THE UGLY HEAD.....

     Sorry, not that head. Noooo, not that one either.Talking about the ugly head of prejudice for what happens when this head is exposed or utilized is truly ugly and demeaning and costly.
     Saw the excellent movie last week of Hidden Figures, about the basically hiding and underutilization of female black or African American women in the early 60's during the early part of the  space program at NASA. I never heard of this taking place, the open discrimination during a most heroic program of our country. I was a kid at this point and do not think I could have done anything to change it, but it boggles the mind to think that so late we were still so backwards and stupid, foolish. Why?  Prejudice is costly in so many ways in addition to its ugliness.
     The good Lord made us all. I do not see anywhere that it states that because one is one color or shade that he/she is consigned to a particular status in life or limited in the rights of a human being. I do not see where it is even economically sane and productive to maintain that status so for those who have no religious beliefs, well, here is the humanistic side and if one does not have that, then here is the economic side of it. How much talent, how much brains, how many inventions, how much improvement of the human condition have we lost due to prejudice? Think about that. Go see the movie and while you are watching, think about the double discrimination here - the women.
    Women have been discriminated against for lo these many millennia. Yes, there have been some enlightened countries and thoughts, but overall, well into the twentieth century - actually right into the present day, women are often treated as chattel, to be sold, to be violated, to have few , if any, rights as a person. Children of 9 are sold into slavery/marriage to old men. Human trafficking is alive and well and how many people have turned a blind eye and/or an open pocket to this phenomenon?
      And it seems as if nothing helps. For how many years have we either been allied to countries, fought for them and yet the women are still abused, tormented, subjected to vicious and unfair laws, victims of "honor" killings which in my mind are exactly the opposite. Women all over the world need to unite, to bind themselves together and fight for what is right. No more mass gropings such have been taking place in India, a nation which prides itself on being part of the modern world. No more acid attacks. No more unfair laws. No more unfair wages. No more loss of rights over their own bodies and health. No more!!
     And then we have the truly viciously ugly head rearing its visage in religious prejudice. We have had this over the millennia and I wonder if it will ever stop, go away, be defeated in a massive improvement of humanity. For years Christians killed Jews and Moors and for years Christians killed other Christians but they were not alone in this ugliness. Nope, for we have Moslems killing any and all who enter into their target vision. They kill Christians and Jews and Moslems of other sects, Bahai, Coptics, Yazidis and just keep looking and you will find more targets And today we have the crazy Islamic extremists who look for ever new ways to commit mass murder, such as the encouragement in the ISIS monthly magazine urging future jihadists to set the world on fire in the name of Allah, in the name of Islam. Where do we find such people? Where are the mothers who will stand up and say, not my child, not my child! And do not think that the Jews are exempt from this ever growing hatred with a few, thank G-d only a few, who seem to think it is okay to target Arabs.
    Where have we all gone astray? How has this happened? Well, it happens when we dare to think that others are not as worthy as us, not as favored, not as lucky and not deserving of anything that resembles rights. Take a look at the economic prejudice we have these days. Yes, there has always been class inequality, even warfare, but always there was a chance, slim as it might be, to advance oneself, move into a higher economic class and plan for a better world for one's children. America was such a place where this was possible; not only that, but it was almost a mandate, a significant part of the American dream. Yet today we have a larger split than ever. The poor are getting poorer and the middle class, the support of every successful society, is vanishing, chased and put down by the upper class, the 1% who see themselves as godlike, as more equal than others and sadly enough, this is the administration we are welcoming in in two weeks. We have a liar at the top who made promises knowing that he would break them yet the foolish voted for him. We have the very lobbyists whom he denigrated now being invited in to the administration with open arms. Being a multi, multi millionaire or even several billionaires, seems to be a requirement and if one was a lobbyist, well, all the better, Economic prejudice manifests itself in seriously ugly consequences and yet here we are.
     So yes, I have prejudice within me too. I admit it, but at least I am doing or trying to improve myself, particularly as I see, ever more clearly the consequences of it. Why can we not all see each other as people? Why can we not see that all deserve a fair shake in life and let talent take one where it might, but with ethics and justice. Why does one's gender matter and why must we snicker if someone is different, outside the supposed norm? Why do we think we can pass judgement on  those we feel are less than us and if not, why we just make them so!
     Prejudice is ugly, very much so. As the song from South Pacific states, one must be taught to hate. It is not inborn. We must reach for true heights rather than for the depths as we seem to be doing lately. We need to hold ourselves and our supposed leaders accountable so that there are no more Emmet Tills, no more Leo Franks, no more churches and synagogues and mosques burned, no more Matthew Shepherds, no more black kids being targeted and no more white kids being targeted either! No more wasting the human brain and the human heart, the human potential. No more standing by the windows and looking on and worse, no more taking part in this awful feeling and ensuing actions.
     A little pride in what we can be, what we should be would go a long way. Russia would no longer think it has the right to dare and do - to influence our elections, the very essence of what we are and what we are supposed to be. Out with ethics violators who think they are more worthy than others or laws do not apply to them.
     Yes, prejudice is an ugly head and needs to be cut off from our society. Humanity is better than we have become or are becoming. Stand up for what is right and be of courage when it is difficult to do so. If not, well, take a look around and what's more, take a look within, and see if you like what you see. Be honest.