Let’s be clear the war that Russia is waging on Ukraine is WRONG, HORRIFIC, TRAGIC; the death of mothers, fathers, children at the hands of a war machine activated by a crazy power-hungry authoritarian is beyond sad and deserves as much condemnation as it has received and as many prayers for the citizens of Ukraine that can be offered.

But what is also tragic is that we are still dividing ourselves over color as a species. Comments in the coverage of the Ukraine war include, “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blond hair and blue eyes being killed.” And “This is not a developing, third-world nation; this is Europe!” As well as reports that students, immigrants, and others from Africa (or who are of African descent), India and Pakistan who have been trying to flee report being delayed, sent to the back of the line or outright rejected, primarily because of their skin color. Basically, the message being sent is, OMG, how could this be happening to white people in Europe no less. This is not some brown person in Africa or the Middle East. We can accept that, after all, they aren’t civilized like us, so their deaths are OK.

How can we ever expect to move forward as a people when these attitudes prevail among some. What gives the world the right to consider the deaths of innocent men, women, and, yes, children of color as acceptable? What gives the world the right to turn its back on refugees of color fleeing carnage in their country while welcoming Ukraine refugees with open arms? What gives the world the right to play God and pass judgment on who deserves to live and who is expendable.

In the movie Aliens, 2, Ripley tells Burke. She doesn’t know what species is worst because she doesn’t see them fucking each other over. Until we as a species get past this ridiculous concept of defining each other based on the amount of melanin in our skin, we are doomed to fail.

Remember, dinosaurs roamed the Earth for about 174 million years; man has been around only about 300,000, and our penchant for self-destruction all but guarantees we will destroy each other long before we even come close to a number of years the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but it will happen, and we will have no one to blame but ourselves. Perhaps whatever takes our place on this beautiful blue ball called Earth, unique among all others in the cosmos, will be much more enlightened than us.