Race and colour..............

What makes race such a divisive thing? Why does the colour of our skin matter? I would not enjoy a world where everyone looked the same. So why is it an issue.? What makes it a hot topic?

I have 4 poodles, one is white and 3 are black. The cat is black and white. ( I am being facetious)
To me the colour of a persons skin is no more important than that. In fact, if I had to choose a colour I would want to be red. I love the colour of Native American skin especially with that wonderful long black hair. Now to be honest I prefer the tall and slender models but that is true of any race when it comes to my personal preference. Again I am just joking around, like this for example. Oh I could show many many Native Actors who I just adore.

Then there are black actors. I could choose several

Or Latino, again I could choose several

I prefer all of those to white skin.........but then there is Brad Pitt and I can say that I am not at all fussy when it comes to colour

I see all the above as beautiful men. So what makes the difference? I suppose it boils down to culture. Because if you have a certain way of doing things, a simple example would be holidays, other cultures have different traditions. Well then there is conflict but that one is easy to resolve by sharing traditions and mixing them up and agreeing on things.
Then there are the differences that can not be overcome so easily. Sometimes a culture has a whole different mentality when it comes to life. The value of life. I can not really think of examples except maybe one comes to mind. During WW2 the Japanese culture enabled them to give up their life as a Kamikazi pilot.........Honour means something different to me than it does to the Oriental cultures. Especially the older generations.
My daughter is married to a man from Puerto Rico and there is a difference between the very basic ways of life. To say that he is more "macho" is one way of saying it. He wants the little woman at home and having his dinner on the table and all of that and that just does not fly with my daughter.
When couples marry and have children then issues arise about raising them. Now all that I can understand, I can respect the differences even if I do not understand or go along with them.
To hate someone simply because of the colour of their skin is just totally against everything I believe in. It is beyond comprehension.
I thought as more inter racial couples married, I had hope that all the prejudice would go away. It won't though will it.
White people do not understand what it's like to be black. Imagine.........you walk down the street and the white folks clutch their purse to their body, lock the car door or cross the street being fearful. It is a fact of life that they get pulled over by the police even if they have done nothing wrong. These days they fear for their lives. They are still treated like 2nd class citizens in the south. "They" "Them" "us" ..........words we use without thinking. Why is it us and them?.
The things that are going on now are just plain wrong. I do understand that police often fear for their lives, they put their life on the line every time they get into that car or patrol that street, or answer a call. That is no excuse for cold blooded murder and that is how I see it. A man with a knife?.........six or eight bullets?. What happened to protect and serve?. Why could they not shoot the knife out of his hand if they had to shoot him?. What happened to the tazers? There have been even more shocking videos on Facebook. One kid shot for not paying his bus fare.....No point in reviewing those. I was raised to believe that the police were the good guys. If you are ever in trouble ask a policeman. Well I am not sure I dare do that anymore. Something has to change. You should not have to die because you are black. Has nothing changed since the 1960s? I am just glad I didn't live here then. Please don't think I am against the police I am not. I raised my kids telling them if they got in trouble with the police then they had to have done something wrong. Well that ain't necessarily so anymore.
This country does not stand a chance with the current laws of "Stand your ground" and "Open carry" Sorry but I detest the gun culture. No I am not anti hunting, at least not till I stop eating meat. Apart from that you should not need a gun. I was raised in a society where even the police didn't have guns so I find it really scary. That's another story though and I know many will not agree with me. I am not up for a debate I am just expressing my disappointment in the news of late. Some of my facebook friends are black and they are scared. Me too.