Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:15:50 -0500
From: Donna Kelly
Subject: Re: Prejudice
I don’t know about ironic, I think it’s entirely fitting we’re having this discussion on Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday. What better time to have an honest, open discussion about race relations and prejudice?
You suppose that it never occurred to me that some people have lost their lives due to the color of their skin. Should I ask if it’s occurred to you that people have lost their lives for reasons other than the color of their skin?
It’s an unfortunate fact that people have lost their lives for any number of senseless reasons including skin of any color, even that is not entirely one-sided. We should be coming together to work against senseless violence for any reason. Is it more of a crime if someone is senselessly murdered because of their skin color than because of their sex, religious belief, political belief, robbery or for no reason at all? I don’t think so. I think all lives are equally valuable and to make laws making a distinction sends the wrong message.
I think the people of this nation have come a long way from the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s. It’s time we focus on the positive gains instead of continually prodding the old wounds and digging around in the corners to find something to be offended by. Paul Cuadros resurrected the David Duke incident, where the vast majority of the community ignored the couple hundred that showed up, as a black eye that Siler City still hasn’t recovered from. He completely ignored the pro-immigration march of a couple thousand people in Siler City several years later. That’s a perfect example of obsessing on old wounds while ignoring the progress that’s been made.
How can we judge someone by the content of their character if we continue to focus on the color of their skin?
Donna Kelly
Pittsboro