I’m ashamed of my brother…

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m ashamed of my brother right now. Lately it seems like all he does is complain about the government here, how corrupt it is, etc. but now he’s acting like he’s racist. Saying how Mexican women are hard-workers but the men are all lazy. I told him he shouldn’t assume things about people he doesn’t even know based on a few people he’s met. It’s like we were raised in completely different families. I was raised to be open-minded, to accept people for who they are, to think about other people, I was raised to think for myself… He apparently was raised to be closed-minded, racist, be rude to people sometimes (like our Grandma), religious even though our parents never took us to church and the only time we prayed was at Thanksgiving, etc. I could care less about politics and all that and he constantly talks about it. I was raised to "live and let live" and he was apparently raised completely different. I can’t believe he’s my brother. If it wasn’t for the fact that I know he’s my brother I’d wonder if he had been switched at birth. I seriously hope he never has children someday because I hate to think what kind of ass-backwards things he would teach them. We weren’t raised to be racist or to assume things about people we don’t even know, yet here he is – sounding exactly like someone I don’t want to know. At least not as long as he acts like this. Yet he’s my brother – how do I just cut him off? He’s the one I grew up with, the one who was nice enough to play tea party with me when we were little (I’m 15 months older than him), who helped me when I got into trouble for mooning (front and back) the neighbors when we were little.  He’s the one who let me use this little blue pillow he’d had since he was a baby whenever my stomach hurt – he told me to put it on my stomach and it would help take the pain away…

I need to go. I have a lot of things to do but I can’t do anything while I’m online. I need to make lunch, clean the house, and other Mommy stuff.

How is it possible that my brother and I were raised in the same house by the same parents and have ended up so completely different?

EDIT – I talked to my brother again and he apologized for what he said and said he was out of line and hoped I could forgive him. He’s just frustrated by things right now, like getting another job. He went on an interview, was told he was 100% qualified but that they couldn’t hire him because it would violate their affirmative action policy – basically, they couldn’t hire him because he’s white even though he’s completely qualified for the job and would do a great job. Anyway, he and I made up so I’m a lot happier now. 🙂