Yeah...We've Changed.

I don't know if it's just Americans or if all people like to think that they've bettered themselves based on past experiences.  I don't mean personal experiences, I mean people as a whole.  I remember being young and learning about the Nazis and concentration camps, I didn't think Americans would ever do anything like that.  In fact, I believe most Americans think that Americans have always been rational people who would never treat people the way Hitler did.  I think most people forget that America, too, had internment camps for Japanese-Americans.  They must forget (or possibly not even know) about the Trail of Tears.  America has had it's share of awful things it's done to people.

Now, people have come a long way; slavery no longer exists, religious persecution is null and void (at least in America), gay marriage is allowed in some states, but I wouldn't say that humans have changed all that much.  Most views are still the same.

What made me think of this was the release of The Hunger Games.  Now I've never read the book so I cannot take a stand either way on this, I am completely neutral.  Supposedly, there are a lot of people who are more or less pissed at the fact that they cast two black actors as characters in the movie...actors which some people said were portrayed as white in the book.  Honestly, who cares?  It's just a movie..it's just a book..why does it matter what color their skin is if they play the character well? It really bothers me that people are out there on Facebook and Twitter calling the girl a n*****.  Really?  It comes down to this?

Despite the fact that slavery has been abolished and the Civil Rights movement was successful, racism is still rampant.  I cannot lie when I say that whenever I hear about a murder in Chicago, I tend to think of a black man.  I know, it's awful, I'm not racist in the least bit but it's just what tends to come to mind thanks to media, movies, tv shows, etc.  Isn't it time that we start to change these attitudes?  I really don't want my son growing up thinking that Blacks are all criminals; that Asians are math whizzes; or that Hispanics breed like rabbits.  It is my main goal to make sure that not only does he grow up healthy and physically strong but to also be humble and accepting.