Prejudice-The Cancer of the Heart

As stated in previous posts, I have recently been re-examining myself, both internal and external. I used to be like most in that I was happy with who and how I was and saw no problems or dichotomy in my speech and my actual behavior. I would claim I believed in equality and acceptance but the actual working out of that in my behavior was something different. But recent events have caused a rethinking.

As also stated previously, one of those events was a good friend disclosing to me that he was Gay. Where previously I had never given any prejudice in this area much thought, this caused me to give it deeper consideration. Before I had always felt I treated people equally regardless of their sexual orientation, I was still "weirded out" by the very thought of LGBT relationships and behavior. If I am being honest, I still am but instead of just ignoring it, I am actively trying to break that prejudice. Having a good friend that is gay, I want to understand him and his life. It is easy to ignore any prejudices when they don't touch your life in any way, but when they intrude (and they always will in one form or another) we must rethink them and ourselves. 

A similar instance dealt with racism. This was caused my a recent book I read (a brief book review will be posted eventually)-"Natchez Burning" by Greg Iles. It deals with hate crimes during the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960's and the lasting repercussions that are still around today. This has caused me to learn more about this time and also to re-evaluate my own feelings on race. I was lucky enough to be born after those times and to grow up in a relative equality period. I haven't had to see or go through such instances and I consider myself lucky in that respect. But again, being honest I still have ingrained prejudices against those not like me (be they black, hispanic, or asian).

I fear we haven't really solved the prejudice issue (be it racism or homophobic or whatever) we have just driven it deeper and more hidden. The only way to truly deal with it and eradicate it, is to admit it and work through it. We have been successful at hiding it but it is still there smoldering and festering.

Recently Mark Cuban had an interview where he admitted that he has prejudices and the response I have seen ranges all over the map. But most of it, takes him to task for admitting it. I personally, am glad to see him admit it.. I wish we would all admit that we have them, instead of denying it and hiding it. For only when we admit it can we begin to cure it. If we would all be honest with ourselves, we would all admit that we ALL have prejudice. Some of it racist in nature, some of it is sexual in nature, some of it is morally in nature, but it is there. And most of us are well trained and adept at rationalizing it and explaining it away, but it is NEVER right to not respect one another or treat one another equally.

It is never a bad thing to admit and acknowledge we have prejudices, it can only be overcome and defeated if brought out into the light. Just like cancer does with our cells, if left alone and denied prejudice will slowly take over and eat us alive from the inside out. It will cause a tumor of the heart and soul until it explodes and kill us. It will take the "chemotherapy" of acknowledgement and the treatment of honesty and respect for each other to cure this. Instead of sweeping it under the rug and denying it is still there, we need to be honest with each other and most importantly with ourselves.