You’ve got to be
taught
Before it’s too late,
Before you are six,
Or seven or eight,
To hate all the people
Your relatives hate.
You’ve got to be
carefully taught.
From South Pacific. Possibly the single finest piece of
wisdom to ever come from a Broadway musical.
Don’t know why I’m in such a snit today about prejudice, but there you
go. Oh wait. Might have something to do
with the political brouhaha currently happening here in the US . (NOTE: This bit wasn't added recently and is part of the 2012 original essay) Blech. Politics. Full of things
I get cranky about. Lying, self-aggrandizing demagogues, and money. All of my
favorites. Frankly I don’t think any of ‘em are people I’d want to live next
door to. But if one moved in, I’d make
the time to find out before I built the ten-foot fence. That’s the whole point
of being a rational adult. Learning the facts before you make up your mind.
Not suiting up in bullet-proof vests and trying to shoot a person just
because he’s running for office and you don’t like the color of his skin.
Of course, the political arena isn’t the only one where racial
prejudice comes into play. Sad to say it’s alive and well, along with sexism,
religious intolerance, homophobia, and other such bullshit. I come from a very blue-collar suburban Detroit background. I’ve
seen first hand prejudice going both ways. I remember, though just barely, the
1967 race riots. I remember my brother being shot at in the 70’s for being a
non-union trucker. I’ve been the first female in a particular
job. I’ve faced enormous amounts of prejudice as a short, plus-sized woman. And
just to make it fun, I live in a town where the KKK is alive and well, and the
Michigan Militia (another group of supremacist nutjobs) keep all the bigots
very well armed. Anyway you look at it, it’s all just stupid.
As a parent, I've to get these messages through to my (now-grown) kids. Mostly, I think they get it. My youngest did ask permission to miss a
class once to attend the GLBT tolerance rally at his school. And I let him. Just because I happen to live
a very traditional lifestyle doesn’t mean I think everyone should. Everyone
should live the life that fucking works for them. As long as it’s not directly
harmful to others. Shooting people is harmful. Having a relationship with
another consenting adult, or even multiple consenting adults is not. Neither is
choosing to live alone. And neither is
practicing a religion—for the most part. Pray, chant, meditate, or contemplate
your navel and it’s all fine with me. I draw the line when religion crosses
over into abuse, as sevaeral of them sometimes do. Then I believe in freedom FROM
religion as well.
As a writer this comes into play because I try to make my
work reflect a variety of people and situations. Though most (yep—most, not
all) of my stories are about monogamous heterosexual couples, their worlds are
filled with folks of all shapes, colors, and persuasions. This is true even in
my steampunk. Despite the fact that homosexuality was illegal in England in the
1850s, that doesn’t mean gay people didn’t exist. Therefore, there are some in
the Gaslight Chronicles, loved and protected by their families or not. There
are people of different races and religions, and yes, I’ve gotten flak because
the women don’t always act like proper Victorian ladies should. Oh well, that’s
the PUNK in steampunk.
People are people. In any group, you have the good, the bad,
the clever and the ignorant. I find it
very odd that in a paranormal romance, where nobody thinks twice about whether
a vampire and a werewolf can find love, they have to argue about the melanin
content of someone’s skin, or what entity their parents prayed to. Fortunately, my publishers don’t, and I think
most of my readers are savvy enough to get past it as well. So I’ll continue on
my merry way, coming up with new and different characters as I go. And in real life, I’ll continue to encourage
everyone I know to look at people as people, instead of seeing just the labels.
After all, you’ve got to be carefully taught.
***
Cindy Spencer Pape firmly believes in happily-ever-after. Multiple award-winning author of the best-selling
Gaslight Chronicles, she has released almost sixty novels and stories, which
blend fantasy, adventure, science fiction, suspense, history and romance.
Cindy lives in southeast Michigan with her family and three spoiled dogs. When not hard at work writing she can be found restoring her 1870 house, dressing up for steampunk parties and Renaissance fairs, or with her nose buried in a book.
Cindy lives in southeast Michigan with her family and three spoiled dogs. When not hard at work writing she can be found restoring her 1870 house, dressing up for steampunk parties and Renaissance fairs, or with her nose buried in a book.
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4 comments:
I love that musical. What a powerful movie about race and it is something that has happened throughout history and still today. Now I'll be singing all day!
Who would have thought that in 2016 we'd still be fighting against racism, religious prejudice, misogyny and the worst in human nature. We're going backwards and it's so freaking sad.
Wonderful post, my friend and I couldn't agree more. To paraphrase so many, "I can't believe we have to protest this crap, again."
Cindy, love your post. So relevant. I probably grew up next door to you--blue-collar, Detroit suburb. As the song says, "you have to be carefully taught" to hate those who are different. What a lot we miss when we dismiss those from different cultures, religions, races. I thought we already fought those battles. To see them resurrected by our leaders is appalling. What are they teaching our children?
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