Prejudice

 here are people who are so prejudice that they refer to others by their skin color rather than their name. What makes it even stranger is that some of these people claim to be religious. I wonder if they think God has a back room, where he manufacturers souls who are not white, just to annoy those who are? We all came from the same place and therefore are one, no matter what color our skin is.

I grew up in the state of Washington at a time when skin color was not part of my experience. It was not until I moved to California that I even noticed. At that time it was due to illegal immigrants from Mexico. I worked as a supervisor for a garment manufacturing company owned by a man from India. It was referred to as a sweat shop, although it was not quite that bad. The experience did not cause me to have negative feelings toward the employees as a group. I just didn't think it was right that they were illegally taking American jobs.

Not being prejudiced may be the reason I ended up in Grants, NM. I remember moving to the Laguna reservation in 1976 and the thoughts I had at the time. I pretty much believed all Native Americans were lazy. It didn't take me long to see that my opinion was flawed. I was at the time married to a man who was 1/4 Laguna and never gave it much thought. Even when our daughter was born or when my son, from a previous marriage, married a Native American. The next step was when one of my twin granddaughters married an African American, producing my first great-grandson.

While the Resource Development Coordinator for Grants Good Samaritan Center, I went out of my to include everyone, pointing out that there are more than Spanish and Native Americans who reside here. One of my most interesting ventures was the "Ethnic Evening of Entertainment", which even included a bagpiper from Albuquerque. An army of deserts from around the world, provided by the staff, was thoroughly enjoyed during intermission.

Not too long ago I had the pleasure of having a Facebook friend who was Muslim and lived in Libya. At first we had some problems communication, but soon enjoyed exploring the differences in our countries and traditions. We also discovered a strong spiritual connection between us.

Summing things up I would say any prejudice I have is not because of how people were born it is because of what they choose to do after that fact. Perhaps that makes me more judgemental than prejudice.