Why can't we see past our difference?

I've thought a lot about the comments made about race this week. I think the saddest part about what has happened is that people still think in negative ways about others just because of a difference in race, sexuality, gender, weight, age, clothing and so on.

It's interesting when you think about where these negative attitudes come from because when you look at children playing with other kids at a young age - they do not see any difference in physical appearance and thus do not judge other children or adults based on any differences.

This makes me wonder where it comes from. It must be taught - at some level. Of all the places in the world where its shocking to find that racism still exists its Australia - the multicultural country where we accept others with open arms to share the fortune we have of living in a country without war and where we have a great public hospital system and we look after those less fortunate. Yes it's not perfect, but it's pretty good.

So, what can we do about this? I think we can do 2 things very quickly 1) learn from children to see the person inside 2) teach our children how to foster this lovely nature into adulthood.

Part of teaching involves modeling. Adults spend a lot of time criticizing each other and children pick up on this and model it very quickly. For instance, have you ever heard yourself making fun of what another person was wearing? It might seem like an innocent comment, but it sets the scene for kids that it's ok to judge others based on their appearance. We live in a society that encourages this, but it would be so great if we all tried not to engage in such social comparisons.

By all means look after your appearance, but try not to use appearance as a way to judge another person.

The true essence of another comes from within. When you are with others, see the soul not the shell. If we teach our kids to do the same, imagine what a nicer world we would live in!