Johnbisonbear said "the signs don't become tattered or torn. But I do take issue Adam with the sign printed on paper on the bus shelter, it wont take long for it to be torn from the wind or battered by rain. Or worse yet racist crap scribbled on it and defacing the original intent of the message.
I find it horrible that people cannot leave others alone to live their lives. I don't care what colour or religion someone practices, that's their life and they can do whatever makes their life worthwhile to live.
Edited by Johnbisonbear, 2020-06-04 09:10:11"
I agree with you 100%. But I think the difference is that sometimes we do need to make an effort to overcome our prejudices. We all have them to some degree (I think it's something innate in people to be suspicious of people from "the outside"), but it's making that choice to not follow them. In time, you overcome them when you realize they're not, in fact, outsiders. But it's hard, and requires a degree of inner reflection that some people don't seem to possess in sufficient quantities (again, something many people need to consciously work at).
I know I have biases and prejudices deep down. They are often driven by fear. For example, when this whole COVID thing started I went to the grocery store and the cashier, whom I have seen there many times before, was of Asian descent. I had that fleeting moment where I was afraid of getting sick from her. But as quickly as I had the thought, I was able to intellectually smack myself upside the head to realize that her looking Asian didn't mean she had the virus. Only people, regardless of their appearance, who had traveled to Wuhan in the past 2 weeks could have the virus. I smiled at her and asked how her day was going, and life carried on.
My husband was shocked when I told him about this interior conversation I had with myself, but I think it illustrates the effort many people do have to make, whether we want to admit it or not. Some need to do it more than others - I'm pretty easy going and generally find a person's colour or religion irrelevant. But for the briefest moment, I was driven by fear, and that gave me a great insight into discrimination. It's fear, even if it's fear of losing privilege. The OP is afraid of protests, of "the children" - again, fear is a driving factor.
It doesn't justify discrimination, but it does change the conversation a bit at my end - a person of primarily caucasian origin who recognizes the impact of things like privilege and colonization. It's okay to be afraid - but it's acknowledging and choosing to not be afraid that will help move us, collectively, past this to a place where colour or religion truly doesn't matter.