Hate has always been a part of the human experience. But why do people hate other people just because of the color of their skin, their religion, or their sexual orientation?
Children are not born with hate in their hearts. My three-year-old granddaughter did not hate other people; she hated naps and broccoli.
I grew up in a small town of 3,000 white people. I cannot remember when I first saw someone with skin of a different color than mine, yet I am deeply disturbed by racism.
Was it the hours I spent in church? Some hate groups have names like Christian American Knights of the Klu Klux Klan. We read the same words attributed to Jesus Christ and turned out with completely different views of our Country.
Or was it listening to Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid as they reported on and interpreted the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War.
Or was it seeing my parents go without so they could help others?
Nelson Mandela wrote in Long Walk to Freedom: “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
Let’s remember we and those around us are always learning regardless of age, and may our actions teach love.
I’m Dan Kenney, and that is my perspective.
