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I have just noticed this past weekend more prejudice than what I thought was around me. This prejudice stuff is actually different than what most people hear about. This prejudice is not dealing with the race of a person, but it is of the history of the person.
I am the type of person that tries to have everyone like me. I don't care if the person is a prick or a nice person; I just want to have everyone happy. Many people have also labeled me as a "sucker" because of this. The "sucker" label is because I seem to do almost anything to keep people happy. I seem to also put others before myself, so I am able to with stand a certain amount of verbal abuse from everyone. Currently I am being told, in a prejudice way, to stay away from one of my current friends.
I have talked with this friend, and I didn't realize the type of prejudice that people have for him/her. It bothers me greatly that people think this way about him/her. I have never seen such prejudice from these people before, until now. I am also faced with these people trying to force me to decide whom to "hang out" with. The history of the person doesn't bother me whatsoever; however everyone telling me that the person is trouble because of that past does bother me.
I have always done things to make others happy, and tried to do anything possible to do those things. All throughout my past I "hung out" with people that I trusted, and many others that seemed trustworthy. In school this was true many times, however I had no problem with making up my mind about any situation that has come up. I have been friends with a specific family for a better part of my life. This is because the children of that family and the children of my family were always "hanging out" so the two families became closer.
Now I am being faced with a decision that can be very destructive if it is not handled properly. Due to some prejudice that have surfaced towards one of my friends, I am being faced with a decision to take sides. Where the prejudice is based on the history of my friend, which I have no problem with that history, I feel I am being forced to take sides. This type of prejudice is difficult to deal with for many people because of the hatred of specific history that is involved.
This is the first time I have been involved in a decision like this. Usually any time I have been involved in any decision, it was cut & dry. It was a good side and a bad side, and I had no problem with doing the decision. Now I am faced with a family that I am close with vs. a friend that I am closer to than anyone else. The decision is to go on the side of this specific family and agree with the prejudice, or to fight against the prejudice by staying with this specific friend. As it looks to me there has to be a decision because the hatred is just too strong from the specific family.
I have always done what was best for other people, however this time will be different. Since it is a decision between prejudice attitudes vs. what I feel is right, the prejudice will lose in the end. I have started to take less "bull" from people and tried to continue to do my best to keep everyone happy. The more that this prejudice is being forced towards me the more of a chance that I will reject those people. I will reject those people because I don't think that way. I am the type of person that will follow his/her own instincts about anything. This time my instincts are telling me to stand up against this prejudice.
This will be difficult fight, regardless of whom the fight is against. People with this type of "one track mind" can become aggravated easily when you don't obey his/her reasoning. The reasoning that he/she has is telling you that the person is just "trouble", and feels that you will only be hurt if you stay around this specific person. This specific friend has backed out of doing things with me, such as celebrations, because of the prejudice that this specific family has against him/her. I didn't see it in the past because this specific family didn't show the prejudice with me whatsoever.
I have decided that I will finally fight for what I think is right. I have always, in the past, done what others thought whether I agreed to it or not. Now I feel it is time to do what I feel is right. I have been a powerful ally for anyone when it has come to a verbal debate, however this prejudice will be a new fight for me. I know of the history of this specific friend and can understand how people can be scared of that type of thing. I also know that this type of history has been involved with the specific family that has this prejudice. So the family is being really hypocritical with this prejudice.
Although I am best friends with one of the people of this specific family, I will not hesitate to do what I feel is right. The more that the prejudice is being shown to me, the more I will fight against it. I treasure all of my friendships, and have never been forced to choose between any of them until now. I will choose to do what I feel is right, regardless of the cost that will come to me. I feel this way because prejudice things shouldn't exist in the world today, however they do. I will do what is right and fight against this prejudice, regardless how much it may alienate me from this specific family.
I do what my "gut" or instincts tell me to do. If I suddenly want to go to Subway for a sub, I will do it. If I feel it necessary to fight against something that I believe is not right, I will do just that. I know how it feels to bottle things up because I was in a depression for 10-12 years, and I will not let this one do the same thing. Although it may be requested that I do nothing in this situation by my friend, I will do something regardless. I may be told to not worry about it, however when this type of hatred exists something needs to be done. I can be very stubborn at times, however this is one of those times that it is required.
All prejudice should not exist, however the world is not open minded enough to allow the prejudice attitudes to disappear. It is rather unfortunate that the world is just too stupid to realize that this hatred is wrong. I hope that with the fight against this prejudice will cause people to realize that the prejudice is wrong to have. I hope that I am able to make a difference in this situation because I will not be forced to think a way that I don't agree with.
The blatant verbal attack that I received from this specific family about the specific friend of mine is wrong. I will not stand by and allow these comments to exist in my presence. These types of comments are the reason why when a person has a bad history that the prejudice starts against that person. It is wrong to think in the prejudicial way that people do think, and this will be the first time that I have disagreed with the specific family about anything important like this. It will be different for me to do this against them, however it is what I believe is right.
I know that it will be a "bumpy road" to get this prejudice dealt with properly, however when I get my mind on something I will do it. I am a powerful ally when I believe in what is being fought for. I have been a powerful ally when it came to verbal reasoning in situations, and this one will be no different. This specific family may alienate me but it is time for this prejudice to end. No one should have to relive his/her past because others won't let the past die. This is one of those fights that you cannot be neutral, and you will have to sacrifice something when you choose your side.
I hope that anyone who knows me realizes that this is a fight that I believe in, and I will not be forced out of it. Since I receive the blatant verbal attack, myself, I have been pulled into the fight. I could decide to do nothing, however my personal ethics have a big problem with doing that. I will fight regardless of what I may lose in the process because it is the right thing to do. The prejudice may never go away. I cannot promise that the prejudice will go away, however there is a chance to have this specific family to reconsider his/her stand on the situation. This is especially true if the family realizes what I am willing to sacrifice to do the right thing.
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