Dr. Susan D. Anderson is the author of three memoirs and over 100 articles on the theme of equality.

When I was a child, I was a victim of relentless prejudice and the hatred that accompanies it. This had nothing to do with race or economic status. It was parental. I was not allowed to play with my brother and sister, go on school field trips, eat dessert, ride a bike, or watch TV. My mother could weaponize anything most children take for granted, such as needing a parent’s cooperation for an assignment, needing glasses, needing comfort when hurt or ill, engaging with other members of the family, and being kept safe from harm.

Every day my mother punished me for things beyond my control. I hated walking home from school because I knew she would come after me for some ridiculous thing the minute I got home. Maybe I lost a barrette, became sick in school, had a hole in my sock, got my shoes wet, got blood on my underwear when I had my period, or some other thing she found infuriating. Her hatred of me was always on full display and her punishments were just plain mean.

It has been said that we each have a theme in life – something that crops up in everything we do. No surprise that living as equals is my theme. As a child, the concepts of “fair” and “unfair” were not hard to grasp in the face of daily, baseless prejudice against me.

When my junior high English teacher used literature and poetry to teach us about prejudice and discrimination among Black people, Jews, indigenous populations, and immigrants, it was a huge revelation. No longer alone in my misery, I understood that thousands of people lived their lives under the thumb of bigotry and hatred. I became an avid reader, devouring Les Miserables, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Ivanhoe, The Last of the Mohicans, and many other classics that dealt with the theme of inequalities in society.

My adult life began during the Civil Rights era, the Women’s Movement, and the wars on drugs and poverty. Those voices amplified my understanding of inequalities in our society. Before I became a writer, I was a teacher of young children, and then a college professor of early childhood teacher education. Every life I touched, from toddlers to professional staff, I treated with dignity. Profound respect for others is in my DNA.

I began writing this blog in 2016 when Trump was running for President and the bigotry of the White establishment was on full display. It made me sick. My posts talk about ways we can become more aware of our biases, and grow away from discrimination.

Everything our great forefathers wrote of liberty and equality, of justice for all, continues to resonate in the hearts of those who are not yet free from prejudice. I write to be an ally for people of color, for the marginalized, and for victims of prejudice, discrimination, and abuse. In the process, I hope to open the minds and hearts of others to the injustice caused by what people “believe” and what people “think,” as well as by-laws and institutional patterns of discrimination. I want to lift my readers up and out of any forms of bigotry that may be crippling them as well as their victims.

Long ago (1993), when Charlie Rose asked Toni Morrison about what racism did to her, she immediately turned to Charlie and asked, “What is it doing to you, Charlie?” She described growing up feeling superior to White people because our prejudice and race hatred revealed to her that we all suffer from an illness. Race hatred is a neurosis that causes psychological and emotional deficits. It originates in our institutionalized racism and, like any illness, can progress to malignancy, such as the police actions against the Standing Rock protests, the murder of George Floyd, and the continuous bombings of Jewish temples and Islamic mosques.

Living As Equals is dedicated to discussing events around us that illustrate our struggles with equality.  Today, Living as Equals has grown to over 100 essays that name prejudices that appear in everyday life. When I hear of efforts that promote equality and lift people up out of situations that have kept them marginalized, I rejoice and write about that.

Because I am White, I will always have much to learn about equality. I hope you will join me on this journey, subscribe to my blog (it’s free!), and comment on articles whenever you want to add to or question my take on a topic.