Jason McMahon
Nov 6 · 2 min read

“What about all the white men who died in the Civil War?”

Prejudice: 1) preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. 2) dislike, hostility, or unjust behavior deriving from unfounded opinions. 3) harm or injury that results or may result from some action or judgment. 4) give rise to prejudice in (someone); make biased. 5) cause harm to (a state of affairs).

“Ignorance of the law is nine-tenths of the law.” And it is ignorance that drives prejudice. Racism is but one form of prejudice — and a very vindictive one at that. The North and the South died for a very prejudicial cause: slavery. But the war centered more on the economy than on ideology. Slaves were apart of the machinery that kept the plantation owners in business. Just as the fruit pickers keep the farmers in business along the West Coast. The only difference was that slaves were considered property, while fruit pickers are considered hired hands.

The Civil War moved the needle from slave to hired hand, while the Civil Rights movement moved the needle from hired hand to equal parity with their White counterparts. I say move the needle because we still have a long way to go before the prejudices of the past stop haunting us in the present. It took a new generation before the Israelites entered the Promise Land after leaving Egypt because the old generation couldn’t get Egypt out of their system.

Today, there is another fire simmering: immigration. While the East has been battling discrimination, the West has been blissfully ignoring illegal immigration. Companies are required to send the “illegals” back to Mexico, only to have them return several days later. Trump has tried to tackle the problem head on, to the consternation of nearly everyone.

We honor those who died for our country and those who have made strides in making our country home to all who live here. But until prejudice is “nipped in the bud,” home will only apply to the privileged few.