them

 

My parents are here for 4 days and though there are some conversations and incidents that should be written up here, I'm finding it difficult.

I knew I would be adding at least one diary entry over this visit becuase like most people, they are liberal racists. What I mean by this, is that, like most people, they do not want to be 'bad people', they do not see themselves as racist yet they have many prejudices based on 'race', ethnicity and religion which they openly espouse.

When I was younger I would point out all the 'bad things' they would say, calling them 'fascists', believing myself to be without prejudice.

Even then, I knew that prejudice and hatred are learned through the wider culture, that movies, TV, newspapers, books, as well as friends and colleagues all help to prop up our prejudices and assumptions about groups that aren't us.

I also understood that the first place you learn about 'us and them', is at the bedside, through our parents. But I thought I was cleverer than all that. I believed I could float above it all and be without prejudice. I understand it differently now. I now believe we all have to face our prejudices, because we all have them. If we don't, our prejudice surfaces in how we treat others, in what we say and what we do. Unconsciously. This matters to me because I want to live in a world without hate. And I believe we are, each of us, individually responsible for the world we live in.


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