We separate people for lots of good reasons.  We put kindergartners and first-graders in different classrooms.  We put customer service reps and accounts payable clerks in different offices.  We even make the Republicans and Democrats in Congress sit on opposite sides of the aisle.  We 'segregate' all the time.

Sometimes we are so segregated from others that we don't even know the other group exists.  Movies have shown us some of these groups that we might never have known about otherwise. Geography is a natural separator.  Chances are, you have never met an Australian Aboriginal family due to the large ocean between you and their homes in the outback. 

Makes sense, right? That is, until you think about how many people you know from China and Japan.  They are visiting and moving here by the millions.  So it isn't just distance that segregated the indigenous people of Australia from us—is it?

Social, political, and economic oppression was written into the laws of Australia that effectively segregated the Aboriginal population.  We did the same thing in the United States to the Black community in the years following the Civil War. Because these economic and social tools for segregation were easily described as applying to people with darker skin, they caught everyone with African heritage, including free Blacks and those who immigrated to the United States after slavery was outlawed.

In the sixties and seventies, we made attempts to change those laws and help us live near and amongst Black families, work next to them, go to school with them, and generally all be citizens sharing common resources and opportunities.  But it didn't work as well as some had hoped.  We are still segregated in many ways.

Does this bother you?  Have you ever wondered why?  Or did you just assume that Black families prefer to live near other Black families?  Do you know exactly where the Black people live in your community or just assume it is somewhere that you never need to visit?  

Your practice today is to think about times when you have been in a situation where you were with mostly Black people?  How did you feel in those experiences?  Can you imagine how Black people might feel when they spend time in places with mostly white people? How do you behave differently when there are Black people in the room?  Does your behavior change?  Does it change even more as more Black people are there?