Ever been a minority on a crowd? I don’t mean, “I like that kind of music and no one else does”. I mean minority in the racial sense.
Since I was born with white skin and euro-features, I am part of the majority in the USA. This is swiftly changing, as other racial groups are having more babies than euro-types.
I never knew what it was like to stand out in a crowd until we moved to Africa. It’s a strange feeling to have people look at you and think, “He’s different.”
I just returned from about a week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – a big modern city of about 7.2 million people (including the surrounding areas). The Malay are the majority, with about 60% of the population. Chinese are roughly 30%. East Indians come in at approximately 10%. And caucasians are maybe 1% or less.
I found it healthy to experience a little prejudice – in small doses. It helped me realize that I’m small.
So I went on a business trip last week. My itinerary included three airports. The Fort Wayne airport had a museum devoted to airplanes and flying. It was small, but I enjoyed my visit.
So we went to Texas last week for our kids’ spring break. As we do every time (except one – for my mom’s memorial service), we make the trek via minivan. We have driven enough times that it’s not hard. The kids actually enjoy it. And I love the peaceful time behind the wheel while everyone’s asleep.
