Bette: She is so beautiful.

Tina:  Yes, she is and seems such a welcoming symbol to the immigrants who came to this country to find a better life. I just wish this country had a little more of her spirit in her today. We have seemed to forgotten that most of us are descended from immigrants and those who are from other lands.

Bette: And some of us descended from those who did not come voluntarily, but we are here and we are a part of the fabric of this country as much as those who came of their own volition.

Mary: There will always be those who have prejudices, will always see themselves as superior to others of a certain characteristic and will make some moral judgement on their life as being deserved or not simply because of who they are. I’m not sure why it is.

Daniel: Survival of the fittest? Fight or flee response? Who knows?  In order to determine what the competition is going to be, people form some kind of judgement system – those who have, they have to win in some capacity in order to advance their position in society and those whom they can associate with which make them comfortable as to what their outlook is and those whom they seem to fear could take their position away. And usually, that fear is based on some false sense of values or beliefs. And we generally get our sense of values from our families, our friends and those we associate with. It seems to me that the entire world is in some kind of competition mode instead of a cooperative mode. If we all had a little more empathy toward others and a little less fearful, the world would be a better place.

Angie: That’s rather deep Daniel.

Tina: Yes, it is. When have you had the time to contemplate the plight of human society?

Daniel:  I don’t know. It’s kind of all around us. Everywhere we go. It’s in school, in our sports and entertainment, in the work we do. I’ve heard you and mom talk about men who disrespect women, and about people who are prejudice against people of color. Prejudice is everywhere. We just have to handle it in the best way we know how, and live the best life we can. Hopefully by our lives we will influence some people that their prejudices do not make for the best life.