Quote Originally Posted by Lorileah View Post
It comes from fear and ignorance. Ignorance can be fixed. But the ignoramus must want to learn. Remember that kid in school who would not listen no matter what? You can't teach that type of person. In this case they have a frame of reference that is based on years of misinformation.
That's the saddest thing for me -- so many people reach a certain point, not too long into adulthood, at which their beliefs, prejudices, and misconceptions become fixed and unmovable, preserved in amber like some insect specimen. I have never understood that. I live every day for learning something new. I constantly challenge myself, exposing myself to all sorts of information and viewpoints. And let me tell you, in the course of my just over a half-century on this planet, I have had MANY strongly held beliefs turned 180 degrees because I was willing to learn, and to admit when I was wrong.

My mother is on in-home hospice care. When they were setting things up, the administrator told me that many elderly patients AND their families adamantly refuse to have nurses, aides, or other hospice workers in their homes that are black, hispanic, or male. I expressed head-shaking amazement at this, pointing out that "geez, you know it's 2010; it's the 21st Century!" She responded, "That's the thing -- for them, it's not 2010; their minds are still stuck somewhere decades in the past. The calendar moved; they didn't."