We are all prejudiced

I have become a little infuriated recently be some misconceptions. 

Let me state that I am a heterosexual, Caucasian, male.  This may have been obvious.  Whether or not you believe it, that means I got to play the "game of life" on easy mode.

The society we live in has a set of implicit beliefs.  You need not agree with them.  I hope that you do not.  You may even choose to deny their existence if you wish.  However, the subject and a reference to my race and sexuality has probably already caused you certain conceptions to form.

The story that our society tells about me is beneficial to me.  According to the story, I am boring, dependable, out-of-touch, rich, I lack athletic ability, I am married, I am conservative, I cheat on my wife, etc.  This story may not be the story I want to tell, but it has been useful to me.  You may not wish me to be on your pick-up basketball team, but you do wish to employ me.  Is this a horrible situation? Yes.  But pretending that the situation doesn't exist, is not a solution.  Pretending that this misconception does not benefit me; pretending that I am not a member of the privileged group in our society; to basically deny one part of the problem; is insulting to all other groups as well as insulting to me personally.

The terms we use are even indicative of the underlying problem.  We "discriminate".  Our brains separate, categorize, discern.  It was not until after the U.S. Civil War that "discrimination" took on a different meaning than "discriminating".  Is our pattern recognition faulty? Yes. Do we err? Often.  Does it seem to be an inherent process of human consciousness? Yes.

In my particular case, I have grown tired of my ethnic peers denying the opportunities they have had; believing the antiquated Social Darwinism that is still propagated.  The game is not fair.  Anyone who feeds off errant pattern recognition is not on your side.  Anyone who wishes to separate people and to categorize them is degrading them.

We are flawed.  We are also conscious.  We can know that we are flawed.  We can make ourselves better.  The first step is honesty.  It is time we stop hiding behind words.  I have my prejudices.  I can not say how or when they were formed.  I have chosen to recognize them and remove them from my psyche, but some remain and I do not know if I will ever be free of them.

The second step... Well, that involves talking.  Prejudices are shattered in the same way scientific theories are: contrary evidence.  If you get to know me, I'm no longer "a heterosexual, Caucasian, male", I'm Frank.