Racism

I read recently of several instances of incidents that could be called racist. A well-known sports announcer made a reference to the term “taco” concerning a Hispanic race car driver. In another case, students in a high school in Minnesota dressed with baggy clothing and do-rags on a certain theme day. In another case, the arrest of a prominent black academic caused no small amount of concern and resulted in a beer summit at, of all places, the Whitehouse…there’s some irony there when you consider…[I’m not going there].
As I pondered this issue, I came up with some thoughts of racism in America. While my thoughts may not be exhaustive, maybe exhausting to some, they reflect realism concerning this perennial issue:
1-Whether we like it or not, racism will always be with us. No government or educational program can prevent people from hating others based on visible or cultural differences. Prejudice was here in Bible times and it will be here when ‘the last trumpet sounds.’
2-Racism is a two way street. Many blacks feel that they are the only targets of racism. Well, to paraphrase that old sold from Porgy and Bess, “It ain’t necessarily so…” Blacks, or any other race, can be prejudiced also.
3- Racism is an equal opportunity destroyer. It is a cancer on the souls of men that is often spread to future generations without them even knowing why they have the sickness. Sadly, prejudice pervades culture and religion. There are interracial and intra-racial expressions of prejudice.
With all of these views, how then can racial prejudice be destroyed? The answer is that it cannot but each of us can do our part to prevent the spread of this cancer:
1-Give others the benefit of the doubt.
2-Refuse to judge without gathering the facts.
3-“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
I welcome your comments on this issue.