A Matter of Color

I just plain don't get it. Racial prejudice, that is. People come in all shapes and sizes of good, middlin'good, average, naughty, and downright nasty, and not a lick of it depends on what their exterior color scheme is. So why do some people insist that all those whose skin color happens to be a different shade from their own are inherently 'less than'? It just doesn't make sense to me.

For those who insist that the Bible holds the absolute literal, inerrant truth word for word, how can racial prejudice creep into their worldview? Take the second creation story, the story of Adam and Eve. If you believe that all of humanity arises from just that one couple, then it doesn't matter what we look like on the outside, because we're all relatives in our core being - our DNA. (I will have to admit a bit of skepticism for this creation myth. If we all come from just Adam and just Eve, where did the people of Nod and Cain's wife come from? It's not until much later, as in after the birth of Seth, that the scriptures acknowledge that Adam and Eve had both sons and daughters. The first creation story - male and female God created them, however many them was - seems more plausible.)

Or if that account doesn't work for you, what about the Flood narrative? All of humanity was wiped off the face of the earth, except for Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives. Are those who insist on racial prejudice saying that the various races arise from these four couples? Again, how could that be? The basic DNA for all future generations would seem to have a huge dose of Noah in it, so don't we return to the point where we're all relatives at the core of our being?

So why do so many insist that one's skin color is sufficient rationale for vicious violence against another? What is it that causes 'different' to be an okay reason for hatred? I just plain don't understand it! Would one of you racially prejudiced people out there care to explain? Problem is, I probably wouldn't understand your answer, whatever it happens to be. *sigh*