STILL?

I talked to Daniel and Meg today after class and it really just got me thinking. It's something I've thought about before, and everytime I think about it, it STILL makes me mad. It started when I was telling them something that happened last Wednesday. Last Wednesday I had a party. One of my really close friends was there, I'm not going to say his real name, so I'll call him Jake...you'll see why. They party was going good, everyone was having fun. Daniel and his best friend (who is also my friend, and happens to be gay too) came. Now Jake is very prejudice and I knew this, I just have always chosen to ignore it. He's one of those people that is always going to think what they want no matter what you say, so I just ignore him and never try to change his mind when he says prejudice comments. Well he had a problem with Daniel and his friend being there because they are gay. I'm not even going to mention the obscene comment that Jake said when they arrived, because it's just so uncalled for and completely appalling that people still say things like that. Well I was in the kitchen with Daniel and Jake and some other people when Jake starting quizing Daniel. He first asked him if he went to church, in which Daniel replied 'no'...which Jake then said "well that explains it"...At that point I just told Jake to stop talking. Because that comment was totally unnecessary and I was embarrassed that he was saying this in front of Daniel. At some point he also mentioned that Daniel and his friend were going to hell. That did it for me. It was totally uncalled for. I told Jake to get out. If he was going to be rude to my friends, which in turn is disrespecting me, I didn't need him there. I told him to leave. He didn't budge. I started yelling. Just FYI, I don't yell at people like I yelled at him. I'm not an angry person, I do not scream at people (except my parents occasionally), especially not my friends...which he was supposed to be. As I became more enraged, he just stood there kind of grinning, like it was amusing to him how angry I was. I told him it wasn't funny and I wasn't laughing and he needed to get out. Still, he stood there as if he were deaf. I grabbed the drink out of his hand and threw it. Everyone at the party was silent. They were all watching. My brother was there and started to realize that I was serious. He knew this was a big deal because he knows I don't yell at people like that. Again, I told him to leave. He said he wasn't leaving because his ride wasn't leaving. I told him I didn't care how long his ride stayed, but if they didn't want to leave, then he could go sit on the front lawn for all I cared. At that point I was so furious that my brother pulled him out of the room to talk to him and everyone else tried to calm me down.

As I told them the story, Daniel and Meg were shocked. Daniel was there, but he wasn't sure exactly what had happened...so I was recapping him. It's just so astounding that people still think that way. Hasn't our world progressed past this? My favorite part of the whole thing (and when I say favorite...I'm being facisous) was when Jake tried to quote the bible for me. He said "do you want me to show you the scripture where it says gay people are condemned to hell?" At that I asked him if he wanted me to show him the scripture where you aren't supposed to have premarital sex...something he had done. Or the part where you aren't supposed to drink, which he was doing at that very moment. Apparently only certain scriptures in the bible are important. Afterwards I got to thinking about it. Jake tried to call me for days after the party and I never answered. Finally he sent me a message on facebook and I wrote him a response. I asked him if he forgot to read the part of the bible where no one has the right to judge except for God. Or maybe he missed the part about no sin is greater than another sin....which means if they are going to hell, then he is going to hell for his sins too because they are just as great as theirs. I told him maybe next time he should get all the facts straight before he decided to quote the bible. I just find it completely ridiculous that someone could say those things and act that way towards someone they don't even know. I hate ignorance. And his comments were completely ignorant. I'm not perfect, but I'm also not going around preaching to people and being totally hypocrytical. I will never make him realize how wrong he was. Because he thinks he is totally right. He had also made a racist remark because Daniel's friend was black. I was completely baffelled by that because Jake's best friend, who was at the party, is black.

That gets me into what I meant to focus on. After telling her what happened, Meg mentioned that she had never experienced so much racism until she moved to Memphis. Meg is from Franklin, Tennessee, a little country town where you would think everyone is a red-neck and racist. You certainly wouldn't think they are less racist up there than here, in Memphis, which is suposed to be a melting pot of cultures. Memphis is a very racist city, which is hard to fathom because it's overwhelmingly black. She pointed out how segregated we are. We talked about dating black people (because her boyfriend is black too) and the kind of comments we get. She told me the things she's heard black girls say about her dating a black guy. It just seems so ridiculous. Memphis was the center for the Civil Rights Movement, and we're still so prejudice. It's just so hard to understand. Why do people hate people based on their skin color or their sexual orientation? Just because I'm not gay doesn't mean I can't be friends with someone who is. Jake said at the party that he didn't want them to touch him. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I like guys, but that doesn't mean I'm going to touch every one of them. I just don't understand. How can people think these ignorant things? Why does our world STILL hate? Isn't the golden rule in the Bible to 'love thy neighbor'? Maybe Jake missed that part too. Is it ever going to get better? Is our world ever going to progress? I think of something my grandmother said to me when she found out I had a black boyfriend. She said "I don't understand what you see in those BLACK boys." He's the same person no matter his skin color. As long as he's a good person, why does it matter? I find ignorance such a hard thing to deal with. It was so hard for me to yell at Jake, my good friend. I just felt so disrespected and embarrassed.

Don't be that person. Don't be that person who makes an ignorant comment and looks like an ass in front of everyone. If you have stupid opinions, don't express them. You are entitled to your own opinion, no matter how ignorant or prejudice it may be. But you do not have a right to judge people. Unless God himself handed you his job for the day, then you have no right to tell anyone that they are going to hell. I hope I made you open your eyes. And I hope this gives someone the courage to stand up to prejudice-ism(?) It seems nothing has changed. People STILL have this hatred. And there will always be that person. I just don't understand it.