I was reminiscing this morning over my childhood, and what it is that I really detest so much about the mindset of the people that I live around or at least grew up around. I remember in sixth grade I was talking back, argumentatively, with a boy in my class. Things started to get heated, and he slapped me in the face. I also remember that I was the one punished for this incident. My teacher was a female, who I believed like me. As an adult I see it was just the institution working itself out, the idea that if you are male and white that you have the right to do what you want to whoever you want.
I'm not saying all white men are like this, but this is something people need to remember. Women have not been nearly as free as we would like to think. To some men, we will always be owned. It seems very prevalent in my community. Unfortunately, I didn't know how very wrong this was at the time. I always wondered why I didn't have very many friends. I didn't want to give in to that type of mentality, even if , at the time, I didn't understand where that feeling came from.
I don't think I will ever be welcomed into this community, no matter how long I live here, because I cannot abide by that deep rooted hatred of anything different. It's in the air here. Apparently there is much more to fear than fear itself.