Why Can’t We Be Friends?

By Maria

There are all kinds of people who don’t care about another person’s race. They are more concerned about the person on the inside. Or so they say. What if the person in the inside has been shaped by what they look like on the outside? What if it’s impossible to “look past race” because race has shaped how we view ourselves? Can people from two races really get along? Can they see past race?

I do believe people from two races can get along well. I don’t say this out of habit. I have my reasons. Friendship is more about what both people feel inside. It is about shared ideas and interests, not about race or any other outside characteristic. A good cross-racial friendship will mean people will experiment with new things from another culture. True, there might be challenges, but the relationship will grow stronger because of what they have gone through. They’ll have conflict based on how they were raised and they’ll challenge former ideas. But that’s how people grow. Eventually the friendship will be easy, Who knows? By the end of it all, both sides might end up more like the other culture as a result.

To every good side, there is also a challenging side. For example, one of the friends may love their race and without recognizing it, he might put down the other person’s race. The other person might get mad and it can end with hurt feelings and bruised egos. They may even lose their friendship. Or what if one person doesn’t like the food or the music of the ideas of another culture? Then when they hang out, there is the idea that one race is “right” and the other is “wrong.” After awhile, both people want to hang out with only people from their own race, because it’s easier to be with someone you have something in common with.

It’s not the race of a friendship that matters, but the attidutde you have about it. Trying new things can be awesome. Having friendships that go past the racial barriers can make you into a better person. It makes like interesting. It makes life fun for both races. The goal is to move past racism and explore race in a way that allows people from both sides to have fun. A solid friendship makes it to the end together. Even if it is sometimes difficult, it is possible for people from two races to deeply know each other and be best friends.

Photo Credit
Flickr Creative Commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lulazzo/2950951981/