I am a baby boomer, born in 1946 and growing up in the 50's in LA I lived in an all white neighborhood, there were Catholics, Jews and Baptist, I fell into that last group. The first black person I ever met was in the service, the first black person I ever got to know a little was this Sargent over in Thailand. I was never raised to be predigest to others, my older brother was gay but we never, NEVER talked about that. I was 20 before I knew what the word Predigest was and I asked that Black Sargent about it, I had never herd the term Jim Crow tell I was in my 40's.

The first time I actually saw with my own eyes the hate for others because they were different from the WASP was when I moved to St Louis and it was Martin Luther Kings Birthday and this white guy commented about how good it was that he was dead. I was appalled, and told the guy I guess it was better to like the ideas and standards for MLK then to be a piece of white trash like him.

I sit here now in my mid 60's and realize just how sheltered I was growing up and as an adult, its only been in the last several years that I have finally opened my mind up to all of the things that has happened in my life time both good and bad. And I realize that that is true with any age it makes little difference when you were born or lived there are good times and bad.

I guess the thing that I ponder the most is if I had known all these things when I was 20, would I have done things different?

Today I still see that hate of people of color, oh its good when they are actors or sports hero's as long as they are ours, but today I see that hate as strong as ever, that hate is dividing our country, rich and poor, black and white, democrat and republican and all of us have forgotten we are all in this together, the boat is big enough for us all, why do some still feel that they have more right to be in the boat then the rest of us?

River

You should consider editing this and using the word "prejudice" which

relates to pre-judge or decide whether you like someone before you

know them. predigest suggests that they have been chewed up and

partially digested at some time in the past.

Otherwise the line from the movie South Pacific applies "We must be taught

to hate".

MacTheWolf beats Sweetpickle with a plastic baseball bat

"Prejudice" - as in, "I hate you because you're __________." ???

I think predigest is what they call the Readers' book before you get it.

The members of OLQA certainly fit.

A Rich Catholic Mafia void of the teachings of Jesus in daily life.

http://www.olqa.org/

Even the rich can play, "team sport religion".

As a caregiver to the elderly I am surprised by the prejudice. Many decent old folks are buying into the fear mongering and they feel particularly vulnerable. They have begun to revert back to thoughts they used to feel are wrong and now since tv personalities are saying it they are home in their recliners and lift chairs nodding their heads.

When I hear talking heads call President Obama Mr. Obama I have a fit. Hey he won the election, did not steal it, so his title is President Obama. I do not remember hearing Mr. Bush on Fox news. Oh again the elderly is the only reason I am near Fox News. Fair and balanced my ass.

I was shopping at my favorite audio store and noticed three young men shopping together. Ya I may have been cruising. The clerks did not pay them any attention. Three more young men who were black came in and the staff was on high alert. I called them bigots and they asked why. I explained what I thought of their reaction and they had to think about that a little bit.

Being gay in a small Ohio city I lived with hate. Physical attacks at school, death threats by phone late at night and verbal abuse from cars as I was walking. I think once you have lived with so much hate you are not able to hate any longer and you see it so clearly when hate is directed at others. I have to say this country has a long way to go.