General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Quick Question... Why should black people love white people? [View all]guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)I do not love anyone as a group. I do not like anyone as a group. A group is a collection of individuals. Some are racists, some are not. Bravenak is not talking about "personally" hating all white people. She is talking about whites as a group. and her question is valid, if a bit difficult to respond to.
That you have forgiven your step-dad says a lot about you as a person. Children expect the home to be a safe place, and when that refuge is taken away it has to be devastating. That you made the choice to forgive him is fantastic, because it helps you to begin to heal.
But yes, hate is an appropriate word. Blacks have been treated as 3/5ths of a person since this country was founded. The first slaves were brought over in 1619. Nearly 400 years of hatred and bad treatment based on pigment and justified by a perverted version of Christianity and "race science" that insisted that blacks were not really human.
But my feeling is that hatred is like acid in that it burns and corrodes the one using it. The forgiveness that you gave to your step-father must be given to everyone. It will be difficult. (I call myself a Christian, but forgiveness is still a difficult thing for me to embrace, especially for someone like Dick Cheney.) But I must do it for my mental health and you are obviously intelligent enough to realize it will work for you, Bravenak.
now stop with the difficult questions.