People of the world: wake up!

Think about your life for a second: not about the math test next period or about how your friend stabbed you in the back or about that party this weekend, but think about your life as a whole and how many times a day it intertwines with the lives of so many others. Think about how a single action of yours can cause change.

Change.  Now that’s a word we hear quite a lot.  But do we truly know what it takes to inspire change, let alone make a change in ourselves?

We all discriminate; it’s part of being human.  Every person has walked into a room some point in their life and automatically made judgments about the people who are in it.  But all these judgments are based off of a person’s appearance.

Meanwhile, the true being hidden beneath the skin and bones that holds the character and personality in place waits to be discovered.  Don’t judge a book by its cover?  Yeah, no kidding.

Differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, and religious affiliation are just some of the qualities that people seek out as a means to categorize others.  These traits should still be recognized and respected as being a part of who we are, but not all of who we are.  For example, when you look at a person, the first thing that comes to mind should not be “Asian,” or “African American,” or “gay,” or “straight,” but rather “a person I look forward to getting to know.”  And even if you find that this person is not someone you are very fond of, make sure you have looked beyond the surface.

Every day, unless you live in a bubble, you probably hear stereotypical comments or references made about, well, anyone.  Nowadays, you can guarantee you’ll find such prejudice even on an elementary school playground.  But high school is undoubtedly the worst.  Friends constantly joke about one another, often in the form of derogatory statements.  But honestly, what’s funny about laughing at someone’s appearance, gender, or ethnicity?  Let me answer this one: nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Sure, your friend doesn’t mean it when he says you’re a terrorist because you’re Muslim, or when she says you believe anything because you’re blonde, or when he says you’re a criminal because you’re African American, or when she says you aced that test just because you’re Asian.  And you’ll both laugh and laugh, because the “friend” who made the comment assumes that you won’t take it to heart, because why would you take a remark so cruel, so insolent, to heart?  Why would you care that your “friend” just insulted a part of who you are?  After all, he was only kidding. Right?

They may have been disguised as jokes, but these comments are just like any other type of discrimination observed in this world.  And the reason this intolerance still exists, if not increases, is because people don’t make a great enough effort to eradicate hatred and ignorance within themselves.  As a result, a cycle forms: people learn to discriminate from their parents and/or the media, and then go on to teach others to view the world with the same narrow-mindedness.  Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely reverse this cycle.  There are, and have already been, too many wars and conflicts kindled by prejudice, whether they be internal or global.

So what can we do when we encounter the bigotry that infests our world?  Let’s start with standing up for morality.  Spread the word, lend a hand, hold a sign.  As hard as we may try to extinguish its fire, discrimination will always exist.

However, its damage can be minimized; all it takes is an open mind.