It’s infallible, humans are different
And some hate that. It’s called prejudice
It’s a word that has changed history, destroyed nations, and filled empty graves with the bodies of the dead, the different.
How many times have men rebuilt what will only be destroyed
By the looming shadow of prejudice

When I was little, my life had little time for prejudice
Race issues were solved by running a little faster and
My friends could have been green, purple, or polka-dotted for all I cared
I probably even imagined a few friends this way
Teachers talked about respect, friendship, and above all, to not be prejudice
I didn’t even know what prejudice was

I grew older and I thought I was above being prejudice
And I think my friends thought so too, after all
Our friends were all different and we talked to everyone
Regardless of what they looked like or their background, isn’t that not being prejudice?
But we would make jokes, jokes of race, religion, and culture
And we would laugh, we got the joke, and no one was offended
After all, it’s not like any of us actually thought that way

At our age, we breathed in media possibly more frequently then air
Would it even be possible to not know what was going on in the world
Wars of hate, of racism, or discrimination
And history was tainted with it, as we read about the holocaust,
Japanese internment and the KKK, while shaking our heads in disgust
At the fact that anyone could think of being prejudice

But things change and you see things through different eyes
Maybe being a bit more selective, avoiding those
Who never had a second chance after you took the first glance
Not race or religion, but perhaps the clothes they wore, the way they acted
And I fell victim to prejudice
Suddenly, everything was not as easy and carefree as your childhood

Wouldn’t our world be a wonderful place
If no one judged before knowing, if everyone’s mind was an open book in which everyone was welcome
But the world’s not that way. Opinions make us human.
Everyone shapes their own path, whether it be crooked or straight
And I walk down my path everyday to face my own prejudice