The United States of America — the land of the rich, the beautiful and the whites.

The first ship of slaves arrived in the United States of America in 1619 and put on auction for slaves 20 healthiest and hard working men of color — the minority population that was considered somewhere between animals and human beings. The people of color put their blood and sweat into their works, and subsequently led to the up rise of communities and countries at their own expense. While the privileged continued to enjoy, the oppressed continue to suffer.

As the oppression continued, centuries later a man with a dream —Martin Luther King Jr. — rose to the forefront and led a revolution. The fight was not for the rights as a citizen, but the basic rights as a human being.

In 2009, the United states of America welcomed their first colored president, Mr. Barack Obama indicating the long way we have come as a nation. But somewhere somehow we all know that even 400 years since the first arrival of slave ship— the fight for equality is anything but over. Want an evidence, #BlackLivesMatter is trending on Twitter these days, and United States is ranked among the bottom 10 countries worldwide in terms of racial equality.

Let us reframe the history for a moment, here!

The United States of America — the land of the rich, the powerful and the blacks.

The first ship of slaves arrived in the United States of America in 1619 and put on auction for slaves 20 healthiest, fairest and hard working men — the minority population that was considered somewhere between animals and human beings. The fairest people put their blood and sweat into their works, and subsequently led to the up rise of communities and countries at their own expense. While the privileged continued to enjoy, the oppressed continue to suffer.

As the oppression continued, centuries later a man with a dream — Martin Smith Jr.— rose to the forefront and led a revolution. The fight was not for the rights as a citizen, but the basic rights as a human being.

In 2017, the United states of America welcomed their first white president, Mr. Donald Trump indicating the long way we have come as a nation. But somewhere somehow we all know that even 400 years since the first arrival of slave ship — the fight for equality is anything but over. Want an evidence, #WhiteLivesMatter is trending on Twitter these days and United States is ranked among the bottom 10 countries worldwide in terms of racial equality.

I. Does it make any difference? — “NO”

Sad to note that in either of the two scenarios shared above — one a reality and another a hypothesis, there is no difference. Whether the colored suffer or the whites — it is the humanity that loses after all. Depending upon which side of the line you are, does not justify the overall situation.

In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist. — Angela Y. Davis

II. We continue to find differences — if its not color, it will be something else.

Somewhere we are divided on the basis of color, while at other places we are divided on the basis of religion. Even at times, we segregate ourselves within a particular religion based upon different ideologies. If not any of these, we differentiate based upon one’s gender.

It does not matter what divides us, as long as we remain divided.

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences — Audre Lorde

To overcome this there is only one solution — we need to respect and harness the power of diversity.

Every individual has the right to believe that his/her race, community or religion is beautiful — and we should do that — but we have no right to disrespect the race, community or religion of any other individual. On the contrast, we must be able to appreciate the differences and harness the power of diversity.

The world would be a very boring place, if not for its diversity.

Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization — Mahatma Gandhi.

Note: Although this example is specific to the United States of America, the reality has been similar across the globe. What Martin Luther King did in America, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi did it in Africa. Atleast, in some ways we are united as a mankind.

I often wonder how did we end up here today as humanity.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this article. If you have come so far, please share your feedback/reflections in the comments. I read them all.

Please share your reflection of the differences you observe in the world, and if you have ever experienced/tackled an act of racism or harassment just because you are different.

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