Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Can't we all just get along?

I know that sounds corny but it is a question that still holds true, and I have a feeling, will continue to hold true for a long time to come. I am a young, American black woman and I want to be proud of the country that I live in, but I am sad to say that I am somewhat ashamed of it. The United States was once seen as the land of opportunity; it was the place to be if one wanted to have a better life. People from all over the world thought that the place that everyone called "America" was "the land of the FREE and the HOME of the brave".
About a decade before I was born, my parents came from Haiti to live in the U.S because they believed that they would have a better chance at a happier life. As I was growing up, they taught me that in this country all I had to do was study hard and keep my faith in God and I would be able to be whatever I wanted to be when I grew up. I graduated from college, and I sing in my church choir. I haven't touched my dream goal yet, but I know that if I keep trying and if this country keeps trying, we all can reach our dream goals. WE just need to stop preventing each other from getting there.
It could be the stupid game of "If I can't win, then I won't let you win" or "To get what I want, I have to take away what you have". That's not fair, is it? Why can't it be "To get where I want to go, I have to take a few people along with me" or "If I want to feel good, I have to help make some other people feel good". Why can't we all realize that life is a journey, not a competition. We should be doing whatever we can to help each other along this journey and instead we are holding people back from their dreams. Back in the day, if one wasn't a straight, blond hair blue-eyed white Christian man, opportunities were guaranteed to be limitted.
Even though we have come a long way, true equality has yet to show its face. We all live in the same country and we "supposedly" pay the same taxes, but we don't all have the same rights. The majority of this country is supposedly Christian, although many people in this country are of different faiths. I don't think Jesus ever said to close our doors to whomever is different; I'm pretty sure he said to love our neighbors as ourselves and to do unto others as we would have done unto us. We are all people and we are made the same way, we have hearts and minds andwe do the same things with them.
We may not have the same belief system but with every religion and every moral code there is one goal, and that is to live a good life. So, is it good to deny other people certain rights or privileges just because they are different? I thought this country was celebrated because of its diversity. Apparently this country would rather have homeless starving children flock the streets than have them live in loving environments with gay people as adoptive parents. This country would rather have AIDS and other STDs spread around the country than allow a gay person the normal human right to be in a legal committed relationship sealed with vows and a certificate. Who the hell do we think we are? Why don't we just get off of our high horses, loosen up our ties, kick off our shoes and just chill. We're all human. Karma can be a b!+(# sometimes, so whatever you emitt, you absorb threefold.

I know that this country is going through a tough time right now (karma) but if war is absolutely necessary, how about a nice game of chess instead? Whoever wins 2 out of 3 games wins the war. No one has to die just because two grumpy old men can't settle their differences.

Please don't arrest me for treason or something like that because that would be mean and because that would be showing the country's low self esteem for not being able to take one person's criticism.
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