Racism

As a Canadian I like to pride myself in the fact that racism here isn't as prevalent as in other countries. When I was a child in grade school (in the 1940's and 50's)we never had any black students but always a few orientals who were quite popular simply because they were nice children. The only form of racism practiced was that we thought these children were perhaps superior because they were ALWAYS the brightest in the class.

My sister has been married to a black man for 20 years and he is especially loved by our family because he is a wonderful human being. He had a military career until retirement and now spends his days keeping his home ship-shape and helping my sister with her day care business. His neighbors also think highly of him because of his friendly, helpful ways. They've lived in the same house for approximately 15 years and never suffered any racial insults until recently when some imbecil wrote these words on his car..."go home n----r". My sister is furious but I can only imagine what my brother-in-law is feeling. This is his home, his neighborhood where he has felt safe and accepted for 15 years. Now when he steps outside he must be wondering which smiling white face masks an inner hatred against him based soley on the color of his skin.

I had hoped that the widening variety of nationalities and races which now comprise my country would result in less discrimination and more harmony in our everyday lives. It pains me to accept the fact that I won't live long enough to see this happen. The plain truth is that there might always be a few dimwitted, frightened little fools who need to feel superior to people of races or religions different than their own. The saddest truth is that one of those dimwits caused a good man to feel less secure in his own home.