African Americans have certainly faced many challenges trying to live the American Dream and partake of the many blessings that other races have enjoyed here. One of the biggest obstacles that black Americans must continue to face in this country is the constant racial prejudice sent to them by white people.
The original blacks of this country were forcibly taken from Africa on ships to America, where they were subjected to extreme abuse. They were made slaves, their families separated, women raped and men whose self-esteem was reduced to nothing. They had no rights and were considered personal property.
You may ask “how can a civilized people like the English indulge in such abominable behavior? What reason could they possibly have for engaging in behavior that treated an entire race of people so poorly?” I have some ideas about what may have been on their minds;
1) They couldn’t do all the things they felt they needed to do under British rule. Consequently, they came to America and fought a Revolutionary War to gain independence. Unfortunately, even though they gained their independence from an oppressive form of government, they imposed oppression on an innocent people.
2) There are many whites who want to show that blacks are inferior to them to feed their own feelings of inadequacy. When you look at different groups of people, there are more similarities than differences. Everyone wants a great life, people who love them, and people to love. Nobody wants to live in misery, want and inadequacy. White people who do not consider that we all want the same things in life do not see life objectively.
3) Prejudiced attitudes have been taught through your generations and can’t seem to break the cycle. Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins can sprout those feelings of superiority and racial prejudice that make it difficult to have interracial relationships and friendships with people of color.
There is no scientific or spiritual evidence to support the mistreatment of people due to a perceived feeling of superiority due to a conceived position of ignorance. When you remove the skin, people are people underneath. When you look at the teaching of the Bible, there is no teaching that suggests that one group of people is better than another just because of the color of their skin. Israel was the favored people not because they were better, but because God chose to approach a man named Abraham and established a covenant with him that passed on to his children and their children. In the early church they admitted Jews and non-Jews into their congregations to the dismay of those who felt superior.
Racial Prejudice is a form of discrimination that was born in insecurity, persists in ignorance, and continues because our nation has been reluctant to act decisively to eradicate it. It must be dealt with because future generations do not need to be poisoned by the sins of the past.
