Onions and Racism

We are born tabula rasa, not racists. Racism's seeds are planted by parents like planting onion seeds. In a racist home, one will grow a stinking racist.

Sorry, but racists of all ilks have lesser lives. If a racist targets 20% of population then 20% of population is going to withhold moments of mirth and joy. Instead of shared laughter, the racist has moments of silence, an emptier daily life.

Normally, the phrase whites only prompts memories of water fountain, bus seats, out-houses and denied eating. But whites only still is part of a black person's daily life. When they meet a white person for the first time, they usually begin the interaction with their whites only personality. They won't share. They won't be frank. Over a lifetime, a racist misses a lot that could have added to their lives. A racist often fills in the voids with self-lies. People igknow truths with lies.

(This individual wanting to get the most out of live, sets the record straight at the beginning of a new mixed race interaction with the a comment that is both humorous and very true: "If you won't use your whites only personality on me then I won't resent that you have a better tan than me." I know and accept that we all are out of Africa with all people sharing genes from common African ancestors thousands of years ago. White Africans left Africa thousands of years ago. Blacks left in the last hundreds of years. As a friend once said, "Us whities are bleached out darkies")

People are rare who can live without a racist thought or action. Like the common cold, racism can infect a person for many reasons. Upbringing. Peers. Editors. Politicians. As one tries to avoid colds and one works to end colds, so it is with racism. We may not be able to rid ourselves of all of our racism, but if we try and fail, our children maybe won't fail when they try.

With commitment and practice, one can reduce the racism within the soul so as to go through life with fewer false fences so as to enjoy life with more freedom and friends. When one encounters a racist thought within, one should laugh at it and peel it off like a layer of a stinking onion. With time, one might end up with a cocktail onion or less. A closet racist would stink less like a vidalia onion, but would still be a racist.

Some might say that he who ends life with the most toys wins the game of life. This writer knows you cannot take your toys with you either into the beyond or the before. But you can take memories of good people and good actions anywhere.

Of course, the worse racists don't have to worry about peeling onions. They have to start with garlic.