Maybe my little bubble I call reality is more idealistic than other people’s reality bubbles, but when I see a person I don’t immediately judge them by the color of their skin. No label pops up in my head identifying them by their race. I don’t identify them as inferior or superior by the tone of their skin. When the Declaration of Independence says, “All Men are Created Equal,” I believe it.

Now, here’s the part where I ruffle some feathers. People do get labeled based on race, but only under certain circumstances. In my mind you give yourself a label the minute you identify yourself with an organization that bases it’s ideals on a physical characteristic, whether it be the KKK or the NAACP. I know there’s a world of difference between the two, but the fact remains in my eyes, both are racist.

Look at it this way, there’s Black History Month and a Hispanic Heritage Month, where’s White History Month? If all men are created equal, shouldn’t all races have months? I think the fact that our calendar only has 12 months and there is more than 12 races prevents that, so let’s go back to calling them February, October and so on and move on with our lives.

There’s Black Entertainment Television (BET). Where’s White Entertainment Television? It’s not there because if someone had the brass balls to come up with said channel, it would be labeled as racist regardless of content. I’d venture to guess that just reading the name of the channel you’d assume it would be run and owned by KKK members. In society today, it’s accepted for blacks to separate themselves from whites, but the other way around is seen as racist.

Then there’s my biggest annoyance, the Miss Black America contest. Not only is it racist, but also it’s also agist, gender biased and sexist. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted a country where his children were judged on the content of their character, and we give him Miss Black America, a contest based on looks, age, skin color and gender. If the contest was truly not prejudiced, then my grandfather should be able to win.

To the point, the civil rights movement fought to, among other things, have “separate but equal” ruled unconstitutional, but now the same people who claim to be pro-civil rights are the ones who are doing the separating. The NAACP has the words “Colored People” in its name. That separates it. If that act isn’t racist against non-“Colored People,” then at the very least it encourages racism against “Colored People.” In my eyes the majority of society has moved past our racist past, and the NAACP does more harm than good anymore. The Civil Rights movement is over, and most Americans see everyone as equals, as it should be. All that’s left now are a few people who can’t seem to stop fighting and are doing their cause more harm than good. Drop the “C” and become the National Association for the Advancement of People. Fight for the rights of everyone, not just people of a certain skin color. If you don’t want to be seen as a label, don’t label yourself.

Finally a story to illustrate my point, I was flipping though the channels the other day, and I paused briefly on a re-run of “Dharma And Greg.” The plot, from what I could tell, is that Dharma was becoming afraid she might have a subconscious prejudice against “little people.” She didn’t know how to act, but she knew that calling them “little people” was preferred to the word midget. She was asking her hippie parents for advice on how to act around a “little person.” Her mother said to her “Honey, we don’t call them little people.” Dharma asks “Then what do we call them?” Her mom replies, “Just people.” When I heard that, I thought, that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard anyone say. Why doesn’t everyone apply that to heights, races, sexual orientation, genders and ages? We’re all people. Period.

Then again, this is the world I see through my eyes, and I’m sure there’s more racism out there then I’m aware of. But if the real world has more racism than I think it does, don’t tell me, I like my world of equality better.