by Tracy Lynn Richards

Created on: October 20, 2009

Rights of passage an Americans search for acceptance and accepting

In America there are many rights of passage. There are age related ones like getting your drivers license, graduating from high school, or getting married. As people grow older they are faced with many dilemmas in life. Who will they choose to surround themselves with? Children today do not respect their elders as much as children of past generations. It is so easy for some people to say blame it on the parents, when in fact a parent (or lack there of) may not be to blame at all. Teenagers are most susceptible to being brain washed and giving in to peer pressure. They will often act out of low self esteem and wanting to fit into a particular group instead of choosing to act out of the morals and values that their parents tried to instill in them.

Depending on where they grow up and the kind of people that are available to surround themselves with greatly affects how they will turn out to be in their adult life. Imagine if you will- being a white kid in a primarily black inner city school or being a black kid in a primarily white school in the suburbs. The challenges that are forced upon any individual in either of these two positions are going to be immense, maybe even mind boggling to those who could never fathom putting themselves somewhere besides there own comfort zone. It so easy for someone of the opposite race to cry foul, but until you walked a mile in someone else's shoes, maybe you shouldn't judge so harshly and look at things in a different light.

There is something that separates the racist from the diversists, its called ignorance. People who have never had the opportunity to surround themselves with a diverse network of friends or colleagues should not just be labeled such according to how your great great grandparents would see things. We should all look at life as an opportunity. Maybe it's an opportunity to educate. Maybe it's an opportunity to put the past in the past, the lessons taught in history books are just that history! It's up to those in the world now to realize that. Maybe we have made progress. Maybe people still think certain races are being repressed. But, the only way to get passed it isn't sulking in it and complaining, it's taking the opportunity to change someone's mind and educating them one person at a time. There are so many stereo types out there, why not focus on changing people's views instead of putting energy into something you cannot change. What you cannot change is what ever it is that so and so's grandparents passed onto them. What you can change is striking up a conversation with an unlikely person and showing them the kind of love Jesus wants us to show thy neighbor!

I will share with you an experience that I had when I was young, and tell you that I did not let it affect me and take it out on people as I grew older. I simply kept in mind those were the times they grew up in, and that person is just ignorant. I was 16yrs old working as a hostess/table busser at a buffet restaurant. I was clearing peoples plates when I came to an elderly black mans table he said to me How does it feel to take a black mans plates away? I said to him, Considering I was born after the Civil War, it feels the same way as taking anyone else's sir. I wasn't going to let his attitude affect me and take it out on any friends or fellow co-workers because that guy felt like being a jerk to me. You have a choice everyday to choose your attitude. You cannot choose anyone else's. Make a difference in someone else's life for the good. Take time to educate, and love thy neighbor!

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