Willful Ignorance.

I'm the first to admit that I am guilty of willful ignorance. The idea that I already "know" everything I need to know about something, based on opinions I've heard or things passed down to me by my elders; deciding that I've already formed my "own" opinion, which I'm entitled to, godammit, and that I have no responsibility to see things any differently or gain further knowledge.

I felt this way about racism, that I wasn't *really* racist, I just indulged in a joke here and there. I wasn't *really* racist, I just acknowledged that the stereotypes actually reflect "reality". What I didn't realize or acknowledge was that that is the insidious nature of racism. The jokes and stereotypes are at the heart of racism, because that's how it begins, by allowing yourself to see people not as fellow human beings, but as something less than you are. This is how every form of bigotry begins, be it homophobia, sexism, ageism, or racism.  The truth is that the stuff of stereotypes is really just the stuff of all intrinsically flawed humanity, so to marginalize a person based on their assumed faults, based on what they look like is simply not okay. Better to assess their character as you get to know them to decide if they're worth hanging around with.

It took beginning a career in real estate, which prohibits racism in all forms, including even listening to racist jokes, to jolt me awake. I woke up to the idea that I've gotten complacent about keeping ignorance at bay, and that there is still so much to be learned about my fellow humans. I realized, specifically, that I know next to nothing about American Indians, or about Jews, or very much about slavery, or even the women's rights movement. In order to understand people, I need to know their story. I have some serious catching up to do. I've realized that each person has a voice, and each culture has a story, and as a lover of history and a devourer of stories of all kinds, it is my duty and pleasure to devour and find the value in the stories of all peoples and nations, and to acknowledge the humanity and worth of each individual, free from the constraints of stereotypes and closed-mindedness. This is the present, this is the future, so I need to haul myself into the 21st century.