February 2, 2019 SHAME. SHAME, SHAME

OMG. Our elected officials have once again SHAMED our Nation. Seriously--In a billion years-- Would you EVER think it was OKAY to dress in Blackface and THEN POSE  for a photograph next to someone dressed in a KKK outfit. It's disgusting and SO offensive on every level. It's a visual RACIST STATEMENT. He doesn't have to say a word. WE KNOW WHO HE IS. I ALWAYS tell me students-- People don't learn about you-- by what you SAY--its about how you ACT. ACTIONS ALWAYS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. It doesn't matter when the picture was taken. Racism is a LEARNED BEHAVIOR. It is NOT innate. We are not born knowing to judge someone by  the color or tone of their skin. The sad reality is that he learned it--probably from his family--and  the cycle of RACISM  continues on into 2019. When will it end--probably never--that's the SAD TRUTH. Racism is one kind of prejudice, but equally horrifying is the religious prejudice in Khushwant Singh's classic Train to Pakistan.  

Singh was definitely a Renaissance man. He was a lawyer, diplomat, journalist, politician and author of over forty books with Train to Pakistan his most famous. Set in 1947 in a small village in India called Mano Majra, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs had lived together as brothers for hundreds of years. Sadly, everything changed after the State of Pakistan was established. Because their village was so remote, the villagers managed to remain ignorant about what was happening in their country. Ten million Hindus-Muslims-Sikhs were being displaced, the new establishment pitted religion against religion and Northern India was in a state of terror.  One day, Mano Majra and its people were changed forever after the arrival of the ghost train. In it were thousands of dead refugees from the Civil War. In the blink of an eye--their peaceful town changed to one of paranoia and hate--brother against brother. Human nature and the instinct to survive  turned the most civilized men into beasts.  Find out about a very sad but true part of history when you read this 200 page-- 3 mile run--eye opening book for yourself.