Alert: Planned Site Outage Tonight: Tue. Mar 17th, 10pm-Midnight PST
my care2
make a difference

community

shares

share your passions, stories, inspirations, and more

Feb 11, 2006



Neda is an LPN that works the night shift, a very out going intelligent women, who has a deep spiritually, and has a very open spirit when it comes to others.  She wanted to read what I had to say in my post on prejudice.  After she read the post she shared with me some of her experiences with racist when she worked in a prison hospital for a few years. 

 

She remembered one of the guards (trusties) that were sent to the infirmary to make sure nothing would happen to her; a guard that she came to like very much and who treated her with kindness and respect.  After he was there awhile she found out that he was a white supremacist, involved in the Aryan movement, active where she worked.  Now Neda is black, and proud of it, and finding out this information did not affect her in the least, since she knew the man and liked him.  He obviously liked her after getting to know her; hopefully it helped him to overcome his narrow views.

 

She also told me that she had to evaluate the men when they came into the institution; for instance if the man was gay, she would put him in a area were he would be safe.  One custom was to put an Aryan in with some big mean black prisoner or with someone who was hated by the Aryan’s.  She did not say this but I would think it was also done the other way around.  It came to her attention that a very small Aryan sympathizer was coming in that day to jail and she found out that they were going to throw him in with someone who would hurt or possibly kill him.  She got him into the infirmary and after talking to him stopped the move into the cell.  Now the guards doing this, were both black and white, they did it out of sadism, they liked to put the prisoners in a position were someone would get killed or hurt.  The young man could not believe that she a black women would help him a racist who had hateful tattoos all over his body.  She told me that he changed his thinking after that.

 

It seems that prejudice, except in the extreme cases, will break down when you get people one on one, the center does not hold, it falls apart; at least as far as the person in front of them is concerned.  It is like some men who think that women are inferior and not as intelligent as they are.  No matter how many times they meet an intelligent women, and get to know them, the prejudices will drop for awhile, at least for the ‘one exception”, or that is how they look at it, but the underlying prejudices will not go away. 

 

I suppose even for those who are not racist, stress could trigger this violent irrational hatred of whole groups, be it racial, religious, political, or gender based, that lurks in our unconscious.  In the past I suppose this kind of tribal attitude was needed for survival, but it is not working anymore.  Unless we find some way to counteract this it could be the end of us.  Hate feeds on itself, hate for hate only increases the fire, revenge never satisfies, but only perpetuates the cycle of violence that seems to be unending.   I really believe that the only way to overcome this is for our race to come to the understanding that God does exists, and that we are all brothers and sisters created in the creator’s likeness.   

 

I suppose the only way that one can stay a bigot is to surround oneself with only like minded people, root each other on, and simply make sure that someone in the hated group is not met on a personal level.  When this happens the mob rule can be overcome, for some only for a short time, but for some, like the prisoner that Neda helped it can be life changing.

 

I must be a terrible burden to have to carry around so much hate and anger.  I know how painful it can be for me when I am angry about something, but to have to carry that around all the time must be a living hell.


Visibility: Everyone
Posted: Saturday February 11, 2006, 3:23 am
Tags: [add/edit tags]

Group Discussions start a discussion
Comments add comment
Compose your comment and submit:




Author

Mark Dohle
Author Tools:
Compose New Share
male, age 60, single
Augusta, GA, USA
MARK'S SHARES
Jul
3
(0 comments  |  discussions )
      The lone planeIn the night as I walked slowly around, up and down the long drive that goes East and West, in the early morning warmth with only crickets for sound and the occasional car sounding like ocean waves driving by i...
Jun
28
(0 comments  |  discussions )
      TiredI work twice a week, between four and six hours, in our book store here, it is pleasant for many kinds of interesting people pass through, all of thembeautiful in their own unique way.  There are others, who don&rs...
Jun
27
(0 comments  |  discussions )
      SaltMy soul created in utter simplicity, yet the years experience leads to thoughtlessness, transparency lost in life’s long struggle.The light clouded by self inflicted woundsand yes by the scourges of others, seeking...
Jun
26
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Two trees We have a sidewalk here going East and West laid in different colors of stone… black, and tan and white ending in a little cul-de-sac. Very tiny actually, connected to another sidewalk going North and South.  I often like to wa...


SHARES FROM MARK'S NETWORK
Jul
4
(0 comments  |  discussions )
ApostoÅ‚ PaweÅ‚ napisaÅ‚: Bóg może was tak hojnie wynagrodzić, że niczegowam nigdy nie zabraknie i bÄ™dziecie mogli czynić wiele dobrego.2 do Koryntia...
Jul
3
(0 comments  |  discussions )
ApostoÅ‚ PaweÅ‚ napisaÅ‚ o Jezusie: JeÅ›li tylko wierzymy w Niego, mamyÅ›mia&Arin g;‚oÅ›&Au ml;‡ zbliżyÄ ;‡ siÄ™ z ufnoÅ›ciÄ ...
Jul
2
(1 comments  |  discussions )
Like so many others around the world we at Care2 and our millions of members were shocked and saddened by the recent attack at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was a tragic reminder of how much misplaced anger still exists in our world,...
by Eric S.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Lt. Dan Choi is being fired from the military for refusing to lie about who he loves Help him keep fighting by signing this letter to Speaker Pelosi asking her to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Your support for Dan has been amazing. 162,741 people ...
(0 comments  |  discussions )
ApostoÅ‚ Jan napisaÅ‚: Jeżeli kochamy siÄ™ wzajemnie, to Bóg trwa wspoÅ‚eczno&Ar ing;›ci z nami i jego miÅ‚oÅ&# 155;ć osiÄ…ga w nas peÅ ...


MORE MEMBER BLOGS
Jul 4
Blog: Genghis Khan, Elvis and the snowplough.... by Laetitia v.
(0 comments  |  discussions ) — Now I hope that got your attention! Actually, it has to do with some writing I am doing on line. Although work is at its busiest I try to wind down by writing on-line lately. Poetry and music are more suited to quieter times, which are hope are just ... more
Blog: Health and Your Personal Operating System by Elizabeth E.
(0 comments  |  discussions ) — Your personal computer has an operating system. So do you! It's easy to put a name on your computer's operating system. Perhaps it is called something like "XP" or "Vista." Every now and then, your PC's operating system is due for an upgrade. The man... more
Blog: Bee by Past Member .
(0 comments  |  discussions ) — marjo&beau posted a photo: more
Blog: Hoverfly by Past Member .
(0 comments  |  discussions ) — marjo&beau posted a photo: more
Blog: Marines march in grueling Afghan sun for July 4 by HM S.
(0 comments  |  0 discussions ) — NAWA, Afghanistan -- Taliban militants were nowhere in sight as the columns of U.S. Marines walked a third straight day across southern Afghanistan. But the desert heat proved an enemy in its own right, with several troops falling victim Saturday to t... more
 
Content and comments expressed here are the opinions of Care2 users and not necessarily that of Care2.com or its affiliates.
Copyright © 2009 Care2.com, inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved