Racism

I don't think it's just me who sees more and more racism in the news lately. But I think that if an intelligent person just takes the time to think through some basic truths, he or she would have to discard racism on an intellectual basis.
Unfortunately, there are the things that a person knows intellectually, and then there is the ingrained emotional patterns of thinking, programmed in us from childhood, that taint our view of others. This latter emotional programming can only get turned around by personal experiences, meditation, and time. This is hard work, and your formerly walled-off and protected inner self may feel in danger! Deciding to open the lines of communication between yourself and those of other races and actually doing so, for me at least, has felt like a march to the gallows. In contrast, the smashing of the intellectual reasons for racism is fairly easy, though not entirely painless.
Let me say something controversial, and then persuade you of the truth of it. Creationists and evolutionists both believe the same thing.

"WHAT? OMG, HOW CAN HE SAY THAT?"

Well, because it is true. There was a Time magazine a few years back (sorry, don't have the reference) that, in the context of evolution, talked about our decendance from an original 'Eve.' You see, if we are solely the product of evolution, we had to have come from a common genetic strain, a single family. The odds that two or more separate genetic strains would produce offspring that could interbreed is impossibly, stupendously huge. So Evolutionists believe we came from a single family.
Surprise-- Creationists believe the same! Whether Adam and Eve, or Noah and his family are referenced as our parent family, creationists must come to the same conclusion as evolutionists, that we come from a single family.
So, I am related to everyone else on this planet! There is no one else who has ever been born or who will ever be born who is not related to everyone else. We are all cousins! No matter how white you are, you are related to those of every other shade! (and vice versa, of course)
And this also means that Mohammed and Jesus are related (gasp!).
Here's another way of thinking about it. An individual has two parents. Each of those two parents has two parents, and each of those four grandparents has two parents, and each of those eight great-grandparents have two parents, etc. Draw this out on a piece of paper. You will see an inverted pyramid. Now if you map back a few centuries you will find you have thousands upon thousands of ancestors. Trace your lineage and you will be amazed at what you find.
Think of the wealth of knowlege we have gained by the inclusion into our culture and knowlege base individuals like Albert Einstein, William Shakespeare, Carl Jung, John Lennon, and yes, Martin Luther King Jr. You are related to all of these people, and you have inner genius and insight in you, like they did! Now think of all the individuals who, because of war or because of racism, their wealth of knowlege and insigt has been denied to you. Tragic, isn't it?