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Summary of Question:	Whitewashed?
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Wednesday, 7/18/2001 11:30 PM MDT

Hey there

I'm from from a small town and i have a lot of white friends as well as brown friends. Most of my brown friends are all sneaky and super competitive. Lately i have lost total interest in being friends with them and my parents won't accept my white friends cuz they're white which is so racist! This totally makes me mad and everyone thinks i'm super whitewashed and that pisses me off so i was wondering wats a good way to convince my parents that white people are the same as us..i mean they're all white girls not like i hang with guys or druggies. Thanks for your time
Later
p.s. what would be a good way to make ppl think that i'm not whitewashed?

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REPLY
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Sat Sri Akal,

I assume you're a teenage girl. I don't think there's any easy way to convince your parents that all people are equal, regardless of race. Sikhism teaches us that everyone is equal regardless of what they look like. If your parents are practicing Sikhs, you can remind them of this fact. The Gurus gave their lives to protect the notion that everyone is equal and that no one has the right to say that someone is better than another over such shallow notions as physical traits. You should judge a person by his or her actions. Maybe you can also teach your parents about slavery and the Civil War in the U.S., and about Civil Rights.

About your second question, I don't know what whitewashed means. Does it mean the way you walk or talk or dress? Maybe it's the type of music you listen to or the T.V. show you watch. The question is, does it matter? Is it better to be indianwashed or punjabiwashed over whitewashed? You shouldn't forget your heritage, however, that doesn't mean it's better than any other. As long as you don't forget what the Gurus taught, dressing a certain way isn't better than any other way.

Gur Fateh,
HSD