"The Dream is still alive" -- Walking in the Wind

[delga]

Today was the last day of the school year which is enormously frightening. Mr Luxmoore's leaving was so sad; I was almost (almost) in tears. The end of the year is always painful because although I welcome the holidays, I also mourn the year that's passed.

I'm listening to the last in a three-part series about the American Civil Rights' movement. It's beautiful. It speaks out to me because racism is so rife today that I often want to scream out and ask people "What are you doing? Why are you so cruel? We are all people."

In today's world, we are almost xenophobic and my point is that we shouldn't be. We should be a people. We should be a unit. And we shouldn't tolerate hatred against our people because an assault on them is really an assault on us.

We shall overcome

So here are my statements:

I am a lover of the people of this world

I am a lover of the homosexuals of this world

I am a lover of the women of this world

And I am not ashamed.

Comments

[ultimahora.livejournal.com]

I agree meish: the one thing i really hate about this world is when people are derogatory about people from other countries: like the fact that they come from this country makes them somehow superior to those who don't. Do they not realise that to those people we are foreigners as well? A xenophobic society is a stagnant one.

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

You know, it's now the day after you posted because HTML was messing with my head yesterday. As always.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make yesterday was that what we need to do is educate the people. We need to show people that other creeds and colours aren't frightening or altogether that much different. And if they are, we should value those differences. We are, after all, a society that values individualism. Are you seeing the irony here or do I have to point it out to you?

We are brought up, we are socialised to have certain viewpoints and certain values and whilst they are important, the old stereotypes, passed on from line to line, are damaging to our society. We need to help people to see beyond the parameters of their socialisation.

On a related note, I read an entry on The Vine last week (http://www.tomatonation.com - both Sars and Deborah rock) wherein a Muslim girl who wore the hijab (the veil) was faced with comments like 'Don't you see you're being oppressed?' Well yes, she is being oppressed - oppressed by those people's ignorance. The hijab is a symbol of the strength of her faith and that girl made the choice to wear it. I don't know her; I'm relatively ignorant of Islam myself but I'm proud of her. I'm proud that she has (what can today be termed as) the bravery to openly show her belief.

I'm from a Hindu background (I myself am not religious in the slightest; I didn't have enough faith) but I have so much respect for my Islamic brothers and sisters. Because that is what they are - part of the human family. I respect their right to life and to their beliefs. If I had grown up in London I would never have suffered the effects of racism and I would never know how wrong that is. I see it as my duty, now, to educate those around me.

It’s up to us to make a difference.