On Character

Think about it.

In Washington D.C. in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech. In that speech he described his dream of a country in which his children would be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. Since that time, that statement – judgment on the content of our character - has been applied over a much wider spectrum of humanity than just race.

In fact, each of us make judgments all the time. Just to know when to study, work or relax, and when to sleep, we have to. We almost always go wrong, however, when we apply the same kind of matter-of-fact judgment to people.

Some of us won’t like another just because they’re a cop, a lawyer, or a politician. Some people aren’t well-liked because they are unattractive. Some people come off as shy and backward, and they are avoided as a result. Some don’t appreciate outgoing people, either. To say nothing of race, gender or sexual orientation.

But character is the thing that defines who we really are. Character determines what choices we make when no one is looking. It’s who we are inside! Tell me, how does choice of profession, color of skin, attractiveness, shyness or the lack of it, age or physical appearance, determine that? And by what special power of judgment can we decide which of us is a good person, or a bad person?

I believe the main reason we judge others as we do is that somewhere along the way we’ve clashed with people; those interactions made impressions on us. We tend to re-run those experiences, in a flash, whenever we see anyone who is similar to the person with which we’ve had a problem. In large part, when we meet someone for the first time, we form an unqualified opinion that's not a fair evaluation.

I personally believe that no one is better than anyone else. In fact, if someone shows they believe they're superior in some way, I have an immediate problem with it. “Yeah right,” one of my friends responded to that, “Superiority complex - that’s the blueprint for a cop!”

Another generalization, another snap judgment.

We can say, “Cops put their lives on the line every day,” but will we actually know what that means until we go out and actually do that ourselves, every day for most of our working lives? Do you think if my friend actually did that, his perspective would change?

How about if you had to experience the treatment a person gets who is confined to a wheelchair? Or the avoidance a shy or unattractive person lives with, every day?

Such treatment, isolates.

Such treatment, separates.

My point is simple. If, as they say, “our strength is our diversity,” then let’s at least accept it. Until we’ve walked in another’s shoes, we can’t possibly know what he or she is really like on the inside. And if, in fact, our diversity is our strength, then our failure to judge one another on character alone, is our weakness.

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