RACIAL PROFILING

I wanted to talk a little about racial profiling because it’s been in the news a lot lately. You would think that after 150 years since the Emancipation Proclamation we would be beyond this, but we’re not and most likely never will be. It still exists today, as do other forms of profiling, and it always will because it’s in our nature to do so. Most of the countries of the world are made up of one race and their roots go deep. When we became a land of immigrants, and established this melting pot, we had to expect problems such as we have. I guess by stating in the constitution, “All men are created equal,” it shows our founding fathers were already aware of it, too.

I’m not trying to say that I understand what people of color go through in this nation every day, but I do understand somewhat how you have to deal with it. There are no effective laws that will ever be able to tell people what they can and cannot think about others. It’s against human nature to even try to do that. You can make laws and punish people for what they say and do, but you can’t punish people for what they’re thinking. That tells me there isn’t much any government can do about it.

The greatest way to change people’s minds, regarding what they think about you, is to gain respect by being a good person. But I’m going to stop this lecture right here because you have heard it all before and that solved nothing. NO—I want to talk to you about the day your child was born, and what were your hopes or wishes for that child on that day. I don’t care how poor you were, or if your child was born into a one-parent family. I want you to know that if on that day, when your child was born, if you wanted that child to be great, he or she would be great but not without a huge effort on your part. But then, that is your responsibility, isn’t it?  In this country, with the resources that are available, it’s hard for any child not to succeed if you are serious about them being a good citizen. It’s only when you give up, and expect others to raise your child, that the child will probably fail. Being bad is easy, and often the first choice if not shown otherwise—being good takes constant work and commitment, but the rewards are huge and last a lifetime.

If our government shares any of the blame for the troubles with our youth today, it’s because somewhere along the line, they decided to try and raise your child for you. They thought that through strong-arm laws, they could tell people not to judge other people, when all they had to do was help you raise your child, in the right way, to be a good person and no one would judge them wrongly. I said “help you,” not do it for you. Love and respect are the most essential ingredients in raising a child, and that, the government will never master because they are not capable of doing it. It’s something children should get all of their life from their guardians.  It’s simple—you give it to them and they will give it to others. I don’t judge people by the color of their skin, but I do judge them by their reputation and character, as I know it. If you, as parents, help those children from day one to build a reputation that is not tarnished, then your child will always be respected, and yes, some wrong-minded people will still discriminate against them, anyway, but we can’t control that. When you know that you are a decent person, you don’t care what others might think wrongly about you because you’re better than that, and you know it.