Generalization is breeching the peace

I think it is safe to say that many people took the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. serisouly at one point, so I thought I would sight a quote from the man. He is saying something important here I think. Although peace between all races would be ideal, and a great goal (I think only God will bring about this goal eventually), I think the good Dr. King was right; let's seek to reach that goal THROUGH peace.

Racism is a hot topic these days, but it doesn't have to be. Whether it be racism, or social profiling, or religious descrimination - we have a tendency to judge an entire group of people by the actions of a very small, select sample of that group. This has been the case and point in racism for years. It's like, "Hey I saw this black guy shoot someone once, and the cops caught him and took him to jail." And so the person that makes such a bold statement assumes all blacks are criminals just by the actions of that one soul he happened to see commit such a heinous act. This is classic generalization.

Or you might have a certain religion, and just because they have certain people who proclaim that religion who happen to be radical in action, the whole religion is judged by the radicals. Don't get me wrong...I do think some belief systems, if followed according to their doctrine, are easier to sway people into radical thinking. But we should still not make generalizing statements about one whole group of people just because of the bad apples. This is yet another example of generalization.

I can use this similar example in my marriage. My wife and I have even argued over generalizations before. I might say something like, "You always do that!", when really, whatever she may have done to make me angry could be something that she has just done frequently in the last couple of days or so - but she never did it before then. Or my son might get upset because I am busy with certain activities one night, and he may say "You never spend time with me." Only, I spend lot of time with him, but he uses one small sample to describe  how I behave all the time.

Every race has its heroes, and their scumbags. Every religion has its bigots or radicals, and their saints. Everyone screws up SOMETIMES, but not necessarily all the time. It is when we get caught up with these generalizations that we find ourselves breeching the peace. So here is a challenge for all of us: Let's all try to make it several days in a row without assuming the worst about an entire group of people just because we see certain people of a certain mold do things we disagree with. Let's try to get along with others when they displease us, and hope that maybe their errors in their ways are just a temporary 'glitch in their circuitry', and they get their wires uncrossed at some point. Let's try not to use generalizations, and maybe we can all just get along.