Undoing Prejudice

So I guess this post is more of a confession... the other day when I was at church, some friends and I were at the cafe afterwards, enjoying cakes and tea... like you do. We had put our bags down and gotten into line and when we got back, there was a woman sitting at our table. I was a bit annoyed... you know you put your bag down to save the table. And I sat down and chatted to my friends and pretty much ignored her, even though it seemed like she was on her own. I wanted to be friendly, but something in me held back. I don't know what.

By the end of the night, my friends had started chatting with her and her sister who came later. She had been to the church for a few years, in England for 9 years from Iran. As soon as she said it, I felt a cold chill. I didn't know what she would think of me if she knew I was from the US. Part of me didn't want her to know. But the thing was, the two beautiful women seemed fine... they didn't have any hate in their spirits, they didn't seem bothered about me. They were secure and confident.

I didn't know what I felt... feel... It's like I'm torn. I want to believe that what the US government and army is doing in the Middle East is honorable and right. I want to trust my government. I want to believe that they have the world's best interest in sight... that the lives of innocents are in hands of people better suited to create peace than me, but in that moment, I realized, that I don't know what they are really doing. I can't be sure if it's right or not, no matter what humanitarian ideals they proclaim in their speeches.

The US media has fed me ideas about the people in Iraq and Iran and Afghanistan being untrustworthy, vigilante, violent, cruel, vindictive people... and these women, these sweet, beautiful women don't fit into that scheme of ideas.

I hate that I've been programmed like this... that my go to is that Middle Eastern people will be slightly dangerous and that I should be wary of them. It's unnecessary and untrue. I think in general people need to be more aware of where their prejudices lie so they can fight to undo them. I undo that prejudice.