To my children
Sometimes I take my parents or family members to doctors’ offices. When the staff are not familiar with me, they often think I am the patient. It is easy for them to see a person in a wheel chair to be the patient.
Several years ago, I was going to grocery shopping and my sister from the east called. I had my ear piece on and was talking to my sister in front of the market. A woman passing by me said she was sorry but did not have any changes. I did not shave that morning and was wearing old jeans. She thought I was asking for some changes.
It happens rarely, but a black couple could have a child with white skin. I read a story about a black man whose son had white skin in Los Angeles Times.
When he took his son to the doctor’s, people gave them suspicious looks. They asked him where the child’s parents were and questioned him why he adopted a white child.
He talked about the prejudice he had to go thru because he was black. He thought his son would be free from the prejudice he had to go thru. I wonder whether he would be the target of the prejudice from the black because he was white.
In the past, Korea had negative views about Korean-Americans. It was because of a few bad apples among Korean-Americans and Korean dramas which portraited Korean-American arrogant and dishonest. Even these days, new Korean arrivals see Korean-American community with negative and guarded views.
I have my own prejudice. When a strange black man approaches my car while I am waiting for the signal to change in the intersection late at night, I check whether the doors are locked and if there is a room for me to speed away. Another prejudice is to judge a person based on the school he/she went instead of his/her ability and potential.
The problem is our prejudice is not from our own experience but stories and gossips we heard.
One example is the tax increase. Most of us do not like the tax increase since it reduces our take-home income. Is tax increase really bad for us? Not many people fully understand the disadvantage and inconvenience we have to experience when there is not enough money in government agencies.
Our world is overflowing with information. It is so hard to judge what to subscribe and what to believe. There are plenty of conflicting information over an issue.
It is so easy to fall for the opinion that makes us safe and comfortable. Not necessarily, it is the correct and accurate information. We tend to look for and listen to what we want to believe. With the plenty of information to sort things out and solve the conflict, the gap is getting deeper and farther.
We need to be wise. Instead of just following and believing what they feed us, we should learn to think and make decision on our own.