Thursday, December 15, 2005

The Known Intolerant World

Here's an excerpt from an incredible book about our glorious past (the one that included denying certain human beings inalienable rights...like freedom).

"A few woman had cried, remembering the way Henry smiled or how he would join them in singing or thinking that the death of anyone, good or bad, master or not, cut down one more tree in the life forest that shielded them from their own death; but most said or did nothing. Their world had changed but they could not yet understand how. A black man had owned them, a strange thing for many in that world, and now that he was dead, maybe a white man would buy them, which was not as strange. No matter what, though, the sun would come up on them tomorrow, followed by the moon, and dogs would chase their own tails and the sky would remain just out of reach."
--Edward P. Jones from his novel THE KNOWN WORLD

We need to create a world where the sky is within reach for every human being, not just the privileged few. As long as we have a system that doesn't nourish the burning desire of hope in each and every individual, then that system is failing and must change. There is a history of intolerance that exists within our collective hearts and the more we fight against the advancement of human rights, the more we reveal our previous indignity.

Have we learned nothing from the mistakes of our ancestors?

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