Race & My Community

Race and my community.   Race for me growing up was not a big deal, not in my family nor in the surrounding community. At least not to my knowledge; even though I grew up in a White, Jewish community and I am a Christian, African American.   I always cherished my upbringing because of my diverse surroundings.   When growing up I had many friends, from many backgrounds, race and cultures.   Because of this I experienced many years of celebrating Yom Kippur and Roshashannah as well as years of investigating and celebrating Kwanza and the Chinese New Year and my most favorite of all Indian culture and food!   My friends and I were called by many the “United Nation Coalition!”   We thought it was funny at the time because it didn’t seem weird to any of us to have a African American, Guyanese, African, Hindi, Jewish American and Asian (Chinese) person as close friends as we were.
    Growing up my community looked nothing like me, well there was a good mix and this is what I strive for in a community now that I am an adult.   I love living around different races and cultures it allows for diversity and a comfort that comes with people not being or doing the same things.   You tend to look at people in a different light and become comfortable and don’t deal with huge culture shocks when you become and adult or in a place where no one looks like you.   The people are different in race, religion; but common in work ethic, moral standings and socialization.
    The leaders in my community treat everyone in the same vain. When it comes to politics there are always 6 sides, so I can only speak from the things I have seen.   The leaders tend to be very fair and always concerned with equality.   I believe this is the mindset that is built into the community and was not brought about because of racial tension or any racial issue that have occurred.   Many times, there are sensitive situations that occur in a community which make it uncomfortable for the community and it’s leader that...