Xenophobic

Bigotry is the ultimate form of ignorance. Unconcerned to understand that generalizing a whole group of people into one narrow minded ideology shows no sign of intelligence. No matter how far certain races have come in the struggle for their freedoms, no matter how much more “advanced” our society is, and how much more “tolerant” we are in this country, racism still exists. And it is a sad state of affairs for our nation and world.

The working of these thoughts was spawned after I recently viewed the movie, Men of Honor. This film tells the story of Carl Brashear, an African American who wants to become one of the elite Navy divers. African Americans, at that time, couldn’t get very high in rank and the Navy had never had a black man enter that program. The role of Brashear is played by Cuba Gooding Jr. and he does a wonderful job of bringing this story to life. The picture shows his struggle to succeed, overcoming obstacles of race, hate, and ignorance in the U.S. Navy and in his life.

This isn’t about a movie review. As I was watching, I thought about what if I had lived in the 1940’s and 1950s or earlier. Would I have had the typical white attitude? At first, I shook the notion from my mind. But, as that two hour movie played on and stirred up emotions within me, I began to come to the conclusion that I don’t know what I would have done. Would I befriend someone who was not my race, like I would today? Or would I be a shallow, ignorant fool, who just hated someone and was scared to get to know them just because the color of their skin was different than min? What do you all think? Would you be a friend or would you have been a foe?