In the context of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, it (the subject line) may be worth contemplating but, to quote the late Leo Buscaglia in one of his talks, “You cannot teach what you have not learned.” Such a basic truth!

His context was love, and was stressing that you cannot teach somebody how to love, if you have never experienced love! I have not studied nuclear physics so clearly I cannot teach it. Unless I have learned the Spanish language, then I cannot possibly teach that either. There is no deep thinking involved as it is just plain common sense.

If we look at education in the context of what we learned from our upbringing, it could be interesting to identify exactly what we did in fact learn.

I learned that my father was the major financial provider; that I should not be afraid to attempt anything, and that frustrations can be released by a fit of temper! I learned that my Mom was the emotional support, the cook and housekeeper, and the “Dad pacifier” as necessary.

I learned so much more of course but, in the context of this Post, I learned to accept other races, beliefs and skin tones. I learned to help others if I could. I learned to base an opinion of somebody on personal experience  only. My parents were not a particularly social couple, but they would do anything for anybody if necessary!

In the event of a natural disaster, help has typically come from a broad spectrum of our species! In the current flooding in Texas, the offers of help from inside and outside the USA  have been reported regularly. People have driven for hours simply to do whatever they can to assist.

Thinking about Texas, and then the current racial unrest in Charlotteville, I have to really question the basis for racial discrimination and cannot come up with anything that makes sense… unless it is a learned perspective, or simply ignorance.

In Texas, there are many boat owners who are voluntarily helping with rescue operations. There are many police officers heavily committed to search and rescue. There are medical staff dedicating huge amounts of time to doing whatever they can for injured survivors, and our TV often shows coverage of so many “average citizens” helping out whenever an opportunity presents itself.

None of the above groups of people are going to be 100% “white” so I have to ponder some obvious questions:

In any racist community experiencing life threatening flooding (e.g.), would the person in danger refuse help from a person of different skin tone? If they were clearly going to drown in their vehicle, and a person of different skin tone was their only hope… would they really refuse the help? There are many cases of doctors being spurned because of their ethnic origins, but these are not usually in life/death situations. If those same people had been seriously injured as a result of an environmental disaster, would they really refuse life saving treatment by a doctor of a different ethnic background?

To answer yes would, to me, confirm total stupidity. To answer no would, to me, confirm total hypocrisy. Are these traits that are surfacing, an intuitive result of learned family perspectives perhaps?

I can understand and totally support disliking certain individuals, but that must not only have a tangible basis for the dislike, but must also be put into perspective. It is unreasonable to expect to like everybody one meets, but to base the dislike solely on skin coloring is irrational. It makes no sense whatsoever. I have worked with a wonderful doctor from Pakistan, and also with one from UK who should perhaps consider a career change. It has everything to do with the individuals and nothing to do with color.

There are many people who claim to be non-discriminatory, but deep down they still have “preferences”. Perhaps now would be a very opportune time to examine those preferences. If you were to find yourself needing potentially life saving help, and the only person able to do so was one that you really didn’t like too much… would you really have to think about what to do? If they are good enough to want to save your life, then surely they are good enough to earn your respect.

We don’t need no education? Oh….. I think we most certainly do!

Food for thought.