Hatred. Why? Why???

"Why are they like that?" I asked Cico. . . .

"I don't know," Cico answered,"except that people, grown-ups and kids, seem to want to hurt each other."

(Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me Ultima, 111)

Deep topic today, guys. I read this quote earlier today and it kind of struck me, probably because this is one of my biggest frustrations with the world. I knew that I needed to blog about it but I wasn't expecting it to be brought home so immediately through an experience I had shortly after I read it.

So I got home from school today, went to do homework, and got distracted by Facebook. Of course. As I was scrolling through my Newsfeed, a post in Spanish caught my eye about the election. Not a big deal, everyone is posting about it right now, but I started reading it and found it was from a not-so-typical point of view.

The author is a man from Mexico called...(codename) Juan. Juan's post began by drawing an interesting comparison, I thought, about the millions of dollars that Romney has spent, the many hours of time lost, the  hard work, the stress that he's dealt with--all for nothing. He compared it to the money and time and hard work and stress that immigrants face as they cross the border through the frontier--all for nothing when they are captured and returned to Mexico, worse off than when they started. It was a thought provoking idea. Then he gave his opinion about why Romney lost, etc, etc, and said that although there are different social classes, the upper classes depend on the lower classes to get where they are and the lower classes depend on the higher classes. We all depend on each other. He said.

Juan said that Latinos played a major part in Obama's victory. However, he feels that the time is quickly coming that it will be a Latino who will lead the nation. (Opinions are fine by me. Everyone can have their own.) But then he said one of the most racist things I have ever heard.

"Soon the bronze generation, the Latinos, will rule over the whites--the pale-faces, gentiles, whatever you want to call them."

I was stunned.

I was hurt.

Everything that I've been working towards to remove racism from our society, especially against Latinos, was thrown back in my face from one of the very people I love so much. His desire to "rule over" white people was bringing the stupid history of racism full circle. His words showed that he didn't believe in depending on each other at all--it's about being on top, controlling others. Judging people based on the color of their skin.

I. Hate. Hatred. Why do people try so hard to hurt each other???

I don't know the answer. I don't get it. Maybe I'm like Antonio--childlike and naive--but what I do know is that the only way to overcome hatred is through love. With love the world is a beautiful place where the color of your skin makes you beautiful.