by JONATHAN BROOKSHIRE/Social Media Coordinator
Race. Religion. Gender. Sexual Orientation. Disease. Disorder. Financial stability.
There shall be no judgment.
We often discriminate against one another just based on the superficial features that we see.
A man speaks and he is not heard because he does not look educated enough to have such a radical thought.
“Why would I believe a man with filthy clothes and reeks of death?” One might think.
A woman adds to a debate, but her input is disregarded because of the color of her skin.
“She is biased,” another would say.
The appearance of a person and his or her views on a matter should not be tossed to the side because of the simple fact that he or she is not in the majority.
Every opinion counts.
Standing in the shoes of another man is a difficult task when your mind is closed. Changing the point of view with which you see the world can only be done when you take out your bias and your own opinion. Having an empty mind will give you the ability to see the world in a new light and clearly understand where the other person is coming from.
Politics has no cure for this disease of discrimination. This problem is strictly a social contract. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. However, racism was still prevalent. The “colored” men, and women of every color, were not allowed to vote. Eventually the 14th Amendment was ratified and granted “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” the right to vote. The general public had an agreement that whoever wasn’t in the majority would be separate, but equal. But being separate wasn’t equal.
That antiquated agreement of being separate, but equal, is still present. Society is pushing anybody different into his or her own corner. Every day, the lines that divide everybody are vanishing a little bit at a time. But they are still very apparent.
Muslims are viewed as terrorists. The lower class is left behind. Lesbian, bisexual, gays, and transgenders are pushed into a different social group. People with diseases and birth defects are forgotten and set aside.
There cannot be a radical change over night. However, the rate at which we are accepting and listening to these individuals is terrifyingly slow. Gay marriage is finally recognized. Every legal body in the United States has unalienable rights. There are non-profit organizations for every situation and condition. But how much are we really doing to recognize and unite one other?
There is still hatred and shunning of people who are different. The most subtle form of this rejection is undeniably body shaming. Everywhere we look, there are ads for weight loss, pictures of fit, thin men and women, showing people who they “should” be instead of who they are meant to be.
“Researchers (from the University of Messina in Italy) found that good-looking applicants, especially beautiful women, have a better chance of making it to the second round of the hiring process,” according to nydailynews.com. “Attractive ladies had a callback rate of 54 percent, compared to the 7 percent callback rate for unattractive women.”
We must ask ourselves the question, “What defines beauty?”
Beauty is not just the physical attractiveness on the surface. It’s deeper than the skin, and ittakes the mind and soul into consideration as well.
Just because somebody is poor, attracted to the same sex, looks different, or practices a different religion doesn’t mean that his or her opinion isn’t worth listening to.
Every individual is different, so their thought process is different, their opinions are different, and their experiences are different.
Having the different opinions and experiences is what brings every solution to a compromise. On a bigger scale, understanding one another and having the ability to listen to the two cents of somebody else can heighten the wealth of the world. So the pursuit of happiness is more than affordable.
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