Has anyone else seen Avenue Q? It is the adult version of The Muppets. When I say adult there are quite a few scenes and songs that… well errr put it this way no child should ever see (think muppets doing the karma sutra on stage 😂 ). I went to see the show about 3 years ago and loved it.

The events of the past few days have made me think of it again. Not because I have a thing for muppet porn I hasten to add, but due to one song called “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist”. The song can be seen at the end of this blog and the words go something like this…

Everyone’s a little bit racist, sometimes.

Doesn’t mean we go around committing hate crimes.

Look around and you will find,

No one’s really color-blind.

Maybe it’s a fact we all should face.

Everyone makes judgments…based on race.

And I for one think those lyrics are spot on. Race is a sociopolitical phenomenon rather than a biological one. We are all brought up in our own areas of the world with our own form of racism. Doesn’t matter what colour skin we have, where we were raised, where we live now, or who our friends are, as the song goes on to state “Bigotry has never been exclusively white”. Racism exists across the world.

We may think we have friends from loads of countries and backgrounds but it does not mean we are not racist. How many of us have made or laughed in the past at race-based jokes, made judgments based on stereotypes, made assumptions because of someone’s skin colour? If we are honest, we ALL have. It is the way of the world, as sad as that may be.

So as much as I personally accept myself and everyone I know is a little bit racist, does it mean that I or (hopefully) anyone I know:

• Call people names because of it?
• Beat people up because of it?
• Rape people because of it?
• Vandalise property because of it?
• Not employ people because of it?
• Not have certain friends because of it?
• Not go to certain areas of the world because of it?
• Think people should be persecuted because of it?
• Think people should be discriminated against because of it?
• Think people should be separated into different areas because of it?
• Think people should be displaced because of it?
• Think we should go to war because of it?
• Think people should join a racist based political party due to it?
• Think people should spew hate based social media posts because of it?

No. No. No and NO.

Yes, we all make mistakes when dealing with other people. I know I have mucked up, learnt why and attempted to not do that again.

So yes we are all a little bit racist thanks to the world we live in. But that does not mean we have to act upon that in a negative way that harms others.

EVERYONE is an individual. And whilst race plays a part in our social upbringing as does religion, geography, sex, gender, and so on, it does not define us or anyone else unless we choose to let it. We can choose not to go with views that are discriminatory and cause us to carry out negative actions of body, speech, and mind.

EVERYONE is human and deserves to live a life free from discrimination and all the abuse and harm that comes from that.

Personally, I am glad that there has been such a loud outcry about the racist abuse of the players that has occurred since Sunday’s football match. Abuse like this simply should not be tolerated. The more we come together and speak as one to make it clear that this kind of abuse is no longer acceptable in our society then maybe, just maybe, things will change.

But perhaps, being optimistic, the fact that there has been such a loud and united condemnation of this racist behaviour is a sign that things are already changing for the better.

And for a final bit of humour to end a difficult topic on…here is the Avenue Q song I have been referring to – enjoy and have a harmonious day all.