euphorically colorblind
...not interpret the sight of human beings as different colors simply due to light waves? Would things be different? Would Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. realize his “dream:” I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. Basic human nature leads us to fear what is different and what we do not understand, and in many cases, this fear leads to violence. Therefore, we need to see that people of other races are not that different, and we need to try to understand each other. This process consists of two major parts: a cleansing and reconstruction of one’s ideas and opinions. This process resembles the famous philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes’ search for truth in our world through reason. The same thing is being attempted here: to realize the truth of racial equality through reason. In his Meditations, Descartes writes, “I have freed my mind of all kinds of cares…I will therefore make a serious and unimpeded effort to destroy generally all my former opinions.” (Meditations 75) After we surrender all outside prejudices that have influenced our thoughts and actions over the years, we can finally begin to ascertain the truth. However, this process is much easier said than done. For children this will be much easier to accomplish because they are still pure. Their hearts and mind have not yet been infected with the disease of racism. The expression, “nip it in the bud” comes to mind. However, soon some of their malleable minds will be influenced by the racist thoughts of a relative or friend, or by their own country in some cases. Right now, an Israeli child is learning to hate the Palestinians, while the same is occurring on the other side of the fence. Therefore, the only way to prevent these hateful sentiments and prejudices from gaining a stronghold is to see that these children are taught that these ideas are wrong and unjust. This puts the job on the backs of parents, teachers, religious leaders, friends and relatives. However, in most cases of racism these people are the source of the problem. This fact concludes that the problem is passed down through the generations much like a family heirloom. Therefore, those who posses these racists ideas must confront them and attempt to discover the truth. Every single stereotype must be broken down, dissected, turned inside out and researched for us to find its invalidity. We must ask ourselves how different we really are. We all breathe air. We all eat, sleep and drink. We all love, and ironically we all hate. This hatred separates us, and yet its existence for people of all races is even more proof for our equality. By researching and then discarding these prejudices, we begin to wipe the slate clean. We delete the files much like a computer because they too are trash; however, we recycle and reserve our ability to form ideas through reason because this is what separates man from the rest of God’s creatures. Reason is an attribute that human beings of all races share in common. When we reason, we take compiled evidence and search for an absolute truth. In beginning the second step called ‘reconstruction’, we start all over again with no opinions and an open mind. We need evidence to form our new honest opinions, and this is where the hardest part of the process occurs. Many people will want to turn back at this point. Our American History exemplifies this fear and yearning...