Colors.
Simply exotic, minimally modest…colors.

What are colors? Something we see? Something we feel? Perhaps it’s something we all innately share, for even from the very first breath we just seem to comprehend the sense of the word and everything it represents: colors. What are colors?
And yet, the startling irony behind something that we can all relate to is that we are separated by its mere existence. Why do we choose to live in a world where color can show such beauty and grace and triumph while simultaneously making it a weapon of rancor and unfounded animosity? Do we even choose at all? Or do we also all share from our very first breath a sense of another word: racism.

If one looked at it scientifically and without prejudice, one could theorize that racism roots from the seeds of our ancestors, because in order to survive, distinguishing friends from your tribe and others that were not was paramount to survival. If only we could blame it on our inevitable evolution. Alas, if only it were so simple…

We have so many choices in life. Choices about what we can do as a career, about who we interact with, even something as trivial as choosing what type of gunk we stuff down our digestive tracts. Something we can’t choose, however, is our sight of colors. It’s true. But what we can choose is something that matters far more than simply seeing various pigments from electromagnetic radiation. We can choose how we interpret them and their meanings. I’m not saying we should stop giggling when we see a flaming hot pink pair of glasses, nor am I saying we should change your favorite color to something less appealing. Those interpretations are free to, well, interpretation. I’m talking about judgment based on the color of someone’s skin. Judgment with what? Our own minds? After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

People say we have come so far, and that it’s not a problem anymore. And yet, why do we still judge based on the color of someone’s skin? Let’s not deny anything here, we all do it. We may tell ourselves that we don’t, but there comes a point in all our lives where we simply stop spending time trying to prevent ourselves from doing so. It gets set aside on a back burner, where we can worry about it in the future and when we have less work and enough time.

So now I conclude my thoughts. What are colors? Something we see? Something we feel? Perhaps it is something else, something more than just what we see and what we feel. Perhaps it encompasses something greater…perhaps it is culture. Perhaps, it’s something we cannot define it so simply as we often do. We take it in all of its beauty for granted and sometimes we even use it for hatred, but what are we losing?
Choices. Culture. Beauty. Simply…
Colors.