Prejudice

The remarks, “You are amazing!”, “You are inspiring” are a polite reminder of how brave I am to leave my house. I was on course last week and my eye’s, my mind, my heart was opened to some tragic truths.
I am of Metis decent. Thankfully, and I say that with a lack of pride, thankfully it doesn’t show. There is a line in the movie “The Jazz Singer” that I’ve never forgotten. “What being Jewish isn’t bad enough”, when Neil Diamond as the Jazz Singer was arrested for being in a fight at a gig. Neil at painted himself black. I grew up hiding my disability, hiding my heritage, I will write a lot more about this soon. One disability was bad enough but being Metis as well!!! That was too much. We’ll the combination was out of my genre to manage. Coming out blind I’ve come out Metis as well. I know very little about being Metis but my education in my culture of being Metis and Blind is underway.
My course was about Native North Aboriginal People, on my course I learned that suicide among native or persons of native decent is very high. Unemployment is also very high, over 60%. One of the biggest barriers young people have is leaving the confines of their reservation and coming to the city is their personal fear of prejudice.
I can totally relate to this one of my strengths is getting out of bed everyday and getting out the door. There are days I’m fatigued with being blind and its nice to hide under the blankets from time to time. But one has to eat. Just getting out the door is a lot of work. You have to push yourself. Heave yourself out of bed.
What makes me get up and get out of bed and go to work and face the day, face the prejudice? I don’t know. I’m sorry its kinda lame. I just want to live. I suppose it could be that I want to prove that even though I’m blind and Metis I can do everything anyone else can do. As I’ve indicated in other posts I’m mellowing but I just want to live. I want to go out of this world with my hair burnt to a crisp sliding into home base with nothing left but the whites of my blind eyes.
I love people I love life. I think what gets me out the door is a phrase I remember from my Metis grandpa, who chased butterflies, “Everyone, including you, no matter how humble, has a story to tell and something to teach you!!” I extended that out a bit and concluded that I have something to teach and I am supposed to be here on this earth at this time doing my thing. I think its that simple.
Besides I’m lucky enough not to care what you think of me. We’ll not to much because I love life and I love people and I’m not out to hurt anyone. Everybody plays, everybody wins. I suppose if that makes me an inspiration, so be it. I do get tired and angry and frustrated and pout about the prejudice, I never forget though that no matter how pathetic you think I am, how pathetic are you that you have to tell me how pathetic I am?