By MARYANN MARINO

Some people say they are satisfied with the world and also will boast on the highest mountain that America is the greatest country ever, you know, because "all men are created equal" and they have "freedom of speech and the press," but will turn right around and call a Negro "nigger" or spit on a humble Indian boy who lives on a small, rustically crude reservation in the desert which was "generously" donated by our federal government. Some people think that the United States is doing all right; we had the first man on the moon, and we all heartily believe in the fact that we are "one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all," but will not give the minority groups a chance in society because of prejudiced resentment.

So what? That's what everyone says ‑ everyone but the small minorities who are constantly feeling this hatred and resentment. We, the free, independent, equal people of the United States have a serious problem to contend with, not on the moon, but right in our own backyards. We have to learn to get along with Negroes, Indians, Chinese, or any other minority groups which exist today in America. They are people, whether black, red, or multicolored, with genuine feelings which are genuinely hurt.

People can be very cruel when it comes to fighting for a cause in which they believe, such as the rebels in revolutionary times. They fought for a freedom which was precious to them - a freedom which they had never known.

They fought to their death to gain it and to preserve it. So it is with the young rebel who has the misfortune of being born with a different shade of skin pigment. Why shouldn't he fight? He has as much right as anyone else and simply wants to prove the fact. Some people are pretty thick-headed. Their misfortune is that they weren't born that way and need a bit of convincing.

I just don't see the real difference between a Negro and a white. They both are proud, the white is mostly proud of his lovely family and of his prospering business, which he talks about with his friends over a glass of beer. The Negro, as I said before, is proud, too. He considers himself lucky that he has four walls about him and that he can find enough food to eat when he and his family are hungry ‑ that's when your gut hurts so much that you can't think about anything else; and he is also lucky when he wakes up in the morning that God at least hasn't forgotten him, although death may be a better life.

Sure, there are some Negroes who are filthy rich and who could care less about their brothers who are filthy and poor, but these are such a minority that they are hard to locate without a magnifying glass. They are respected because they have money. But who cares, right?

Yes, some people will really boast. They have reasons. They are well‑fed, happy human beings. Maybe they should do some quick thinking when they are on top of their holy mountains and turn to face the other side.