Transcript
Bradford King Thumb Correction Facility 3225 John Conley Drive Lapeer, Michigan 48446 email @ Jpay.com American Paradox One day I happened upon this quote, the origins of which I do not know: "I cannot tolerate the fact that a man should be judged not for what he is but because of the group he happens to belong." Reflecting on this, it brings to light that (man for centuries) has more often than not been judging one another predominantly by race not individuality. Given the diversity of our nation, why then have we continued to look at others in such a shameful fashion? Truth be told, we've all been guilty of disregarding who that person is because of their race, creed, or color. Discrimination is a mainstream issue in American History, yet we do our best to cover up everything from the attempted genocide of the Native American peoples, to the enslavement of millions of Africans and their American descendants. We see, each day in the news, the naked reaction to people based on race. The public cries out: this is wrong! Yet, failing to look within, they are no different. The media runs story after story about injustices based on race, creed, and color...and again, no one takes a stand. The media only provides lip-service to the issue, when in actuality they have the ability to foster and mentor this change. Instead they continue to fan the flames of discrimination because it makes good ratings. I present this question through a quote from John. F. Kennedy, American Paradox King p. 2 "The heart of the question is... whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated." So, an option is to ignore the issue, pretend it does not exist. Or, we acknowledge it exists and take a stand, combat this evil with every weapon in our arsenal. In choosing the fight, we must heed the admonition of Edmond Burke: "All it takes for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.": We must be careful while taking a stand against this injustice. It can become a slippery slope of unwanted and unneeded violence. This cause must be undertaken without violence. Peaceful protest brings about change much faster and with clear meaning and purpose. Would we be better off living by this creed? The only way to know is to try. We put a man into space and on the moon, yet we are unable or unwilling to solve living as equals. It is a notion whose time has come. We are all equally responsible. No, we have a moral obligation to live in respect of one another, for one another, and with one another.
