Preconceived Notions About Race

 I, just as many of you, have been guilty of looking at someone and assuming that they were a specific race. I mean let’s be real, many times you look at a person and not negatively, but just in a general sense you assume that they are African American or Caucasian or Asian.  This isn’t done in a harmful or judgmental way, but when you speak of that person or make a mental note, you may place them in a specific racial category.

This clip from the Tyra Banks show was very eye opening for me. At the beginning of the show Tyra had the audience to guess at what race or mixture of races the shows guest. Some of the guests were biracial, others were of only race, but they all had been placed into categories by their peers, associates and strangers just because of their physical features and overall appearance.

Here is the clip from the show

The first young lady who was mixed with African American and White really threw me for a loop when she said she didn’t like black people. I along with the audience chuckled and then gave that “what da heck” look. Because I like many of them, who without knowing her racial background would have assumed she was an African American woman. Then when she said that she was biracial, mixed with black and white, but she did not claim the black part of her identity, I knew then that she  was seriously infected with some kind of racial stigma. Because in order to say that you are black and white but you don’t like black people is seriously a problem within yourself. Not only was that young lady’s mindset ridiculous, but it was also saddening.

Another portion of the show, that unfortunately was not included in the clip was two black women, one with fair, light skin and the other with darker skin. They both spoke on the racial resumptions that are placed upon them because of their shade of black. The lighter skinned woman talked about how she didn’t really have friends growing up because many of the girls assumed she was stuck up or thought she was better than them because she was lighter skinned. The darker woman talked about how she always felt the need to prove herself because she was of a darker shade. Both women suffered the same ridicule and discrimination.

This cycle is one that has been ongoing within the African American race. However this episode of the Tyra Banks show demonstrated that this issue is one that abides in all races. Mexicans versus Puerto Ricans, Japanese versus Chinese and so on and so on. All over the world people see color before they hear, see or know anything else about a person. It is only normal to see skin color, but living by skin color is the problem.

From Gay To Straight-Is it Possible?

Can a gay person become straight?

That question has been asked by many and answered with 100% proof by none. Some people believe that homosexuality is a chosen lifestyle. Those people believe that desiring the same sex is a conscious decision and is not something a person is born with. They believe that the homosexual tendencies are driven by a person’s own desires and have nothing to do with their genetic makeup. Others believe that some may choose a gay lifestyle but others are born gay. They feel that with the discrimination and ridicule that homosexuals often face, most don’t and wouldn’t choose a lifestyle that would knowingly bring them so much anxiety and ridicule. 

So the question is still posed and both sides still stand strong on their beliefs of whether homosexuality is a decision or if the lifestyle chooses them and not the other way around. 

I was completely wowed by this video taken from the Tyra Banks Show. On this episode Tyra talks with two men who went through extensive therapy to try and convert themselves from gay to straight. The video also talks briefly about the group Love in Action  which seeks to help homosexual people to find freedom from the desires of the homosexual lifestyle through Jesus Christ. The group believes that the power of Jesus can rescue anyone from any behavior, compulsion etc.

After a little internet browsing and searching, I found quite a few sites other than Love in Action, that desire to help homosexuals who have “Unwanted Same-Sex Attractions“.  These groups offer solutions for healing, books, cds, and other services that profess to help people who wish to rid themselves of their homosexuality or homosexual tendencies.

My question is this; if a person can rid them self of homosexuality, isn’t that a choice? If you can choose to no longer want, desire or act upon homosexual activities or lifestyles did you not choose to act, desire and live that way before?

I do not have the answer to whether or not homosexuality is a choice, or if some are born that way, but I do believe that if it is something you can change, it is something you chose.