Racism

What a powerful word that generates all kinds of emotions in people. A word that is a taboo but it’s use is as pervasive as ever. No one wants to be tagged as one regardless of their actions. But as we see today the idea is alive and kicking. 

When did we first become racist? Aren’t we all a human race? Who put these ideas in our heads that some people are inferior to us while some are superior? Who put the color in our eyes that we see humans as black and white and brown? 

No child sees color when he’s born. If a white child sees black people as its parents, that’s what he believes to be true. He doesn’t question why the parents’ color is different than him. All that kid needs is love and care and safety. We grow up and we still believe that it’s all good until we hear these murmurs about how certain people who are different than us are inferior to us or we don’t mix with them.

And so it begins. And we don’t stop at color. We then bring in ethnicity, religion, nationality in the fray to make things even darker than they were before. And the slippery slope then leads us down a very dangerous path where every human being can be fit into a box. A box that we created and there’s no escaping from it. 

White people are usually accused of racism more than any other group of people. But are they the only ones? What about the different shades of color we were shown while growing up in India? Why were we always told that fair color looks more beautiful than dark colors? Don’t we worship all our gods who are darker in color? So how did that change when it came to day to day life? Why are we ok with a picture of a dark person but not ok with the person in real life? We were told that certain people are bad because they eat meat and drink alcohol or worship the gods we don’t know much about. So forget about the real human being because you’ve already judged and decided what’s wrong with them. And down we go...

You cannot be a nice person outside and then when you are with your friends and family, all the toxic ideas are unleashed. Racist is not a person who says racist things. It’s a person who thinks that way. So if you are telling your kids or family not to mix with certain people or to look down upon others, guess what, you are it! We need to change the way we see people. It’s a lot of unlearning to do but that’s what is required in these times. I hope in times to come, we get rid of this word by our actions. We don’t see anything else but a human being. Only one race, human.

History is full of instances where one kind of people have oppressed another kind of people. May it be through war or colonization or religion. Nothing good has ever come out of it for the oppressed but the oppressor has gained a lot. They take not only material things but they put ideas in people’s heads as to why they are superior. So for black people, they were convinced by the colonizers that they are not evolved enough. Which is the biggest joke of all times since they are the ones we all evolved from! Africa is everyone’s birth place! But this idea somehow got hold and look at where we are now.

What’s happening in America today is not an awakening. That happened a long time ago. This is a fire that had been simmering for a long time hoping it would cleanse the society slowly. But that never happened. And just like anything else in life, sometimes you have to scream to be heard. And so now we all scream. Join your voices in these screams for justice and humanity. Stand for what’s right for this generation and for future generations. This is a wave that’ll either raise you to the sky or crash you to the earth. Where do we want to be, is in our hands. 

Until later,

Cheerios