Prejudice

Prejudice is a phenomenon that is both ancient and modern. It can be subtle or blatant, hidden or in plain view. It is something we wish would simply vanish into thin air but that won't happen. We can educate, legislate, preach and whatever but at best we can only scratch the surface. Yet prejudice can be a virtue when used judiciously like I'm prejudiced against intolerance.

A few years, we had an African-American family as friends. We men were both clergy and we rented our church to his congregation on a shared basis with schedules suiting both congregations. One day we invited them to our home. They had three little boys, as charming as they come. I had to coax them to slide down the ladder into the deep water by promising to guide them to the ladder at the end of the pool.

Before long, they were up and down with no hesitation knowing I would be there. They were not swimmers. It was a delightful afternoon. While chatting with their father, he pointed out the oldest son. "See how black he is?" I did notice that he was quite a bit darker than the other two. "That boy is my wife's son from another marriage." Because he wasn't the father he was indeed prejudiced. Sad, but true. Later I learned that the couple had gone their separate ways not terribly long after they no longer needed our building.

We live currently in a mixed neighborhood, age wise as well as otherwise. Often when my wife and I are out for a walk, we sometimes meet an African-American or two. We greet them all but not all return the greeting. Yet some even beat us to a greeting. Now, this doesn't make us non-prejudiced, but it does reveal how easy it is to ignore, mistrust, or to be embarrassed (Hey, you talked to Whitey. What's up?).

In short, let me save you a possible senior moment bemoaning the existence of prejudice and racism. Unfortunately, prejudice is here to stay. So, when we meet the homeless, those of different hues, snobs and the unpleasant, make the first move to greet them, not the last. Then a prejudiced senior moment will rarely occur.