Two hundred thirty six years ago this coming July our forefathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal. If President Lincoln were to utter those words today he'd say that all men and women were created equal. I wonder if we don't actively work against that equality by the stupid things we say and do.
We have become a people who likes to pigeon-hole everyone by assigning labels. Back in Lincoln's time those individuals that we now call African Americans were slaves. Instead of integrating them into this great society as citizens with equal standing we had to overcome our irrational fears and prejudices. After all the struggles we still segregate them by calling them African Americans. We didn't stop there. Now we have Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and so on and so forth.
I blame the census as the number one cause of this type of racial segregation followed very closely by politicians, the media, and the school system. Every ten years everybody in this country is supposed to fill out the census forms to let the government know how many of us there are. They ask what nationality you consider yourself to be, (i.e. Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, African American, etc.). If it's really necessary for the government to know this information, a better question would be: 'What country did your ancestors come from?'. Our nationality, (unless you aren't a citizen by birth), is American. We are supposedly the great melting pot of humanity, but our government seems to think it's necessary to keep us separated and labeled. Perhaps if we quit thinking of each other in terms of skin color we'd finally lose the racial prejudice that still exists. I might add that the bigotry between the races exists among all the races, not just a select few.
Race isn't the only pigeon-hole that we get shoved into. Religion is another favorite. There's Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist to name but a few. These religions are broken down into smaller categories trying to define who we are: Orthodox, Fundamentalist, New Age, etc. Let's not even get into the labels we put on people who are active versus those who are less active versus those who are involved in a religion in name only. All this pigeon-holing has created even more bigotry and hatred. Just as one race sees itself as different from another, being defined as to what kind of person you are by a religion pits one person against another.
I remember a story I heard in Sunday School, (aha you've already labeled me a christian), about these two little old ladies walking down the street. They were considered very righteous by everyone who knew them, but if they had a fault it would have been their propensity to discuss the faults of others. Okay, so they were gossips, (that's a label). This particular day as they walked along the street the subject of their discussion was another woman who lived in the neighborhood. She, (unlike them), didn't attend church. She was known to smoke, and drink alcoholic beverages, and was seen with a different man every night, and it was common knowledge that those men paid for her company, (you just decided I am either a Mormon, or a Baptist, maybe a Muslim, but the Sunday School phrase kind of throws that last option off). Anyway, the ladies talked about how terrible it was that such a person should be living in their midst and how she was dragging the morals of the community down. Just then they saw her coming down the street towards them and hurriedly they decided to cross the street rather than take the chance of having to speak to her. Her low-life, immoral behavior might somehow rub off. As they neared the middle of the street a car careened around the corner speeding directly at the two ladies who didn't move so fast in their golden years. From out of nowhere two hands grabbed them and gave them a mighty shove. They were thrown out of the way of the racing car with only skinned up knees and a couple of bruises to testify of their near death experience. The person who shoved them to safety lay still and lifeless on the cold pavement. This guardian angel was none other but the same woman that the two little old ladies had crossed the street to avoid. They'd have to make a new pigeon-hole for this heroic, non-church-going lady of the night.
We are labeled by what kind of job we have, (Boss/Labor), what neighborhood we live in, (Haves/Have-nots), how much education we have, (Grad/Drop-out), how much money we have in the bank, (Fat Cat/Poor Man), if we have an accent, (Local/Foreigner), if we're pretty (Beauty Queen), or homely, (Ugly Duckling), if we're good at sports,(Jock), and if we're whizzes when it comes to the computer, (Geek). The labels never stop, but the labels have next to nothing to do with who the person is. I have only one solution. It starts with me. Since I'm the only one who can do anything about me, I have to work on un-labeling everyone I know, and just let them be people. Maybe after a time I can learn to accept people for who they are. Maybe it will catch on and a bunch of us can start a new trend. We'll do majestic things, help to change the world to a place full of peace and love instead of distrust and hate. We'll call ourselves the un-labelers. Oh oops that's another label. I'm working on it
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