Arrival...There goes another blog post

I wish I had some sort of personal experience to share, to go along with this topic. Something about experiences attracts readers and keeps hold of their attention. Maybe I can make this work, though. (:

So, it's not big surprise that cultures clash everywhere, and prejudice/racism is inevitable. Usually, when someone very different from a group tries to fit in, it results in being pushed away and not being given a chance to conform. We've seen extreme examples of this happening all around the world in history, and although on a smaller scale, it still exists today. I feel that the tension between race has died down a bit (at least from what I've witnessed) and now it's more about religion. It's human nature for people to stay away from difference and head towards familiarity, so it's understandable, but not at all acceptable. This also includes varying factors and how people were raised: to be accepting and open-minded, or ignorant and close-minded (which I hate, as I stated in my introductory blog). Stated earlier, I've never experienced "serious" prejudice involving different cultures, and I have only read of them or learned from a type of media. However, here were those minor occurrences in elementary school that could be described as similar. Everyone in grammar school just wanted to fit in and make friends, but I remember many students being pushed away because they were overweight, black, Mexican, or just "weird". This feeling of not being wanted carries on and is introduced by a lot of people. Did they do anything wrong? No. They were just born. As we stated in class, we are born with the rights to life and freedom. Who are we to take those away? Most people will feel like their safety is being threatened when something is different.

The other day, I read about a Muslim woman who went to Costco to buy food, since she had to prepare a meal for her family. This day just so happened to be 9/11, and well...of course things did not go down well. She received a lot of dirty looks and nasty comments as she went through the store, just trying to get what she needed as quickly as possible. They held that poor woman responsible for something other people did. Why? Because "she was different, she MUST be related to terrorism if she's Muslim". I feel like this mentality will never truly go away, but it's very easy to be accepting, at least. The more this hate spreads, the more others will catch on, and each generation will believe these fallacies about "different being bad". Very rarely does a cultural clash happen where something good comes as a conclusion. Sure, friends can be made, but there will always be that one person who has that one thought. This probably isn't the most optimistic view, but it sure is the most realistic.