I've known and loved so many people from so many cultures. I've had good friends from India, Pakistan, Morocco, France, Spain, Columbia, Algeria, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Ethiopia, South Africa, etc. I love international travel and have been to England, Ireland, Galapagos, Tibet, Nepal, China, Sikkim, Japan, Seychelles, Jordan, Afghanistan, Thailand, Peru, Chile... every continent except Antarctica. I love to eat nearly everybody's cuisine. I LOVE art from everywhere.
I love that my home is filled with so many things I've picked up from all over the world. They remind me of wonderful people I've met who were so different from me.
It's hard for me to imagine how much poorer my life would be if I shut myself off from those friends, their cultures, those experiences. I actually can't imagine what it would be like if I actually thought that the only people worth being around were people who were just like me.
Plus, I know how heavy my heart feels when I feel animosity towards one person. I also can't imagine feeling that towards millions and billions.
It's totally unimaginable. I'd hate to live my life that closed. In fact, I think it's rather pathetic and self-loathing to choose to live like that.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage; I'm proud to be from Côte d'Ivoire and the American South. I like me. I like being open to liking others who are not like me, too. I brings something really wonderful to my life.
You can already see that the ideas you're learning about are closing you off from people you want to get to know better. It's up to you to choose if you want to live your whole life like that.
