Haven't you heard that I'm the new cancer?

I saw something on TV that somewhat amused me, yet managed to be quite disturbing at the same time. Now it may be old news to some of you, but bear with me as I muddle through my thoughts about it. There are people out there who believe that Racism is a form of mental disease. It amuses me because the first thought that popped into my head was a lovely little pill system.

'Oh yes...the red pill is so that he won't terrorize the Native Americans today. Tomorrow we'll try the yellow one and see how well he fares with the Asians.'

The idea of a colour-coded pill system was amusing for a few seconds. Then I began to think about it a little more in depth. I looked up the definition and mulled over it for a bit.

Main Entry: rac·ism
Pronunciation: 'rA-"si-z&m also -"shi-
Function: noun

1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race

2 : racial prejudice or discrimination
- rac·ist /-sist also -shist/ noun or adjective

Now please pay particular attention to the bolded and underlined section. Racism is defined as a belief, just like religion. It would seem to me that it is not something we are born with. It's not a birth defect or the result of your mother doing drugs while you were in the womb. Racism, like religion, is something that we have to be taught. It's environmental and a product of what our parents have taught us during our development. What we do with the knowledge that is given to us by our parentals is completely up to us. With the exception of my mother and I, my entire family is made up of racists. I have a grandmother who stares at the television all day commenting on how ugly all the niggers are and a father who likes to demand what colour my friends are (ie: Is __________ 'white-white' or are they 'asian-white'?). I have managed to form my own opinions throughout my life and I can tell you one thing about the people I don't like:

If I don't like you I can guarantee you that it has nothing to do with your skin colour, religion, or sexual orientation.

You've probably just done something fucked up to me, or you just bug the shit out of me. I consider myself a very tolerant person, even if I am rather opinionated. Anyway, back to the point.

If you look racism up in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, I promise you that it's not there. People want to put it in there and give racists an excuse for their behavior. I do believe that the ideas and feelings behind racism can be heightened in an already damaged mind (For example, a racist with OCD is more likely to fixate on his fear/hatred of _______ race to the point of agitation. Once a certain saturation point has been met, there is likely to be a break of some sort and then fuck all). The minute racism ends up in that book, they may as well put in an entry for 'religion' and 'love'. All of these will make you stupid in some way, shape, or form. Though racism and religion do tend to have more of a negative impact on the people around you than love.

At any rate I think I've gotten most of what I wanted to say out of my head. I probably could go on about this for a few more paragraphs but I'm pretty sure that I already lost many of you within the first few sentences. I admire you if you made it all the way to the end of this ridiculous thing, but it was still more for me than you. Enjoy the rest of your day and remember:

I don't hate you because you're a gay Jew, I hate you because you're a fucking asshole. =D

[Edit]
I turn on the telly this morning and there is a talk show on about a black woman who hates other black people. What in the fuck? This is when it's just gotten to be entirely too ridiculous.