Racism

I've never understood it, and I still don't. Sometimes I read about it in books, hear about in the news and sometimes I'm a victim of it, but every time those things happen I'm in disbelief. It's so surprising that its 2013 and there are still racist people. My dad is more or less racist. He tells the occasional racist joke, but after falling in love with a Mexican woman and being the father to 3 Mexican children he has learned a lot about it and usually doesn't make racist comments. But I sincerely DO NOT understand it. Why am I any different from you. Just because my skin is darker? Sometimes you can't even look at a person and tell they are anything but white, but the second you find out their race they are suddenly a different person. I don't understand. How can hate and fear be put into a person. How can other people look at me and other races and be disgusted, just because of my ethnicity? I think that is the hardest thing, I just don't understand why they hate me, why they hate people who are Mexican or black or Asian. I know I've never gotten the worst of it. Some people face racial discrimination and hate much more than I do, but my own family is racist and I never really thought that they hated or judged me or thought less of me but the fact is that they do. My father is white and his parents are racist and they taught their children to be racist too. Luckily my father can see past that and married my mom and had my brothers and me. I knew that my grandma pretended, I guess, to tolerate my mom, but there was hate in her heart as much as any of my white family wants to deny it. I never knew any of this, mainly because my grandma died when I was 1 and I never really met her. As I got older I noticed my fathers racial jokes and I hated them, but I didn't think much of it. Then my mom let slip that my grandma hated her because she was Mexican and not white. (even though my mom is SUPER white washed) other than those things I never knew my whole white half was racist. Not until yesterday. A comment was made by an aunt about their child dating someone who is not 100% white. My dad got furious with her and told her you realize you are also talking about my wife and kids. My aunt feverishly apologized saying she loves my mom and us kids but my dad hung up. I think he thought after his mom died he wouldn't have to deal with that racism against his wife but my grandparents taught their kids that same racism. First that shocked me. I had no idea that it went to that level in my family. Then it saddened me and angered me, but as I was on the phone with my mom I told her if anything happens this weekend to tell this family member, that her parents might have failed by raising racist children but at least she didn't fail because her kids see passed someones ethnicity and can love them without even caring about that.

I know I shouldn't hate my family for their ignorance and I don't hate them, I love them all very much despite how they feel about my race, but it hurts me to know that they treat other people that way. That they think its okay to even say those things. I'm just glad that my mom raised me to not even think about the color of someones skin. She always used to say that my dad would flip if he found out I was dating someone who was black. (which I did do a couple years ago) I never thought she was serious serious though. Like yea he was going to be mad but if I liked him then what could he do. But I realize that there was a lot more behind her saying that. I'm glad I don't feel the ignorant hatred that racist people feel. I only feel love for every human being. Black, white, yellow, brown, straight, gay or something else we are all still human beings and those things don't make us any more or any less than another person.

I don't understand racism, and I don't know if I ever will. I think that people feed into stereotypes and they let those be the reasons to defend their racism but anything you say about a black, Mexican or Asian (or any other race) I guarantee you there are white people who do the same things. Stereotypes are not a reason to hate a race. end of story. There is no reason to hate any fellow human being unless they do bad things, like rape women or steal little kids. Those are reasons to be disgusted with someone but not because of what they look like, who they love, or what ethnicity their parents are./