There are a number of things that hinder us from living up to our potential. Race should never be one of those roadblocks. Take a look at the 2010 Winter Olympics for an example of why race isn’t important. If you can ski or skate like nobody’s business, you can have purple skin and hail from Venus. We’ve all heard, it's not what's on the outside that counts. Some of us believe it, live by it, but a great number of us toss the adage aside like yesterday’s Twitter trend. Why? Because in spite of our parents’ best intentions, the world wants us to think the exact opposite: the outside is what's important.
Aside from the aforementioned athletics, there are few things in this world untouched by that stupid mantra. Only in the realm of competition can we truly see how things should be. What you look like is only a small part of who you are. In the long run, it’s the uniqueness of our character that makes us or breaks us. Lately, the jibe of choice, especially on the political left, is to call someone racist for just about everything. If you think the country should return to its roots as delineated by the Constitution, you’re racist. If you think someone should get a job or some other accolade because of skill or measurable accomplishment, you’re racist. If you disagree with leadership based on performance, strategy, or decision-making, you’re racist. Get the idea? What good does it do to cry racism in a world that needs nothing more than to rise above that pettiness?
Stereotyping is the most prevalent source of that pettiness. Those who cry racism at the drop of a hat are guilty of stereotyping themselves and those around them. Instead of agreeing we are all part of the human race, we’ve given in to the groupthink that our skin dictates everything. We use it as carte blanche to behave a certain way or as an excuse for failure. We use it as a weapon against those who would hold us accountable for what we do and how we live. It’s a ‘devil made me do it’ situation where people are allowed to do whatever their heart desires with no consequences. If you are ever called out on your actions, all you have to do is claim racism. After all, everyone else is doing it.
Social justice, political correctness, and multiculturalism have turned us into irresponsible, categorized blobs. Instead of using ingenuity, morality, and elbow grease to get ahead, we use race, gender, and religion because those tiny ingredients in our personal recipe are the manipulative, easy way to what we want. We’re the mice in the maze, conditioned to take the simple way out, even though a more satisfying piece of cheese waits at the end of the tougher road. Our world reflects that laziness. Societies are crumbling because of a lack of courage and initiative to do what's right, even if what's right isn't easy. People are submitting themselves to all sorts of things for the sake of misplaced racial guilt. Truths are hidden because of fears that said truths may offend one group or another. We stand by helpless to defend someone from religion- or race-specific abuse because we’re not allowed to disagree. Talent is squelched, futures crushed, all due to cowardice and the inability to look past the crust of things. In the end, all that matters is what’s inside the person. Nature, nurture, and history are important, but they’re not everything. The sad fact is, instead of saying something is a mere part of an individual, the individual has become that something.
When I was a child, I saw no reason for discrimination of any kind. I didn’t care what someone looked like. I struggle with that skill as an adult, mainly because people judge me for what I look like, but I maintain the ability nonetheless. If we allow ourselves to continue on this path of deconstructive segregation, we will face certain destruction. Our individual strength of character is the only way to survive. A world that operates on the same principles as an Olympiad (human equality, respect, and skill) would be nice, but that scenario is doubtful. We may never come to see each other as anything but the covers of books, but take it from me, a book designer, if every book was simply an amalgamation of its cover elements, no one would care to read them.
What we need today is leadership at all levels that understands people are not just categories. We aren’t easily grouped or tagged. Our leadership has gotten us into this mess by insisting we be more socially accepting of things that are unacceptable and teaching our children a debilitating fear of being individuals. We must accept our individuality and potential, not as groups first, but as single human beings. And we must refuse to be categorized by trivial things. Let us do what these amazing athletes have done; reach inside ourselves and find what makes us unique. Remember what Oscar Wilde said: "A man who does not think for himself does not think at all." When we decide to be true to who we are on the inside, we will see that the human race is the only race that matters.
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