(*Sniff*Sniff*) Do you smell that?
Imagine living in a world where the size of your nose determined the quality of your life. A large nose would guarantee you access to good schools, quality healthcare, higher wages and everything in between. Conversely having a small nose would automatically disenfranchise you from everything that people with big noses get to enjoy.
For starters, you’d be required by law, to write to the Minister of Small Nose Affairs, explaining in detail why you should be considered worthy of accessing the aforementioned privileges. Even then, your chances of rejection are almost certain.
You want to run for office? No, Sir. You nose is small. You want law enforcement to treat you with the same fairness they treat the rest? No, ma’am. They get treated better because they have a big nose. You feel the law should be applied equally to everyone? Outrageous! The law was designed by people with big noses for people with big noses. What about us? We are as much citizens as they are! Actually, you’re not. No? No, ma’am. You are three-fifths of a human being. How do you figure? Easy – you have a small nose!
That’s the absurdity of racism.
It’s Black History Month!
It’s also the month (February 11th) that Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years. His crime? Would you believe– Demanding that people of all races be treated fairly. Like Martin Luther, he too was labeled a “terrorist” by a white government that was actually terrorizing black people! The nerve!
The diabolical apartheid government of South Africa was the apogee of racism on the African continent. Housing, government policies, schooling, and even churches were racially segregated.
31 years since Mandela’s release, racism continues to rear its ugly head. Racism is an issue we must continue to hold conversations on. As Mandela himself taught us;
“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.”