| | Hypocrite |
| She spoke to me of Heaven And an Angelic Host She spoke of God And the Holy Ghost She spoke of Christ's teaching Of man's brotherhood Yet when she had to sit beside a Negro once She stood. This poem speaks of an attitude that we see all too often in our society today. What sorts of feelings does this poem inspire in you? Do you feel like it is okay to be like this? Have there been instances in your life where you've seen something like this happen? (Maybe it was even in your own family.) Do you think these "hypocrites" think they're doing anything wrong? | |
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I don't feel that it is okay to be like this at all. Unfortunately, not everyone else sees it this way. I feel that people are closed minded because they receive false information about groups of people that are different from them, so they hold it against them, therefore causing them to act ignorant. I think that people will become more accepting of other who are not like them when things like gay marriage are accepted in the United States. I also feel that the race lines will continually, but slowly start to diminish now that we finally have an African American president.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this poem I feel sick. But since this type of situation is so prevelant in our society today, it is not out of the ordinary. It makes me sick, but what can I do? I'm not racist and I defend my position against people that are, but because I defend the equality among all people, those people that feel differently then see me as problematic and try to make me feel stupid for my own beliefs. Some people know what they are doing when they prejudge a group of people that are different from them, but they don't see it as wrong. Other people might see it as wrong, but don't change their behavior because of social standards that they are adhering to. There is just plain ignorance, and then there is being scared of the consequences. ASHLEY
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Ashley- it is ignorance. Sometimes those who are racist are, in fact, very intelligent. This is sometimes more prevalent in religious institutions where people learn from little on that homosexuality is an abomination, that the woman shall be silent, that the black man comes from a cursed lineage. Man-made rules of god's providence triumphing over "savage natives" or "heathens" are some of the attitudes which religion has instituted over time. Children who are brought up in such an environment do not learn to question, to think critically about culture, or to learn a non-institutionalized way of looking at the world. The girl in the poem may have learned love from religion, but she did not learn love from the diverse world around her- including but not limited to the negro. The world is more approachable when teachers can define prejudice, point out its flaws, and encourage an equitable classroom environment- supportive of every religion, race, and socio-economic background-that in order to have peace, we must all consider a world where anyone, regardless of these factors, could comfortably sit next to the cultured Christian.
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