12 March 2006 | swt_jne

Very interesting program

Firstly, i suppose i'm the 'other side' to dee.reid's 20 yo black male, as i'm a 40 yo white female. I found his comments very articulate and meaningful. I agree that this show illustrates issues in our society which many choose to ignore or are afraid to deal with. Yet they MUST be talked about and solutions made to how we can deal with racism in our society, and hopefully one day eliminate it. I believe that it's necessary for each of us to empathize with the other in order to see what life is like for both/each. We are different - different races/cultures/beliefs - but that's not a bad thing, and that's NOT cause to judge or bias one as being better-than or worse or uglier or whatever. It IS possible to raise your child to believe in tolerance and appreciation and respect of ALL people. We must also strive to see what is THE SAME in all of us. We all feel the need to be loved and accepted and respected and trusted. We all feel the priorities of love and partnership, health, family, home, faith, happiness, career, charity, patriotism. This is illustrated in our everyday lives. It's important to see these similar values in order to respect one another, despite our more obvious 'visual' differences. I must say that i was surprised in the show to see how blacks felt that whites felt about them in everyday situations (ie mall, shopping). It saddened me. I mean I knew that it existed, but i guess i hoped that it was more the exception than the rule. I hope that my upbringing did not give me any subconscious behaviors that may be construed as discriminatory, so i'm looking at this more closely. This is a first step. I certainly don't outwardly feel any difference toward blacks than whites; i tend to look at just 'people', and i try to empathize with people who do feel genuine discrimination. While i may not understand black issues completely i think i can see that we have a long way to go before we're at a more comfortable level with each other and that mutual understanding, respect and changing the way of negative behaviors is a good first step. It doesn't hurt to educate yourself about each others culture, as this show is attempting to do. I hope people can see this program in that light, instead of a more cynical way that it's an exploitation of races. I hope that blacks know that more and more whites are less tolerant of the racism of the past, and that with each generation it is dissolved a bit more. At least we are departing from the 'us and them' way of thinking. So this is what I plan to do..and also, of course, continue to raise my 12 yo son, who is bi-racial btw (Chinese, Hawaiian, Caucasian) and also watches and likes this new program, to see each others as people, American and otherwise, with many colors, beliefs and cultures, and members of the Human Race. We like the show and will continue to watch.