What with all this talk of racial prejudice on the board of late, one must bear in mind that this is hardly a new problem being experienced by the minorities of this or any other professional society. On the contrary, racial, religious, homosexual, age, or whatever other bias you wish has been an existent, though tragic, human characteristic since before Aristotle first drew milk from his mothers bosom. Of course, prejudice has obviously been popular throughout the ages, but this is hardly justification for its existence. Nonetheless, it is obviously here to stay, while dealing with it especially in the professional marketplace is better achieved on a one-to-one basis, rather than increasing antagonism by attempting to force ALL bigots to convert in one massive reversal of persuasion. That, of course, will NEVER happen.

I am white, yet my professional life has incorporated music, as well as teaching and writingactivities which have required me to join forces with individuals of every race and religion in a unified, creative effort. Yes! I am truly in a position to say, Some of my best friends are black. And, yes, weve had our differences, but have also been able to totally resolve same by simply accepting the legitimate existence of a Brotherhood of Homo sapiens possessing identical basic aspirations in life, albeit our methodologies for attaining same may be somewhat varied. But, this is the way I see it, while it is certainly not representative of the entire world. I have always believed that in attempting to change the opinion of bigots, it's perhaps best to confront them one at a time, via one's representing his/her race or religion through a positive example to help convince that hypocrite to reconsider the error of his/her ways. Perhaps its a somewhat romantic or Hollywoodish solution I suggest, but Ive noted its having worked much more effectively than all the whining and threats which have done nothing more than help destroy whatever empathy may have been heretofore garnered for such a worthy cause as equality. My God! Its been many moons since the Civil Rights Amendment longer, still, since the Emancipation Proclamation and although they have both done much in improving the more obvious objectionable conditions, people are still people, and the disease continues. But lets now approach this problem in a different manner: discreetly, quietly, and objectively. Whereas you might have difficulty in the job marketplace due to your color or religious persuasion, dont waste your time trying to convince the whole #@!%^&* world of the injustice only the individual with whom you are associated at the time. I have observed it to be much more effective.

For those of you who prefer to consider ME a bigot, I, too, have suffered grievous loss due to human intolerance and bias actually more than half of my family (including two priests) at the maniacal hands of the Nazis during WW2.

The Arrogant One