Tag Archives: racist

Mean Spiritness 2017-34

Posted in Contemplation by

Mean Spirited   2017-34

 

I had a nonviolent run in with what I would call a “mean spirited” person the other day.  Some would have called him a bastard with mental problems, but I will not do so. The details are not that important, but the thought that there are people out there that are like that, is in-settling.

What exactly is mean spirited? One definition of mean-spirited is someone that is unkind, motivated by cruelty or intended to be hurtful. An example of a mean–spirited person is someone who loves to see others fail. That is one definition, but there are many that can be used to describe this person.

I know of one that claimed to be a racist and in the way he told me, I could tell he was, somewhat, even proud of the fact he was one of “them”. How the H     can you be proud of being a racist with all the things that are known about the past ones and how they acted?

I think he was also a typical (if there is a typical) mean-spirited person.  He is, in my mind, a very unhappy person, has ills that make him look at life in a negative way, and his life might have been not what he wanted it to be.  Not sure of the last one, but he does not brag about how his life was in the past.

Mean-spirited people have their own agenda based on sometimes cowardly and petty actions they have done, timidness in nature, weak minded overall and just plain MEAN in nature.

At times, we have to put up with these people, due to a relationship of some sorts. This can be a short and if they are a large part of your life, it could be a long term and emotional pain of dealing with them.

I remember the racist one I know.  He would bait me and say things to see if I would argue with him, and I did NOT play into his power game of life.  I did not want to get into an attitude of being like him, mean-spirited in a negative way, because I would have been just like him.

I ended up not seeing this person again and do not try to contact him, go to breakfast or any other way of communicating with him.  I feel better in doing so.  I do not have to grit my teeth when listening to him spout off about subjects I feel are wrong.

It could be that he needs help in some way professionally, but I am not his keeper, and the distance is too long for me to get involved on a regular basis.  I would not be surprised he does not miss me, and is happy, in his way, with his life. Don’t know; don’t care; moving on!

We control our surroundings for the most part and happiness is up to each of us to attain. Taking personal responsibility for our actions IS the road to happiness.

Den Betts

Racist 2015-24

Posted in Current Events by

Racist    2015-24

The word racist only goes back to about the mid 1930’s, actually, or about 80 years ago. This word was used in regarding the Nazi theories at the time and NOT about other things such as skin color, heritage, culture or what is common today. This term replaced other words such as racialist from around 1917 and way back to 1871 were the racialism word came from then. This is just a little history to mount my discourse on the today word, racist.

Someone who I can still call my friend, named Henry, is an avowed racist and proud of it; I think. Henry does not care if anyone knows this, and I now feel, he will let you know why he thinks this way. I might have known this, or believed it, and did not want to bring it up, but he was saying goodbye to me from a visit after having breakfast and he blurted it out.  I was secretly appalled in hearing this or at least hearing him state the obvious.  Did I know this before – no.  Did I believe it before –yes.  He confirmed it to my face and I think he was waiting for my reaction.  I did not react!

I did not react and I am embarrassed to say so. I could have told Henry, just what I thought and believed and that would have definitely ended a relationship of friendship; I think. He might not have been concerned if that happened, because he also said he is what he is and doesn’t care what others think of how he believes and acts.

OK, that is Henry. I then ask, how many of us have a Henry lurking in the background that we know? Do we accept them as friends, family or acquaintances or do we do something else, like not reacting to them and their beliefs. Or, I ask, how many of us have similar thoughts ourselves, in a way, at times? Or not! It is sometimes easier to put up with than argue with, but is easy the way to not do something?

I feel it is about time that the Henry’s of the world start to fess up and admit they are somewhat slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress and backward in today’s society. Henry would or might say he is living from his life’s experiences. I think that is BS! He might have been exposed to a multitude of people that he thinks, made him racist, but he is ignoring the other balance of society that is also out there, that he doesn’t address.

We as a society are exposed to some people that the media shows as representing the whole of a particular group. The Ferguson, NYC, and Cleveland deaths are examples of both sides of the equation, in recent happenings. I do NOT want to go into these three horrible things, but I do use them to show how we, in today’s society are affected by them. Notice, I did NOT say how I feel about the three recent episodes involving police, just said they were horrible things….  I might expound on them later in a blog, on how I feel overall.

I have written an article about various subjects and am getting ready to throw them out to the world to read and in the reading by others; I will have exposed my inner thoughts about them.  I bet you can hardly wait-ha-ha…..  I have to get the guts to do so, and I am not ready right now…..

I firmly believe there is NO, repeat, NO reason for racism today, or in the past, for that matter. What and why people did in the past does NOT give anyone an excuse for being a racist. Some could use an incident as an excuse for saying they are racist and many do so. Others can use past happenings, such as slavery, as an excuse for being or acting as they do today, but that is not right either. Living in the past with your thoughts about something that you harbor in your mind, is like allowing yourself to be stagnant in life with not much growth. It might be time to drop it and move forward in life. Racism is a cruel way to be shackled in the past without an escape to the future life of enjoyment of others that live around us. What happened in the long (or short) past must NOT be the reason for our thoughts today, simple as that. We CAN learn from the past, but the past is not something to have control on us today.

Peace,

Den Betts