we're watching this movie about the conversion of a prejudiced white man who went to prison for killing some black men and came out having learned better. it's called american history x. the portrayal of the white supremacist just astounds me. the mentality of the prejudiced is totally beyond me. i cannot understand how people can look at someone's skin or religion or ethnicity and deciding that those things make that person worthless, or freeloaders, or are out to take all the american pie from the white man. especially when you consider that, when it comes to america, the white man was the original freeloader trying to take all the american pie.

however, while the past should be learned from, the past actions of others should not be held to our account today.

the difference between black and white (or any other skin color) is the amount of melanin in their skin. a white man can jump, a black man can be a phd. it isn't color, religion or ethnicity that makes a person what they are, or determines how far they will go. to believe that any of these things limits our intelligence or our ability is to limit ourselves.

racism is based on ignorance and fear. our neighborhoods are war zones because of ignorance and fear . . . and money. used to be gangs were associated with people with colored skin, whether hispanic, oriental or african. but gangs are made up of all colors. i don't understand the mentality of gangs either. what is the bravery of doing stupid stuff that can get you killed or arrested just because you're in a group that tells you to do it. if these idiots asked you to jump of the empire state building, would you do it? but kids are willing to do drugs, rob stores, and kill other people because the gang tells them to do it. does this make any more sense than jumping off the empire state building?

most gangs are based on color too. and hate. and fear.

and i just don't get it. what about the color of another person's skin makes him or her inferior, or even superior? what makes their value more . . . or less than another person of a different color? jesus was a jew, with dark skin because of the region of the world he lived in. how can a white man claim to believe in jesus, then turn around and spit on the jew or the black? as you think about it, racism becomes more and more illogical and nonsensical. all being prejudice does is show the limits of our minds.

i have had friends from all across racial/ethnic lines. i have been blessed with the opportunity to travel across this country and live in dozens of locations. by doing so i have met the most interesting people, of all colors. i have even dated men of other races and religions. and in all these friendships and romances, not one of them showed me that skin tone or religion made a difference in intelligence or ability. all men (and women) have the capacity for good, for evil, to be generous and kind to a fault, to be freeloaders, to be anything that any one else can be.

in some ways who we are is determined by skin color or religion. as we are raised in the traditions of our family's faith, beliefs, and culture, these things cannot help but influence who we become. this goes for racism as well. children don't even think about skin color or other differences until someone in the family points it out. but why should it make a difference?

no, i don't understand the mentality of racism. and i hope i never do. i never want ignorance to get in the way of friendships. i don't want my kids to grow up and see someone not for what they do and how they carry themselves, but for the color of their skin. i don't want to ever think, or ever have my children believe, that we are rich because we're the wrong race. the blacks believe the white men are holding them down, and the whites believe that the blacks (or other races) are taking all the good jobs. i don't ever want to end up with that mentality. it's wrong and built on lies and nonsense.

i want all that to just remain as incomprehensible to me tomorrow as it is today. i refuse to be trapped inside false limitations. i have more than enough real limitations to deal with without added a cage of my own creation.