, white, yellow, brown, and red world. Live up and free yourself!