This was a sentiment that we discussed Tuesday night during our class time. The sentiment came out after reading "A Friend and Protector" and "Merry-Go-Sorry." Both stories showed a bit of this feeling. In the first, it was dealing with an African American in the South in the era of rampant racism. The second was showing it through the atypical "trailer trash" and the regular citizens of a small town. Both showed feelings of disdain toward the unaccepted members of society.
As for why we can't all just get along in today's society, there are myriad reasons: ignorance, mistrust passed down through generations, generalizations based on social classes as a whole, and just plain unwillingness to accept your fellow man. I try very hard to base my friendships and relationships on the person and not the outer shell. A friend of mine commented once that "you get along with everyone unless they treat you like crap." Thanks to my mom, I hope that statement is true. I don't care what you wear, look like, who you love, or how you live as long as you respect me for my choices. Each person in this world is unique and if you look hard enough, you can find something good in most of them. If you want my respect and friendship, then I truly believe in the Golden Rule - treat others as you would be treated yourself. If you act like I'm trailer trash or uppity, then I'm going to move on and let you be judgemental. I do admit that I have judged people at first glance, but it was usually based on the situation. If I'm in a seedy part of town (any town) and you look like you mean to harm me, I'm going to move in the other direction. However, I try not to let this run my opinions.
I truly believe that we will never all just get along. There are generations of hate and generalizations that would have to be disproved. I do believe that you can't judge a race of people based on the acts of one, but until the world feels this way, I think we will continue to not get along.
My grandmother always said, "Respect begets respect." Ironically, this is the same grandmother from my blog post. The one that had issues with my sisters boyfriend. However, my other grandmother was a saint. It did not matter who, what, when, or where. She could have been in an alley where some bums were passing a bottle of hooch and she would walk right up to them and smile and say hello. Was she insane? No, she was the type of person Ghandhi was looking for when he was looking at Christians. I'm not talking about religion, just the "golden rule." My paternal grandma was selfless. If only we all were, what a wonderful world this would be.
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