Differences that don't matter

I like to think that the world has changed and we've all learned a few things since then. But then I look around me and see the disturbing vestiges of those dumb divisions clinging stubbornly to attitudes, relationships and traditions, and I wonder. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of a world in which our children and our children's children would be able to play together without having to worry about divisions — dumb or otherwise, real or perceived — based on race, religion or ethnicity. I think we already have such a world, as far as our children are concerned. They come by it naturally. They don't see skin color. To them, kids are just … kids.

It's only as we get older that we learn how to mistrust, hate and fear. That's when those dumb divisions start, as we strain at differences that don't matter.

And good friends become … you know … a white guy and an Indian.

To read more by Joseph B. Walker, please go to www.josephbwalker.com.

email: jwalker@desnews.com