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A serious topic has been circulating my mind, lately. Prejudice. Due to the
attention surrounding it in the senate race, and other factors outside of
Whyville, I have been putting some serious thought into the subject. I have
realized that
while we all know prejudice is a horrible thing, it still affects our opinions
of others, whether or not we are aware of it. Prejudice is a serious thing, and
when we think of it, we think of real life, not Whyville. The truth is, though,
Whyville is infected with it.
I am sure that we have all seen both sides of prejudice. We have suffered from
it. We have been blinded by it. It applies to everyone. Newbies are supposedly
beggars, and clam-hounds. Preps are supposedly ditzy and exterior-oriented.
Goths are supposedly mean, and scary. It isn't only looks. I have noticed a lot
of prejudice directed to those at the Sun Roof, recently. All who chat there are
*apparently* stuck-up and mean to newbies. The list goes on, but telling you
about the many prejudices burdening Whyville isn't my incentive for writing
this article.
I want to ask, can any of you support these theories? Can anyone here say that
they have met every single newbie? Every single prep? Every goth, punk and
every person who ever entered the Sun Roof chat? I think that I can safely assume
that none of you have. Then, if I may ask, how can you know someone who you
really don't know? It is impossible. Simply impossible. That is all that
prejudice is, a practice of the close-minded.
Maybe I should be more careful in saying that. For everyone has judged people using
prejudice. Even if we
haven't known it. I have. I can name many occasions on which I have judged
people unfairly, and I regret it now. So, no, this doesn't make us bad people.
Look at all the content in the media, supporting all these prejudices and
tainting us with these faulty ideas. What makes us bad people is how we
continue, knowingly, to act this way, without making an effort to stop.
Back to Whyville. No, Whyville isn't real life. It is simply an educational
site, and sort of a simulation of real life. Let's just imagine, that it was
possible the completely abolish prejudice on Whyville. What difference would
it make in real life? None? Wrong! It would make a difference, just think, there
are hundreds of thousands of people using Whyville. Imagine if all these people
learned to free themselves of their stereotypes. Would that make a difference in
the world? Yes! Think of how it could spread, one person to another, like a cure
to a long-lived disease. We can't stop prejudice, though. All we can do is try
with all our might to lessen it. Wouldn't it be worthwhile, if one day a newbie
could sign onto Whyville, and belong? They could, if we all saw past the fact
that they were a newbie.
Now, I just want to say, that you, as one person out of hundreds of thousands,
can make a difference. Next time you see a newbie, oldbie, prep, goth, punk,
blonde, or whatever, please, prejudices aside, get to know them. You may find a
friend.
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