The Law of Exposure

Studies have shown that over 90% of our behavior is the result of what we've been exposed to on a repeated basis. What does this mean? It's the idea that if you tell someone something enough times that they will believe it is true, whether it is actually true or not. If you are told your whole life that your potential for success is limited simply because you are of a certain race, religion or ethnic background, and this is the fault of a specific group of people who want to "keep you down", you are almost guaranteeing failure and the only possibilty for self-gratification is to punish those who have caused this grief in your life. This, a result of a fabrication and belief that you were exposed to and told by many people, over and over again. I believe one of the major problems in the United States today is the idea that people are "owed" a certain level of success without contributing anything. Simply because the idea has been repeated over and over again, at home, on television, in church and the general media that they have been treated unfairly and deserve some level of compensation for it. I came to the United States as an immigrant when I was ten months old. The first day in America, in Washington DC, our capital, my parents arrived on a flight from Italy, went through customs and were basically lost. A man befriended my dad and showed them how to catch their connecting flight and said he would take care of their luggage for them, not to worry. Unfortunately, this man, who happened to be black was not really being helpful, he was thief who stole everything my parents owned. Everything they had was stolen, they had nothing. My parents did not blame every black person for this. My dad felt stupid and blamed himself for letting someone take advantage of him. As we grew up, I never heard anything negative about people of other races, I was not exposed to any prejudice except for the fact that my parents were not to thrilled with Germans, since they saw all of the horrible things that German soldiers did first hand in their villages during world war two. Many of my great aunts and uncles were taken to Dachau, a nazi concentration camp and some survived to tell their story. I was fortunate enough to hear what they had to say and maybe learn from it. It was when the American soldiers came in and treated them well, when my parents decided to move to America, the land of opportunity, a place of freedom. Somewhere that treats people fairly and everyone has the opportunity to become successful if you work at it.

If the law of exposure were true, and I believe it is, I learned as a child that all people are equal in the eyes of the Lord. I never looked down at anyone. So when it was time for me to go to Junior high school, this is seventh through the ninth grade in Cleveland, I did not have a problem going to Empire Junior High, even though I was the only white student there, who cares? I thought people would like me because I was different, heck, a lot of our neighbors were black and I had a story to tell about being an immigrant. My first day didn't turn out well. I was a very timid kid, kind of a dork with thick glasses. I never stood up to anyone and would try to talk people out of being violent and my mom always told me that if you are nice to others, they will be nice to you. I learned as a young teenager, this didn't work very well. I was beaten so badly that I had to be hospitalized, for being white. My dad didn't have insurance, he tried to get the school to pay for my medical bills, they didn't want to hear it. Witnesses said I started it. Well, the only witnesses were the fifteen or so thugs who beat on me. Nothing was done, no one was arrested, my dad had to pay all of the medical bills himself. All that happened was that my parents sent me to St. Vitus an all-white private school. My parents struggled to pay fr my tuition and eventually ran into some fiancial issues and sent me back to the public school system. I was sent to Collinwood High School. So what happened there? I was beat up again during a racial riot and hospitalized simmply for being timid and white. The crazy part was that some of my black friends were even in on the attack. None of it made any sense. At that point I learned how to fight and decided that I would not take any abuse from anyone and I wouldn't trust anyone I figured out that if I stood up to people who were thugs and didn't take any of their verbal abuse, it would never get to the point where it became physical. People learned to leave me alone after that. I was known as a crazy person, weirdo, who could probably not have a problem killing someone. It worked well. Still today, I don't understand why people who attack me, simply for existing, believe I owe them something. I have to chalk it up to the "Law of Exposure". their actions were not a personal, thought out decision to attack someone, it was a mob mentality. A response based on the idea that they believe all of there ills, all of their problems were coming from white people. So naturally when the opportunity presented itself to vent the frustration and anger, they took it. So whose fault is this? I blame the media, movies, music and the idiots who go around claiming they and their race have been tretaed unfairly like Al Sharpton and Barack Obama. Barack Obama was raised by rich white people and had everything he ever wanted. I have more of a connection and understanding of what it is like to be poor and in the ghetto than Obama, cause that is where I grew up. I make it a point in life to surround myself with successful people. I know, because of exposure, I will think more like them and eventually be more like them. I don't blame anyone for negative things that happen to me, it's all me. I control my destiny and no one else.