It is a well known fact that the human species is "clannish" 
by nature.  This is a survival trait that can be traced back 
through all of recorded history.  Even references to pre-
historic man are filled with evidence of tribal and clan life.  
Different parts of the world are dominated by people with 
significant physical, racial differences.  Evolution has done 
it's part in helping both man and animal adapt to the
environment.  

As seasons changed, animal and plant life migrated, and man
was required to move his camp to survive.  Eventually, as modes
of transportation improved tribes and clans met one another and
found friend or foe.  Some groups advanced faster than others. 
Education, technology, leadership, and location played a big role
in determining which clans would be dominant in any given period
of history.  Wars were fought and cities were conquered.  Entire
nations were enslaved as the result of battles between monarchs. 
This was the way of the ancient world.  Some of the resulting
attitudes linger on today and influence the way that people all
over the world interact with their neighbors.  In many cases, we
call it "discrimination".  

This is a word that groups of people tend to apply to the
way that they have been treated or perceive themselves to have
been treated by what they consider to be the majority in social
or political power.  On an individual basis, the complaint is
valid.  What happens, however, is that the group claims to have
been discriminated against as a group and then blames the
discrimination for any and all of the ills that are perceived to
have been visited upon that group.  For instance, a caucasian
living in China or Japan is going to experience discrimination. 
It may be professional or social, but he will be the outsider in
anything that he attempts to do.  You can substitute any minority
group in this scenario and relate them to the majority, and
arrive at the same conclusion.

The mistake that is often made is to assume that you as an
individual are the only person who has ever experienced this
treatment.  That just isn't so.  There isn't any rhyme or reason
to the phenomena, but we know that it happens all of the time. 
One of the best examples is the old classroom experiment where
children are divided into groups based on the color of their
eyes.  They are then told that it is a fact that one group, say
those with brown eyes, is smarter and better than any other
group.  It doesn't take long for this explanation to become a
self fulfilling prophecy.  

I have no intention of justifying this phenomena.  I believe, 
and will continue to believe, that human beings comprise
one subset of the living world.  And the color of a person's
skin, or eyes, or their nation of birth, or their religion, does
not change the fact that they are, first and foremost, human
beings.  It follows then, that each human life is deserving of
the same respect that any other human life expects to be
afforded.  In other words, if you expect to be treated with
respect, then be prepared to treat your fellow man, without
qualification, with the same respect.

Having said that, we have a responsibility to acknowledge
that discrimination has taken place throughout history and to do
what can be done to make it right.  It is the definition of how
that responsibility manifests itself that causes problems within
our society that we are not properly equipped to deal with.  The
claim is that the oppressed have been held back simply because
they are a member of a minority.  While race has certainly been a
major factor in discrimination, there are numerous examples that
would establish the fact that human beings are just as willing to
discriminate against members of their own race as they are
against members of some other race.

Responsible community leaders have been trying to find a
"fix" for many, many years.  One of the programs that has been
instituted is "Affirmative Action".  This method of offering
priority consideration in hiring and promoting has been around
since the early sixties.  While it has been successful on an
individual basis, one has to wonder if substantial harm was done
to interpersonal relations in general.  For every member of a
qualified minority group that was given preferential treatment, a
member of the majority had to be bypassed.  All of a sudden, the
attempt by the government to restore equity has caused another
individual to be treated inequitably.  We have also seen cases of
"reverse discrimination" that have resulted in confusing decisions 
from the courts.  What we haven't seen is any appreciable 
improvement in the relations between any minority group and the 
existing majority.  

Unfortunately, while I am writing this from my "American"
perspective, it would appear that the same problems exist
throughout the civilized world.  The English and the Irish have
been at it for over 600 years.  The Croatians and the Serbians
cannot be stopped from attempting to annihilate each other.  The
Arab world that surrounds Israel wants to drive the Israeli
population into the sea.  And I could go on and on for pages. 
What we have to remember is that "World Peace" starts with
education and tolerance.  When each of us dedicates ourselves to
paying for and perpetuating the education necessary to raise
children who are tolerant of racial and ethnic differences, we
will truly be able to say that we are doing something productive
to help solve the problems of the world.  

You can support programs that attempt to "get even", or you
can demand programs that ensure that every child receives a
quality education and starts even.
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