“If you know I have a history, then you will respect me.” I thought this was a very interesting quote when I came across it today in a book called, Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage. I think that this speaks volumes on why sometimes race becomes such an issue, I think that although some people are still just hateful, I think that a lot of it has to do with ignorance and the lack of knowledge of another’s culture, with that the lack of interest or want to understand. Unfortunately, I think that a lot of people are raised to think that their culture is what’s “normal” and that there really isn’t a need to understand anyone else’s culture. I think this is one of the saddest things about our American culture. I think that it is sad how we only seem to teach about the white people in history, any minorities in the book might get a paragraph or two, but yet they can find a whole section or chapter devoted to a white person who did similar things, or things that effected our history and our culture just as much. I think that it is important that we are exposed to different ways of life…what happens when something does happen on a global scale and we need to be able to accept another country’s way of life when we can’t even accept a lot of the culture differences that we have right here in America…what is even worse in my opinion is that a lot of people don’t even want to recognize that there are culture differences here in America, but there are…what kind of justice and respect are we giving to those differences if we wont even recognize that they exist….being exposed to culture differences and accepting them hardly makes you a racist, I think it makes you much more respectful of other cultures.
I wonder how things would have been different as far as civilian support for some of the wars we have been through if we would have known about other countries’ cultures??? Makes me wonder why we think that the “American way” is the right way, or the only way….why can’t other cultures do as they see fit and have our respect? I understand that there are some things that we have been brought up to believe in as wrong, but some of the people that we think are being oppressed, like their culture and their way of life and will tell you in a heart beat that they don’t want it any other way.
A great example of this is cultures that make their women be completely covered other than their eyes..in America women have been taught that they need to fight for equal rights and not let any man hold them back and blah blah blah….not that our freedoms aren’t great, but I have heard testimony from some of these women who say that they like that they have to dress that way because it forces a man to respect them for who they are instead of just what they look like…I thought it was a really interesting take on it and not one that I would have come up with on my own. I think it is really important that we take the time to consider someone else’s point of view.
Why don’t we take the time to learn and teach our younger generations respect for other cultures even if they are different? What would be so wrong about having your child appreciate and respect someone for their differences instead of condemning them?
