|
Everyone should be treated as an equal. Everyone has the right to expect equal treatment. Everyone has the duty and responsibility to treat others as equals and with respect.
Why do people insist on hypenating America? Why do they have to be Mexican-American? Why do they have to be African-American? Why do they have to be Asian-American? Why can't we all just be AMERICANS. Don't they realize that they are only perpetuating their own stereotypes? Don't they realize that they are only exacerbating the already existing problem of racism? If the typical white, anglo-saxon, protestant of European descent is considered to be American, then why do they insist on being Hypenated-Americans? They want to be treated as equals! They want the racism to end! They want the hatred to end! Start by ending Hypenated-America. Just be AMERICANS?
To be proud of your heritage and where you came from is important. It is a big part of who you are, who your parents and grandparents were, and who your children and grandchildren will be. Your heritage and where you came from is important, but where you are now and where you are going is also just as important. Where you are now and where you are going is just as big a part of who you are, as where you came from is.
To me, the Reverend Jessie Jackson is one of the biggest hippocrits there is. He speaks out against racial hatred, supression, and bigotry. He protests for equal rights for everyone. Yet he has no problem saying that he is African-American. Is this so that everyone knows that he is different? Is this so that everyone knows that he wants to be in a special group of his own? Is this so that everyone knows that he is not equal to the "ordinary, average, white, anglo-saxon, protestant American of European descent"?
Why when the university system of Califoria announced that it was doing away with affirmative action programs, was he one of the first to speak out against it. Doesn't affirmative action give preferential treatment and consideration based on race? On one hand he wants equal treatment for all, but on the other hand, he still wants preferential consideration, based on race, for someone who may not meet the standards of admission for the university. What about the poor W.A.S.P. American whose scores didn't quite meet the admission standards or has trouble with the cost of tuition?
But then the cry is made by many....We have been supressed for so long in history....We have been made slaves....We need atonement!!!!
Look back through HISTORY and show me a society where someone wasn't oppressed, where someone wasn't enslaved. HISTORY is exactly that. People are imperfect. Societies are imperfect. At one point in American history, slavery was an accepted societal norm. When society as a whole decided that this was no longer an acceptable norm, war ensued and change came about. At one point in American history, it was an acceptable norm for almost everyone to carry a sidearm, and for disputes to be settled between the agrieved parties. As society progressed, and law enforcement advanced, this too changed.
Granted, this society still has a long way to go before we truly eliminate inequality, racism, bigotry and hatred. In reality, we will probably never "truly" eliminate these things within our society. Someone will always feel superior. Someone will always hate. If we continue to classify and segregate Americans into groups based on sex, race, origin, sexual orientation, religion, etc., etc., etc., then we will continue to have inequality, bigotry and hatred for much longer than is necessary.
Let's start eliminating inequality, racism, bigotry and hatred by eliminating Hypenated-America.
