i got my replacement library card thursday afternoon, and after i picked out my two-weeks-worth of books, i sat down in a comfy rocking chair with the latest issue of Ms. magazine. the nice thing about the magazine section of the library is that you can see and hear what goes on in all the other sections. i love to people watch, which may explain why it takes me an hour to read anything...

thursday there were three high school boys digging through the "reccommended summer reading" shelves. apparently they didn't like the choices because one boy said (quite loudly) "why would i want to read about some indian bitch?". honestly, my stomach just turned. i'd like to say that i went over there and told him off, but the truth is, kids, i just don't do things like that. call it cowardice, call it self-consciousness, call it whatever, you're probably right. it's just not my personality.

but this is what i would have said:

because every time you read a book, you have the chance to enter someone else's world, someone else's head and experiences. because the more you read, the more you realize that whatever the culture, whatever the color, there are fundamental samenesses of the human experience, and this experience ties all the world together. because the more you read about another culture, the less alien it feels to you, the more empathy you have, and the more you realize that we are all human. because maybe if you read that book, you will begin to understand, and in understanding you will find love and respect for all people. you will discover that there is nothing to fear or scorn in another's culture. because maybe you will begin to become a compassionate human being. because every life you enter through reading gives you another way to look at your own life, to discover what is important to you, why you are you . because the world is bigger than you know. because the world is smaller than you think. because learning about the past helps you fight for the future. because learning about injustice teaches justice. because you and your life are not the center of all things.

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there was an article in Ms. about the dangers of the word tolerance . the opposite of hatred is not tolerance. the opposite of hatred is understanding and respect. tolerance implies a putting up with; it asks for a veneer of equanimity, no matter how much the core of a person still hates. you can hate whomever you please, your soul can be utterly unyielding, just so long as you express the right of those you hate to exist. tolerance allows for inner hate, so long as it is not expressed. tolerance is bigotry dressed in charitable disguise. in some ways it's more dangerous: it hides the enemy. tolerance has nothing to do with love; asking for tolerance is asking too little of humanity.

fight tolerance. teach love.

-beatpoetgrrl

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