As people we are quick to make judgments about people. In some situations it is necessary - for our safety. But we don't have to be set in these judgments. It is good to keep an open mind. People are the way they are for a reason. I think sometimes we get caught up in our own worlds and forget that others have lives behind them, too. Our pasts and experiences affect who we are. None of us are the same. Nobody experiences any situation in the exact same way. So it is not right or fair to say, "Well, I would have done that this way...," because really, you don't know that. You aren't in that situation. Being open minded about people and trying to understand their situation can help us develop compassion instead of harsh judgments.
Now I don't claim to know everything, because I certainly don't. And I don't claim to be perfect at this, because I'm certainly not. But I am learning. I am trying to keep an open mind about people instead of making snap judgments. This is tricky and is a learning process. All I am asking is that my readers try to do the same.
This following picture is interesting to me. Some of you may have seen this before, but with political ties. I removed those, because I hate to divide by political parties. I think they are stupid, but that's a post for another day. Anyway, since I saw this picture it has stuck with me. It depicts the different ways to view equality.
It always bugs me when people say garbage about poor blacks being lazy and taking advantage of the system. They look at what they see (or think they see) and label it without trying to understand. There is an entire background there, and we can't forget that. There has been much discrimination that has left many members of our country on an unequal playing field.
I came across a quote from President Johnson from the 1960's while I was reading today and felt the need to share it. He discusses the widened gap socioeconomically between whites and blacks since World War II. One of the reasons he expresses here:
"First, Negroes are trapped - as many whites are trapped - in inherited, gateless poverty. Negro poverty is not white poverty. The differences are not racial differences. They are solely and simply the consequence of ancient brutality, past injustice, and present prejudice. The white poor, many of whom had escaped its shackles did not have the heritage of centuries to overcome, and they did not have a cultural tradition which had been twisted and battered by endless years of hatred and hopelessness, nor were they excluded - these others (whites) - because of race or color - a feeling whose dark intensity is matched by no other prejudice in our society."
President Johnson talked about equality for blacks in the terms of not just giving the same things to everyone. He said:
"You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: Now you are free to go where you want, and do as you desire, and choose the leaders and you please. You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, "you are free to compete with all the others," and still justly believe that you have been completely fair. Thus it is not enough just to open the gates of opportunity. All our citizens must have the ability to walk through those gates."
I loved these two quotes demonstrating backgrounds that include generations of struggle and hopelessness that impact the present. This is not only applicable to blacks, but to all others who find themselves disenfranchised and powerless.
It is easy for one who has come from a background of mediocre or great wealth, from a line of education and privilege to frown on those who struggle economically. It is easy for one who has grown up with a solid heritage and in a family of love to frown on those who do not succeed so easily and find it difficult to cultivate love themselves. It is easy for one who has grown up in a safe neighborhood and by the protection of a good father to frown on those who have not had those advantages and end up in a life of crime. It is easy for one who has always been surrounded by positive influences and those generally free of alcoholism or drug addictions to frown on those whose world has been surrounded only by drugs and alcohol as a means to cope with a dark world. It is easy for one who has always had a bright future ahead of them full of possibilities to frown on those who have had a life filled with hopelessness and despair and find it hard to even pull themselves out of bed in the morning. It is easy for one who has always been in good health to frown on those who cannot accomplish great feats due to limitations their bodies have placed on them whether they be physical or mental. It is easy for one who has grown up with the knowledge, understanding, and expectation of how to succeed in this life to frown upon those who have never been given these resources to even know how to put their lives in a better situation. We are not expected to fully grasp one anothers' struggles in life. We cannot know the true heartache and struggle. What we can do is try to have compassion and understanding. We can help just by trying to understand another's world.
Lately I have been thinking about our Savior and whom He associated with while he was here in His mortality. He surrounded Himself with good associates - his apostles and disciples - and He also sought out those who needed help whatever it may be. He loved them. He truly loved them. He was and is the master of compassion. I want to pattern my life after His. I will seek those who are especially in need. Those who struggle and find themselves downtrodden. Christ left his ninety and nine to go find the one. He didn't say to the one, "Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps and get with the picture." He went and sought the one out and found him. He spent His days in service to those in pain. That is the key - to remember that those who struggle feel pain. And maybe we can be more like Him, and instead of shunning, we can try to alleviate that pain if only by understanding and loving.
