Stand Up!!

So the other night I went bowling with my best friend Kristin. I had to pick him up near central and lake (west side of Chicago). Well needless to say I'm not big with driving down blocks especially on the west side, so I picked him up at a shopping center. Well I arrived before him, so I just sat in the parking lot and waited till he arrived. Well I parked facing a fence that separated some apartments from the shopping center parking lot and on the other side of the fence there were children playing. Well they were climbing up on the fence and noticed I was sitting there in my car. I smiled at them, reminiscing back to the days when I was a kid and things were so much more simpler. Well my trip down memory lane was abruptly snatched from me when these bad ass little kids began to throw rocks at my car. I thought the first one was maybe just an accident so I sat in my car and tried to shake it off, all the while looking at the time. Well then another rock and another rock and then another rock flew over the fence and hit my car. Well that's when I started to get a little frustrated. Then I see these kids peek over the fence tossing a rock in their hands contemplating throwing some more rocks at my car. My eyes met the kids and it was kind of like a stare off. I shook my head no and mouthed the words, "Please stop!" Well despite my efforts to calmly handle the situation, these punks (who probably ranged from the ages of 5 to 10 years) started throwing rocks again despite the fact I could see them doing it. So then I unrolled my window and said, "Stop it now!" Well one of the little jerks called me a "Cracker!" and I was damn near about to go off on the little fucker when Thank God my friend came to the rescue and I was able to leave. But that whole experience brought a lot of anxiety and disappointment in my mind about our world today and the future of the generations to come. It scares me to see society moving backwards. I thought (naivety on my part maybe) that this was 2009 and although I was aware that racism does in fact exist, I'm just extremely disappointed that racism has been passed through generations the way it has. I grew up oblivious to color and with the realization that color didn't make a man. Each human being is a different living, feeling, breathing human being and they have the right to the same blessings and opportunities as I have. I was blessed to be raised in that kind of environment I guess. Unfortunately I suppose not everyone is as blessed as me. It's apparent that our children our being robbed of their innocence by parents and role models condoning ignorance and hatred instead of good solid morals and values. In an age where it's so hard to survive on your own, more and more parents are forced to take on 2-3 jobs at a time just to support their families. Although I don't view this as an excuse, I do realize that it is part of the problem. Families aren't as close knit as they used to be. TV, media, and mainstream society are raising our children to be monsters; Sex fueled, drug addicted, crime causing children. Children merely mimic the behavior that they see exhibited the most throughout their life. So if they have poor role models and don't have the right people to look up to; it's obvious where their lives will end up going. It's time for people to stand up, take their families back and start investing their time in others in a positive manner instead of being selfish and self absorbed. We have to stop being oblivious to the problems going on around us because, like my father always says, "Being like and ostrich and sticking your head in the sand isn't going to solve anything because chances are, when you finally decide to take your head out, the problem is still going to be there; and sometimes when you take your head out, depending on how long you hid away from that problem, it could have become bigger and much more worse then it was before you ran away from it." So people, teach you children that all humans are equal. I ask to any "Minority" (I put that in quotations because I don't believe there are minorities any more... that's just a stigmatized term to fuel segregation and racism into existence) to teach your children the meaning of equality, teach them that all humans no matter what creed or color are created equal. Stop bitching about people being racist when you are being a hypocrite. Practice what you preach and stop hating on a group of people when there are plenty people out there that accept you for you and not the color of your skin. I'm sick of hearing people complain about racism yet they turn around and do the exact thing they so strongly seem to oppose. Wake up and realize complaining never changed shit... words don't change things, actions do. So stand up America! Will the Human Race please stand up before we get caught up in the vicious cycle we're headed for. I just hope it's not too late...