HOW did we all get into this UGLY situation at the beginning of the twenty-first century, hey....

Was over at Daily Kos, as there was a big uproar over the sHill supporters wanting to boycott the blog and not post any more. Ohhhh... sandbox gameses, uh-huh. But then I ran across a reccomended diary, by Teacherken. He seems to be a very thoughtful person. It really struck a chord within me.

And it really made me think about our upbringing in a white society, and how preconceptions sneak in and make you racist even if you do not intend to be. And Precioussess? NH is whiter than snow.

Unless you learn to think outside the box.

It brought back a VERY unpleasant memory. I was eighteen, and visiting my mother and her brood in NJ. My eldest step-sister just adored me. Her father was African-American. She has sort of 85% chocolate skin, and is beautiful. And I could remember her father from my childhood, and tell her what a gentle and kind man he was. So That was ok....

So we're out in the kitchen, I took off my watch, and said, 'Look, I got a tan!' And she took off hers and said, 'Look, so do I!' And I was so perplexed, I blurted out, 'I didn't KNOW you can get tanned.' (I had thought there was so much melanin in the skin that they were protected and couldn't get sun-burned. )

Our mother went into hysterics for hilarity over that one, the witch. And I was embarrassed to the end of time.

So where the FUCK did that misperception COME from? It comes from ignorance, and stuff you hear, and you end up that way. Even if you do not want to be.

So Teacherken is right. But it is best to try to be the best, most honest person you can BE.

And look outside the box.