A Celebration of Integration

In my life I have gone through many phases. You know... the "I want to be a spy" phase so I'm going to wear a trench coat and carry binoculars everywhere and of course the "I'm eco-friendly" phase so let's ride our bike to church and carry cloth bags to the grocery store. Right now I'm in the phase where I like food to match situations. I touched on this phase a bit in college, but recently I have really put more time and thought into it. For example, I get a kick out of eating Chinese food while watching Mulan or snacking on a Three Musketeers bar while reading The Three Musketeers. Sounds fun, right?

With that said, it makes sense that when Martin Luther King Day rolled around, I felt the URGE to celebrate in style. Sunday afternoon I made what are commonly called homemade oreos. Now, they are my integrated cookie. What better way to celebrate the holiday than to make black and white cookies while wearing a black and white apron! Hurray! (and of course, I also had my tap shoes on.)In all seriousness, Martin Luther King Day is a very important holiday to me. The importance and necessity of integration is not a problem of the past, but something we still encounter daily. In high school I remember walking into the lunch room one afternoon and having my eyes opened to the segregation happening all around me. All the Latinos were on the left side of the lunchroom and all of the white people were clustered in the back. I wondered why... and even tried to start a moment to change this behavior among my peers. It was a sad day when a friend of mine, who is from Mexico, pulled me aside to tell me what I was doing would never do any good and that I was hated because I was American. I was blown away and would be lying if I said I wasn't discouraged. The effect segregation has on society, whether of religion, wealth, or race, is not healthy and can only lead to sadness and hate. But what is the solution?

Last week I attended a seminar of Rabbi David Rosen. It was fascinating to listen to his ideas on the contention that is happening in the Middle East. And although he didn't have a concrete solution to the problem, he suggested that because religion was part of the problem, religion needed to be part of the solution. I believe that principle can be applied to the segregated monster we face today. I don't have all the answers (clearly), but I do know I can choose to integrate myself among all people and hope and pray others will follow suit.

My dream is similar to that of Dr. King. I dream, that one day, we will be a society of individuals. Each with a unique heritage that makes us who we are rather than a people segregated by petty things we frankly cannot control.