Prejudice
Why is it rare to find someone who sees no good in where they came from? Even in places where the most despicable acts occur, you would still find condemnation of even less severe occurrences elsewhere. Why do we often assume that our own side of things is superior? We treat others with slight even when in reality the situation might just be different.
But, again, are people bad merely because they are from a place perceived, or even known to be bad?
Over the years, I came across a lot of ‘don’ts’, many from family, friends and even colleagues. And with time I realized I carry a bag of ‘don’ts’ myself. Sometimes we may be very educated, and staunchly religious, but when it comes to making certain decisions, we quickly cast aside our sophistication, and unsheathe our: ‘No, you don’t have to mix with this’. ‘No you don’t have to take that seriously’.’ No you are better than them’. Our ego gets to do the talking.
Every so often the reason is simply racist, tribal, ancestral or religious, but what we perhaps never take into consideration is that the individual is not where they are from. Yes, there may be streaks of one’s background in them but the individual is a highly behavioral being capable of contradictory decisisions.
Whether you are a citizen of some paradise on earth, or you are some royalty, has ever occurred to you that you might as well have been that fellow born on the blacklist?
We are here, not by wish and our place of birth is never by choice. So when you put another soul in avoidable difficulty because they are not as privileged as you might be, you should bear in mind that you are penalizing them for not making a choice they never had. They could have been you, and there is nothing special about it anyway other than mere placement by fate.
It seems only logical to want to question the emergence of function from dysfunction. But the truth, however, is that nothing is really what it seems in life. Indeed, we have seen hopeless drunks beget helpless drunks, but we have also seen hopeless drunks beget very sober and highly responsible individuals in society. So who are you to judge an individual’s ability before they get the chance to prove their worth?
We have deviant tendencies that can be put to negative or positive use anytime, when you get to know the man, you may be surprised to see how far he has drifted from his background, or resisted the influences of his environment.
Of course, there are bad individuals that are from equally bad background. But are they bad because they emerged from a bad place? No. They are bad because they didn’t decide otherwise. Life is about the choices we make.
A long time ago some individual figured it would be a wrong conclusion to judge a cat by its color, and I think he/she was wise. What do you say?
2009 © J.Ifeme
But, again, are people bad merely because they are from a place perceived, or even known to be bad?
Over the years, I came across a lot of ‘don’ts’, many from family, friends and even colleagues. And with time I realized I carry a bag of ‘don’ts’ myself. Sometimes we may be very educated, and staunchly religious, but when it comes to making certain decisions, we quickly cast aside our sophistication, and unsheathe our: ‘No, you don’t have to mix with this’. ‘No you don’t have to take that seriously’.’ No you are better than them’. Our ego gets to do the talking.
Every so often the reason is simply racist, tribal, ancestral or religious, but what we perhaps never take into consideration is that the individual is not where they are from. Yes, there may be streaks of one’s background in them but the individual is a highly behavioral being capable of contradictory decisisions.
Whether you are a citizen of some paradise on earth, or you are some royalty, has ever occurred to you that you might as well have been that fellow born on the blacklist?
We are here, not by wish and our place of birth is never by choice. So when you put another soul in avoidable difficulty because they are not as privileged as you might be, you should bear in mind that you are penalizing them for not making a choice they never had. They could have been you, and there is nothing special about it anyway other than mere placement by fate.
It seems only logical to want to question the emergence of function from dysfunction. But the truth, however, is that nothing is really what it seems in life. Indeed, we have seen hopeless drunks beget helpless drunks, but we have also seen hopeless drunks beget very sober and highly responsible individuals in society. So who are you to judge an individual’s ability before they get the chance to prove their worth?
We have deviant tendencies that can be put to negative or positive use anytime, when you get to know the man, you may be surprised to see how far he has drifted from his background, or resisted the influences of his environment.
Of course, there are bad individuals that are from equally bad background. But are they bad because they emerged from a bad place? No. They are bad because they didn’t decide otherwise. Life is about the choices we make.
A long time ago some individual figured it would be a wrong conclusion to judge a cat by its color, and I think he/she was wise. What do you say?
2009 © J.Ifeme
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