I would actually like to be referred to
> as "human." I would like to see the day that a person sees my
character
> before he/she sees the color of my skin. That doesn't mean I am not
proud of
> my ethnicity, it just means that I would prefer to be acknowledged
as a
> member of the human race. This is just my own personal opinion.
>
> Sherelle
Wouldn't that be a beautiful thing, Sherelle?
Although I've lost interest in her later work, there are a couple of
Rita Mae Brown's books that are among my favorites. Here's a quote
from 'Southern Discomfort':
'Well don't you see, Miz Banastre? I've thought about this before,
too. It's God's joke.'
'Color?''
'Yes, color and everything. God put beautiful spirits into these
bodies, all kinds of bodies. There's men and women and white and
black and beautiful and ugly and old and young and oh, just
everything. And we dumb humans are confused by the outside. We keep
looking at the outside instead of the inside.....Pretty soon we start
killing each other because of these bodies. And God laughs because
we're so stupid. We can't see anything. He puts spirits in every one
of us and trees and cats and everything. So maybe we aren't the same
outside, maybe we are unequal, but inside the soul is pure. All souls
are equal. If only we could see the soul. Some people do and they
understand the joke and maybe they find happiness. I_' She fumbled
for her thoughts, a connection, and then said with finality, 'We are
one.'
Me again:
I think of myself first and foremost as a human being. My race and
even my gender come somewhere further down the list after that. They
are not as important. And like Blue Rhonda Latrec, the character
speaking above who was not what she seemed to be, I too believe that
we are all connected to one another and the physical differences
between us are insignificant. It's very evident to me that Joni feels
the same way.
I too want to thank Julius, Sherelle & Brenda and everyone else who
has posted on this thread for the depth, honesty & insight they have
put into their writing. We need to be able to talk to one another to
even begin to truly understand. I love seeing this kind of honest &
respectful discussion.
Mark in Seattle
