I was sitting at the Mai Tai Bar yesterday. It was a warm day. The sun was at its peak in the sky as the turquoise waters of Waikiki lapped against the sands of its small cove. Diamond Head stood above it all, but the light this day made it glow like a treasure chest sparkling below the surface. Here in paradise, I heard the root to something dark.
A man stood at the bar near me. He was talking to a female bartender about various things like growing up in Hawaii and being a Hawaiian native. I couldn’t help but overhear his conversation because he was close and because he was loud. Eventually, the topic steered toward the bar’s eponymous drink.
Comparisons were made about the mai tai and the bars along Waikiki that make the drink. These comparisons were based on race. The man swore that the best mai tai is only made by a native Hawaiian, and he was disgusted by any made by a haole.
Sometimes it seems that we as humans will never rid ourselves of divisiveness. We love it. We love to group ourselves then subdivide, compare then argue over best and worst. We do this with a lot of things: sports, schools, states; yet, none of these things is as dark as race, ethnicity, or religion. These types of differences stir the flames of hatred more than any other.
It is sad to say that this has been a part of human nature since the dawn of human nature. It is at the root of all war. It takes just a minute particle to be added to a conversation before it inculcates itself into the minds of many. Here was a man who had no interest in a simple cocktail when it was made by someone of a race different from his own. I wondered what greater part of him held dislike for others and it saddened me.
I need to have hope that humans have the ability to see beyond their own differences, to share a world where difference is embraced and respected more than it is separated, compared, and weighed against others. I need to believe in this hope, because if I choose to believe that human beings will never overcome their divisive natures, then I will live in a view of their eventual self-destruction.
Copyright © Tyler Gant 2009
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