Red and Yellow, Black and White

Racism.

This is one concept/word that boils my blood within seconds. Although hating people because of the color of their skin is completely objectionable, I have a strong distaste for people who have a problem with black people because of their skin for three specific reasons. One, it is a historical problem with people having black slaves. Two, my sister is from Ethiopia and has very beautiful caramel colored skin. And the third reason is embarrassing, but it is a reason, so...I read the American Girl series when I was like eight (Okay fine, thirteen) and one of my favorites was Addy.

Addy is a little girl who grew up in slavery on a plantation in South Carolina. As an avid reader from the beginning, I completely absorbed these books (especially Addy's stories and Felicity's, for those of you who know the books), but I got really passionate about this series because of the slave master's rough treatment (rough for a naive thirteen year-old; I hadn't read Mansfield Park by Jane Austin or done too much research on the topic at that point)and her escape to Philadelphia and freedom that waited there.

Now I have done extensive research (and read Mansfield Park, let it be known) and have a VERY solid opinion on racism.

For example, words like "nigger" , "negro", "kaffir", "monkey", and MANY other racist terms will make me get so mad, that I could be violent. Our family has had many interactions with RUDE people who have the AUDACITY to call my sister one of those names. At one point, my mother had to actually grab me and hold my arm to keep me from storming over to a lady and slapping her. She couldn't, however, stop me from giving the lady a tongue-lashing. I know I shouldn't have, but I'd do it again in a second.

Do you know why black people are considered inferior? Evolution is a common reason. Josiah C. Nott and George Gliddon wrote a book, Indigenous Races of the Earth, and in said book, it is suggested that black people are a "step up" from a primate and is between a human and a primate on the "Evolution Chart". Another reason is that black people have smaller brains. Really? Which gender has a bigger brain male or female? The correct answer is male. So if men have a bigger brain, why do women sometimes get a higher SAT score? Or any test score? Another question to consider is "Does brain size actually have ANYTHING to do at ALL with intelligence? This has been debated between many a scientist and still is not definite, but I think not.

Let's just SAY that black people ARE inferior for just a minute, okay? (They are not, but we are going to look through the eyes of a racist person for a paragraph or two.) Then, if they are, why did South Carolina's first district elect a black person into the House of Representatives? Then, later, why did his fellow representatives elect him speaker? The man to whom I'm referring is Joseph Hayne Rainey, the first black speaker in the House of Representatives elected in 1870 and served until 1879. Personally, I wouldn't want a person with little intelligence to be a speaker in the House lest represent me and my district. No way.

Or what about the freed slave who is the hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill and received a medal of honor? Oh, that's not in your history book? I wonder...how about the black double agent who practically caused the Yorktown victory for General Cornwallis and worked alongside General George Washington? He's there, right? No? Could it be that history was slightly rewritten?

Okay, back to your normal mindset. These men are all honorable and were given honor at the time, but remain written out of most history books. Why? Because they are "inferior"!

Honestly, with everything I have said, have I not made it clear that there is NO difference between two different

colored people? NONE! Zero, zip, zilch, nada! NO difference. So what if we have different sized brains (that is still up for debate, but just in case we do...)? DO we have the same intelligence level? Yep. NO difference. NONE!

Does this not boil you blood as well? Cause if not....

Just kidding.

Unless you say something negative about my sister...then you're in for it.