Quandary

I feel passionately about certain things and I speak up about them, maybe not as tactfully as I should but what I say is what I feel.  My Cindy asked me a favor and that was to stop being so political.  She sees me getting myself into hot water probably with my family when I speak out about certain things and she is attempting to protect me.  I'm not sure I can just shut up.

The way I see it is that every one of us have unique views of the world we live in but that is only a part of what we are.  Most of the people I dearly love don't share my political or social views but I love them anyway.  I just ignore what I don't agree with in them because I know that, for the vast majority of their make-up, they are wonderful people.  None of them and definitely none of me is perfect.

One of my big problems is that it's sometimes difficult for me to make myself understood and some people take what I say the wrong way.  Shelley and I had a discussion about the gravity of the horrors that have happened to black slaves and I mentioned that the Irish went through similar situations when they were brought here as slaves.  I'm not sure but I think she equated the numbers with the gravity of the situation.  I stressed that one black slave and one Irish slave suffered equally but that didn't mean I discount the numbers.  I obviously wasn't able to express myself properly because Shelley didn't understand what I meant but Cindy did.  Maybe I'm not making myself clear right now but I'm doing the best I can.

Any time a person is enslaved, preyed upon, harmed or murdered because of their skin color or ethnicity is a shame on the human race.  Our society should have evolved by now to a place where everyone is equal and have equal rights.  That we haven't risen far enough up the evolutionary scale might be because we are, as human beings, too flawed to achieve perfection no matter how much time passes.

If I point out inequality for any facet of our population except blacks, it doesn't mean I'm racist.  It simply means I'm pointing out inequality in another facet of the population.  It sounds so simple to me but apparently not to some who read my words differently than I intend them.

I want a day when the only thing that matters in a person is their character and nothing else.  I won't live to see that day and I'm afraid my children and grandchildren won't, either.

And, yes, I will always comment on what I feel strongly about, Cindy, but I'll try to be more aware of how my words might be taken.