We often forget that words have power, and their effect can sometimes depend on who hears them. I read the quote attributed to Rev. Al Sharpton, “White folks were in caves while we were building empires. . . . We taught philosophy, astrology, and mathematics before Socrates and those Greek homos”, and I couldn’t help being offended as a gay man (not that “homos” haven’t been found in almost every human culture throughout history, and indeed throughout the animal kingdom: but I digress).

We can adopt a position of conflict, or we can ratchet down the language of “us” and “them”, and pause to remember: regardless of our external appearance or internal orientation, we are all human, with fallible perceptions and delicate egos that do what they must to protect themselves; our very biological affinity for our immediate family and offspring, our selfish genes, can sadly sometimes get the better of our higher nature. American cities can be very ghettoized, as often for economic reasons as racial. But it is only by taking time to understand the “other”, and when necessary, summoning our inner resources to forgive those who offend us, hurt us, oppress us, that we can rise above the reptilian cycle, conquer our fears, and if we’re lucky, better the content of our character.