by Xavier Grey

Created on: July 06, 2008   Last Updated: July 17, 2008

I would have to say that racism is both taught and learned. There is a process involved in learning, which generally requires some form of a teacher. Regardless of the subject, an individual has the ability to either accept or reject that which is being taught. There is no doubt that conditioning plays a significant role in what people ultimately believe; but they have to choose whether or not the example being set is one they embrace, or one that they refuse to embrace.

I can really only speak to my personal knowledge of racism, and from an early age I was well on my way to being a judgemental person; not only in regard to race, but also in several other facets of my life. I recall hearing that my mother had married a Mexican when I was four years old. In the small town I lived in that was unacceptable.

Of the 1,216 people who lived there, none were people of color. The closest thing we had to a minority was the guy who delivered Wonder Bread. Willie was as white as you would expect a white guy to be. He just happened to have a very impressive afro. The people in my hometown, as well as several members of my family were embarrassed by my mothers decision to marry a person of color. They claimed that the African American she married was of Hispanic desecent. Brown was bad enough apparently, the truth was denied adamantly by many.

I admit that I was accepting of the mindset that I knew in regard to race. I admit that my ignorance allowed for me to unfairly judge people based on the color of their skin. I accept that I was in error for a portion of my life; but I also have to acknowledge that after having been immersed in diversity for a very short period of time, I realized that people were who they were, regardless of any racial status they might possess.

People of all colors have the capacity to be horrible people; and people of all colors share in the capacity to be wonderful people. Race plays no role in determining the worth of another human being; it's equally as true that no human being is born into a given race by choice. I could not in good conscience condemn anyone because of something they were powerless to exhibit any control over.

The reason I am not a racist is because I learned how the racist mind works; I learned how the racist person acts. Ultimately I deemed racism to be an unacceptable trait, according to the principals I choose to live my life in accordance with, I am in no position to judge. I am grateful that I wasn't around diverse elements

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