isn't racism amazing?

The divide between skin colour is one of the most challenging conditionings of humankind. A fear of the unknown. An alien tribe or community. Someone who is new, who is different, who's culture has rewarded different behaviours might feel challenged or uncomfortable when stepping in to another world or differing paradigms. And sometimes those stereotypes get reaffirmed by mass media to reinforce an idea and a projection of fear.

Richard Cohen is now famous for reporting in his Washington Post editorial that, “in New York City, blacks make up a quarter of the population, yet they represent 78 percent of all shooting suspects – almost all of them young men.” A couple weeks previous, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office released a set of statistics to corroborate his claim that the NYPD should stop-and-frisk fewer white people and more black people. They reported that 90% of those identified as murder suspects were blacks or Latino, and only 7% were white.

But here’s the even more important finding. In both of those studies, whites who were pulled over and searched were actually more likely to have illegal drugs or contraband in their vehicles. In New Jersey, whites were twice as likely to be found with illegal drugs or contraband than blacks and five times more likely than Latinos. The same thing held true in Maryland. (via Big Think: Racism, Damn Racism, and Statistics: Using a Truth to Tell a Lie).

I recently learned, from a family who chose to adopt in America, that it was significantly cheaper to adopt a child of 'ethnic minority' than a 'white' child.

Nothing amazing about that besides it being a remarkable fact.

But what is truly amazing. What is something magical and equally cheesey, so cheesey, is this kid who got up on stage and did some mind-blowingly against the grain stuff. Despite it being shown on TV and doing that overly exaggerative US thing of making a sing and dance out of the fierce vulnerability this kid demonstrated, it also is AMAAAAZING. Forgive the stereotype.

Imagine if we lived in a world where all we saw was to the key of awe rather than to the key of fear of something different, of something unknowable or against the status quo? What a beautifully inspiring world we would live in.

I wonder what if our projections, beliefs and ideas could create reality? If we could choose. Why not believe in togetherness? Why not have faith in humanity? Why not challenge what the media may want us to believe?

I have the virtue of traveling to different worlds to remind me to go 'oh wow'. The precious moments though, especially those when I feel well and truly out of my comfort zone, are absolutely amazing as are those different rituals, cultures, ideas, skin tones, dance moves and different children too often misunderstood.

My friend Kyle recently described my speciality as 'getting lost' much to my amusement and I suppose I enjoy the challenge of being in the vortex of endless possibilities and often taking the scenic route back home.  And I guess also, we all can relate to that feeling one might experience as a child, when one loses their way in wonder and finds their parents have gone.  It might instil a sense of fear, abandonment, worry but it needn't have to. My favourite time getting lost for me as a child was when I lost my Pops and second Mum on the Eiffel Tower on a holiday in Paris with my little brother.  But perhaps that's what made it so special, because despite being lost, I still had a brother (and we secretly enjoyed it). Love to the family.

I say we embrace the unknown. 

Literally. 

Like go hug a stranger... I did it the other day and it felt so amazing.