Colorless

Here I go thinking again...So last night I went with the family I work for to see the new movie Express, which is about the first Black man to win the Heisman trophy, and what a struggle it was for him to get there. We thought this movie would be educational for them. The 12 year old was sinking in the idea of racism and how it was not a good thing. My 10 year old on the other hand was having a hard time digesting the fact that people were treating this man differently then anyone else. Later we talked a little about it and he literally could not see the difference in this man from anyone else. That is when I realized he was unable to see the color of ones skin and that truly impressed me.

This really got me thinking. It caused me to recall a few years back my friend took me to an art museum in Salt Lake City where the museum was showing a gallery of photography that was taken by a well known photographer. As we started looking at the pictures we saw that the theme was people around the world and the influence that race/color and religion had on them. They were gorgeous photos. After finishing up the gallery there was a brief section we had to walk through in order to exit that gallery, and this section was full of photos of children. Under the photos it said that the photos were taken as candid photos of the child in their environment. Each child was different; some were smiling some were sad, some were pensive. But the unique thing about these photos was the lighting that was placed in that room and they were the only photos in the gallery with glass on them. This caused a very interesting thing to happen. When you looked at the child and saw their expressions of happiness or of sadness you also were able to see your reflection in the child's face. There were over 100 photos of these children and it was moving to me to see the way he presented them. I could see in the children's eyes their purity, their unknowing eyes of the thing the future held. I could also see that they were innocent and unaware of the fact that they may be different then other children or other cultures, and how might I reflect this.

These thoughts lead me to think that there is a whole world out there of whites, blacks, indians, asians and many others. But when is the age that we start seeing color? When is the time when race/color and religion start causing us to hate or question others motives? My 12 year old is afraid that because she was adopted and that she is Hispanic that she will end up being a maid like the one that cleans their house. Or when ever the oldest, 15, sees a black man she tells me that there is fear in her heart, because she is unsure of how he will react around her, a white girl. Yet my 10 year old see's nothing. He doesn't see that I am Mormon with a strong believe in Jesus Christ and that he is Jewish and our paths are different. He doesn't see the people who serve him in his house as people of different race. So when does it all happen, and how can we get it to stop? If people could see each other as a child sees wouldn't there be so much less anger in the world? Wouldn't we stop and see each other for who we are and not the color of our skin or the religion we chose to follow? I pray we can look past these small things and see a person for who they are. Treat each other with respect and love and kindness. I a world so full of hate, lets show what the power of love can do.