Martin Luther King Day

I had a great teacher in high school - one of those guys that really makes you think. You could tell that he truly loved teaching kids and that he wanted us to learn. Mr. Holland is one of those teachers that leaves a lasting impression on a person. Here's something he taught me:
The races of this world have long been identified by color...the "black" man, the "white" man, the "yellow" man, the "red" man, etc. It's a rather simplistic way to separate people because while everyone "gets" that skin color can be different, they don't "get" just how little a difference there truly is. It's a classic case of not being able to see the forest for the trees. Let me demonstrate (and this is very similar to how Mr. Holland demonstrated his point for us, his students, way back in 1979). This is a picture of a so-called "black" woman, Maya Angelou.

Look closely. Yes, her skin is dark. But black? Not hardly. This is the color black:
This next picture is of a person of Native American descent. A so-called "red" man (or woman, in this case!). Does she look red to you? If you said yes, look again.This is the color red.

Here's a picture of a person of Oriental descent. Remember the politically incorrect '70's when Kung Fu was on the air? Every week you heard the term "yellow man" (usually spoken by some wild, wild west sort of character with a huge chaw of tobacco in his mouth. lol). Well this little girl doesn't look all that yellow to me.
This is what I call yellow:This is a picture of a so-called "white" person. Now I've seen a lot of pale people in my time, really I have. My BFF Susan's oldest daughter for one. That girl's darn near the color of milk. But still... She's not quite as white as, well..."white". Like this is.
So what's the point of all this talk of color? It's simple really. We may call ourselves and each other by all these chromatic names, but it won't change the true fact and that is...
We're all really just different shades of brown.
So go ahead and define the world in terms of pigmentation. It won't make you any more white or black or red or yellow. You are now and will always be, simply a shade of brown. Just like the rest of us.

This "philosophy" on color is something I've passed on to my children. I want them to know and understand that you cannot and should not judge a person based on what shade of brown they are. It's what's in their hearts and minds that matter. Be it good or be it bad, that's what you should base your opinion of someone on. How will we ever learn to accept one another if we're always looking to high-light a difference so ridiculous as skin color? I promise you, I do not care how dark you are or how light you are...you're still brown, I'm still brown, the guy standing between us is still brown...so let's move on and solve the world's real problems together.