The Ugly Word, Prejudice

  

I am not going to pretend that racism and prejudice disappeared, although there were SOME (not enough) strides being made. The "closet racists" seemed to be keeping their heads down (mostly) and I guess too many of us let down our guard THINKING things had gotten better.

 

But in the past few years some folks seem to think it is not only alright to be prejudiced, but it is now perfectly fine to shout it to the world. It's disgusting. People of color, females, LGBTQ, religious targets, and immigrants (even legal) have been targeted in both subtle and out-loud obnoxious words, acts and violence. There has also been a heightened suppression of freethought where real-life topics are considered taboo.

 

A few months ago, parents in a North Carolina school district complained and had a very favorably reviewed book pulled from the school's curriculum because they felt the content was too ugly instead of recognizing it as a story of moral failure and coming of age. Quite recently another North Carolina school district banned a book about racism and a black teenager trying to follow the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. And these incidents are not limited to the deep south… Just this past week some Indiana parents were given the option to take their children out of Black History Month lessons. Meanwhile in NYC, Asians are being targeted for attacks.

 

I was recently intrigued by a notice of a church group in the Midwest that offered use of their database to search genealogy and ancestry. Since this is a topic I am very interested in, I thought I might sign up, however I took the time to read their "terms of use". Imagine my surprise when I read "You should not submit… those names gathered from unapproved extraction projects, such as Jewish Holocaust victims". I did ask rather pointedly if this group was "Holocaust deniers". I did get a replay saying "Not deniers… just you should only use names from those you have permission of" and that doesn't include deceased.

Yes, I took umbrage at that explanation, my family history includes those who were exterminated in the Nazi camps, and yes that also means many links to other relatives were lost as well. Since most genealogy searches include the past generations, many of whom are not living, maybe I am being sensitive, but I felt the comment was a direct hit on Holocaust victims, aka, Jews.

 

Growing up I was very aware that many of us practice different faiths even within the same family — and I was aware that we still could love and respect each other. Why is it so hard for others to accept the differences among family members, friends, neighbors, and our society as a whole. Why should the congregants of synagogues, black churches, and Islamic temples have to fear going to their house of worship? Why should the skin color(s) of a couple mean more than how they treat and respect each other? Why should women and men have pay disparities, or the wealthy be treated with any more respect than other incomes. Why should sexual preferences be a target of so-called moral outrage?

 

People are people. All hearts are red.

 

We’re Making History ~ #MondayBlogs

No matter who you plan to vote for in this presidential election, there is no denying the monumental achievement that we Americans have experienced. This is the first time in American history that a woman has been nominated by a MAJOR party and the first time that there is a significant possibility that a woman could be elected as our country’s leader.

It needs to be noted that two women have been major party Vice-Presidential Nominees, Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008; neither was elected to office.

There have been other women who have run (unsuccessfully) for president on Independent and Third-party lines, or have not won the final Major Party nod: Victoria Woodhull ran in 1872 and again in 1892; Belva Lockwood ran in 1884 and 1888; Laura Clay ran in 1920; comedian Grace Allen got write-in votes in 1940; Margaret Chase Smith was considered for nomination by the Republican party in 1964 but did not win the nomination; Charlene Mitchell was the first African-American woman nominated in 1968.

1972 was a busy year with Shirley Chisholm, Patsy Takemoto Mink (first Asian American woman), and Bella Abzug as potential Democratic nominees in 1972; Linda Osteen Jenness and Evelyn Reed also ran as a third-party candidates in 1972; Ellen McCormack ran in 1976 (potential Democratic nominee) and in 1980 for a third-party; Margaret Wright in 1976; Deidre Griswold and Maureen Smith in 1980; Sonia Johnson and Gavrielle Holmes in 1984; Isabelle Masters ran in 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004; and Lenora Fulani in 1988 and in the New Hampshire Democratic primary in 1992.

We’ve come a long, long way…

When I was married in 1975 I was not given a choice what last name I would be using, it was an automatic practice that a woman adopt her husband’s last name (I am very proud to be Mrs. “E”). I was pleasantly astounded when my daughter, in 2007, was filling out the paperwork for her marriage license and I noticed all of the options; women now can retain their own last names, combine with their husband’s, or take the husband’s name as I did — and the husband has similar options including taking his wife’s surname.

I also remember that I had a credit card prior to my marriage; after being married I requested a card for my new husband. The card was promptly cancelled and I called to ask why; the reason I was given was that a married woman had to have the card under her husband’s credit and permission (there were no standards against credit gender-discrimination at that time).

Other real differences that have happened in the past decades include the firing of pregnant women (as happened to a relative of mine in the early 70s), no such thing as paternity leave, and the right to refuse a female access to certain jobs. There are still more advancements to be made but it is a very different world since my own young adult years.

There are currently 26 countries with female heads-of-state and others who have had women in charge in recent years. This is the closest that the United States of America has come to having a woman leading our country. While your vote this November and the outcome should be based on merit and capability, this very significant milestone should be celebrated by all as to how far we have come.

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I have a dream

It was nearly fifty years ago when the Reverend Martin Luther King gave the famous and powerful “I have a dream” speech. In so many ways, this is a very different world we live in today and yet we still have so much further to go.

1963 was a year of violence and tears, dreams and hope. It was a year when civil rights protesters met with brutality from police and soldiers acting on orders of their superiors. Martin Luther King, jailed in Birmingham, Ala. wrote the significant "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and argued that there is a moral duty to disobey unjust laws. Later that same year he told a crowd of a quarter million blacks and whites the enduring words, “I have a dream”.

“In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”

Dr King preached civil disobedience when necessary, but he also preached non-violence. Even if WE are not the instigators and WE do not personally strip the rights of our fellow human beings away, if we sit still and voiceless as we allow this to happen, then we are just as guilty. He saw a world where all men and women would be equal and respectful of one another.

“I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.”

There are many who have suffered, in the past and even today. Non-whites, women, and homosexuals have to fight every day for equal rights. There are many ways where suffering has to be endured, unequal pay, lost job opportunities, forbidden loves, cold shoulders, exclusion, suspicion, and more.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."”

Advancements and victories occurred through the years; there has always been room for more. In the 21^st-century the American people have seen remarkable changes. Affirmative action has become an effective tool to ensure diverse pools of talent. Equal pay for equal work is a promise with action available when it isn't followed. America saw the election (and re-election) of its first Black president. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was repealed allowing gays in the military to serve openly and proudly. More and more states are passing legal same-sex marriages. There will always be more to do, but our country is honoring human rights for all more and more everyday.

“And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"”

Hyphema: Bleeding in the eye caused by trauma…

 Matt Garratti, a paramedic from New York, moves his wife and son to North Carolina to work at his dream job as a flight medic. Pakistani born Sudah, his wife, receives frosty stares and insensitive comments from their new neighbors... Matt wonders if he is pursuing his dream or bringing his family into a nightmare from which they may never wake.