My friends and I arrive at a Japanese-American restaurant, and are served sushi by a Mexican-American. While dining, the Mexican-American sushi chef entertains us with a few funny stories about his education in Japanese cuisine. The best one concerns his mistaking a bowl of wasabi for avocado during his first day of training and helping himself to a heaping spoonful as a treat. With the restaurant being packed so tightly many guests were within earshot of one another. Over at another table an intoxicated group of men began to batter the Mexican-American chef. Racist and malicious remarks from the unruly group and a few clever comebacks from the chef resulted in the men being thrown out. The whole restaurant erupted into applause as they watched the drunk men finally get what was owed to them. But I could tell not everyone was as relieved as the restaurant’s patrons were. Though the chef had prevailed and seemingly let the remarks roll off his back, I could tell his spirit had been somewhat broken. The many jokes and stories he had told before were now replaced with steady work and downward pointed eyes, we continued our dinner in awkward silence. After we finished eating my party and I said our goodbyes to the man we had come to consider a friend and left. On our drive home I couldn’t stop thinking of the chef or the men. The men chose to degenerate the chef solely on his race and lack of Japanese background. Before the incident everyone’s spirits were so high. Why the hate? This really bothered me. Mainly because we have people of all different cultures and backgrounds living in our city, but also because I couldn’t stand the fact that this type of thing was still going on, at least to this extent.

Later that week, however, I and Jamila, a friend who witnessed the events, got into an interesting conversation about what should be done with the men who did this. I told her I thought they deserved to be shunned and disgraced. Jamila reminded me of what Gandhi told the Hindu man who came to him after a Muslim man killed his son. Gandhi told the man not to get revenge by murdering the Muslim man. Instead, Gandhi told the Hindu man to adopt a Muslim child. Jamila suggested the man take Gandhi’s approach and respond with love. She pointed out that “racism is just a form of mental illness. Harboring that hatred hurts the person who hates as much as it hurts the group or individual that is hated.” The more I got to thinking of Jamila’s conclusion the more it began to make sense. If a person’s hate was greeted by love, eventually that person’s hatred would no longer have a purpose. They could no longer use excuses. And without excuses, they would have no choice but to begin to love also.

Mariah