Colored Man: Brief Thoughts On Immigration And Diversity

Good morning! On my way to the subway station yesterday I was talking to a young lady that I work with about the diversity here in DC. We soon got on the subject of Immigration and the apparent fear that some people in this country have of immigrants (especially immigrants of color…black, Latino, etc.). This conversation only lasted for our ten-minute walk to the subway station, but in that time we both agreed that this country has not yet seen it’s true identity. What will an American look like in 50 years? What changes will we see in language and culture? These are legitimate questions because America is in an adolescent stage of existence in comparison to Africa, Asia or Europe. America gained independence in 1776. That makes us approximately 230 years old as a nation. That is fairly young for a country. It is my hope that the constant blending of languages and cultures will soon force this country to shed it’s separatist attitudes and eventually embrace diversity. I know that this may seem unrealistic, but this is my hope. Speaking of hope…I hope that everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend if you are here in the Un-United States. If you are in another part of the world I wish you peace and prosperity.

Side note: I read something recently on a fortune cookie that said:
‘Good work, good life, good love, good-bye oppression.’
Lucky Numbers: 11,14,30,31,45,46
(I couldn’t leave out the lucky numbers. **smile**)

The Fear Factor

First, I would like to send condolences and prayers out to the friends and families of those affected or infected by the bomb attacks in London. I was just thinking about these "United States" that we live in and how very fragile we are when it comes to hurt and tragedy. Oh, there are some of us in this society who have seen and are accustomed to a world of hurt, but very few of us are accustomed to the level of "terror" that we have experienced over the last few years. We can't imagine what a person living and working in Iraq has to go through on a daily or someone living in Liberia or some other African or third world nation. Pain is on a much grander scale! We should all definitely strive for peace and try to eradicate both foreign and domestic terrorism. it is not only costing the government and taxpayers billions, but it's causing us to lose ourselves.

We are a culture of fear! This is nothing new. This culture has been run by fear from it's very beginnings. The fear of our fellow man. It was the fear of the Native. It was the fear of the African in America. It was the fear of the Immigrant. Now, it's the fear of anyone who looks like they may be Muslim or from the Middle East. The problem is that we combat our fear of these things by stamping them out. We don't hesitate to wage war on them and all they are associated with. It always helps if those causing the fear are killing themselves because then we can just call it "Live News at 5."

In short, I feel that we should be vigilant, but we should be vigilant when it concerns bringing about peace and vigilant about educating our young so that they don't make the same mistakes that we are making right now. We should become vigilant about examining our morals and reevaluating our prejudices. Well, I'm going to get off of this soap box, but have a safe and conscious weekend. Go in peace~