IS IT REALLY SO HARD FOR PEOPLE TO GET BEYOND THE SURFACE?

You would think that those of us who live in a democratic society with the opportunity to thrive only limited by ourselves and our ambitions would be free from bigotry, hatred, racism, bullying and many more terms. Apparently we are not.

On September 15th, 2013 a beautiful woman was crowned Miss America. Unless all the Hollywood movies are in error, that would mean that this woman worked incredibly hard, likely sacrificed many things so that she could stand a chance to represent her country all over the world. Her thanks from too many of her fellow citizens – social media comments that disgust me.

The winner, Ms. Nina Davuluri, happens to have descended from Indian background and along with it comes the despicable comments via twitter et al – REALLY?!!!! Does it make a difference that all people once came from another continent? Does it make a difference if your family has been here longer? Does it make a difference as to what color someone is, what religion they believe in or what societal preference they ascribe to? Not in my opinion.

Many of the people who read my blog will be from Canada and I can just imagine the comments now about the ignorance of our fellow human beings to the south of us. Before you get too many words spewed out, recall not too long ago about a letter to a grandmother about an autistic child making unwelcomed noises or the numerous beatings due to sexual preference.

I believe that this and all the other instances of racism have to beg the question as to what is lacking in the lives, upbringing and morals of those who would make such blatantly disgusting comments. This is not a poke at the likes of Russell Peters who pokes fun at everyone by playing on the stereotypes but a comment on the numerous people in our world who are incapable of discerning fact from fiction.

Why my diatribe here today, simply to illustrate the grave and lasting impact that perceptually innocuous and/or obviously hateful comments and actions can have on people. Before you say something take a good long look in the mirror and determine whether you are making a statement out of your own insecurity or making a statement that has some value to the world as a whole. If the former, keep your mouth and tweets shut. If the latter, spread the word.