I forget how to spell “homogenous”

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the barriers to writing – because I’ve seen a lot of members on the site talking about how they sometimes struggle with finding time/making the effort to write.

Thinking about this, I realized one thing I know I am doing wrong – I’m always trying to formulate entries in my head, and I’m planning big long things to write, trying to create something that is “meaningful”. But that’s a trap, because I spend all my time thinking about it, and then don’t have time to write it.

So I’m going to try something different – writing when I feel like it, and not worrying about how long, or meaningful, or in-depth it is – because I’m missing out on posting, because I’m overthinking it. We’ll see how that works – I expect it will result in more entries, but shorter ones 😄.

Anyway.

The thing that was on my mind today kind of came to a head as I was walking with thousands of other people on the city sidewalks. I stopped to cross the street and was looking across at the people on the other side waiting to cross coming towards me. I really wish I had had time to take my phone out and capture a picture.

There were probably thirty people facing me, and I scanned all of their faces (which is not something you normally do in this city, we are always trying to avoid eye contact with the other pedestrians!). In those thirty-some people, there was an amazing amount of variation – all shades and colors, all sizes, many ethnicities. I don’t like to classify people by their color/race – but there were probably two people in that whole crowd who I would classify as “white”.

It got me to thinking, one of the things that I have always thought would serve mankind best would be if a few generations from now, all of us had become so intermixed that there really is no longer a concept of “race”. It would be wonderful to think we could get to a point that (at least in terms of race) we were all more alike than we are different, and people could forget that race existed.

Which made me think of this:

“And it’s codswallop to boot. “Dirty blood.” Why, there isn’t a wizard alive today that’s not half-blood or less. More to the point, they’ve yet to think of a spell that our Hermione can’t do. Come ‘ere. Don’t you think on it, Hermione. Don’t you think on it for one minute.” – Rubeus Hagrid

Hagrid, bringing the wisdom.

I have trouble talking about this, because I fear for sounding preachy. I come from several demographic segments that would be considered “privileged”. White. Male. Non-poor. So it’s impossible for me to pretend that I know what it’s like to suffer from prejudice.

But I can try to project my thinking, for what good it does.

What I don’t understand, really, when looking at those thirty people of all different shades/genders/backgrounds – and knowing that each of them is the vessel of a human heart and soul – is:

How can any one race/religion/gender/culture/nation truly believe that they are the “right” one and that all the others are “wrong”? Why is it that we as humans, must make ourselves “different” when there is so much more benefit to be had from making ourselves “same”?