Minority

The election and inauguration of the first African-American President of the the USA has given us all an insight to the length and breadth of racism in our societies. It has been so deeply ingrained in the psyche of the nation that we are now seeing the deep and overwhelming (for some) relief that a nasty chapter in history is finally coming to an end. Or so the perception is. Naturally, as a white Anglo-Saxon, having never lived with or even near a black person or community, I can only observe from a great distance what has been going on in America for generations.
But, racism is not unique to the USA. It is part of the human condition. I live in a community that has large ethnic groups that have immigrated to our country in the last two generations. As I examine my own attitude, I find that my thinking is probably not that different from other's. I suspect that what most call racism is not exactly what the true definition would call for. Racism is believing that some races are superior to others, meaning that discrimination and bad treatment would be based strictly on colour of skin or race. I am sure there is some of that, but when the rest of us have bad feelings toward our neighbours of East Asian descent, it is not a problem with their race, but more of a problem with their culture. Is this as bad as racism? I do not think so.
Every country has developed a culture based on the races of people that have inhabited it. A culture develops with time and eventually an accepted norm surfaces, and all are either comfortable with it or simply give in to it. But recently, as the world has become a global village, there is a mixing of races and more importantly a mixing of cultures. Mixing cultures will naturally clash because the accepted behaviour and even moralities will be different. Each will think they are right because that is how they were raised. So, we live side by side, expecting each other to accept those behaviours that are considered normal. But, we cannot or will not bend our ways and soon we are making generalizations and saying things like, "They are all the same." That is not true. Each person has to be judged on his or her own merits, in all aspects of life. If we do this, racism, or even 'culturalism' will not factor into our relationship with them. We are all made in the image of God, therefore, there must be a whole lot of common ground between us, if we but look for it.