Scott Martelle wrote an article in
Los Angeles Time titled: The killings in Pittsburgh weren't an anomaly. Violence and
prejudice define us. This article is written in response to another
tragedy in America. The intend audience is all Americans. The author points out
that if we referred to ourselves as civilized nation, we should make the
difference which is not happening. This article is worth reading, and I agree
with the author when he states that “The cold hard reality is that we live in a
racist, violent society.” You and I are part of this society. The founding
fathers of America created a new nation dedicated to the idea that all men are
created equal. There were so many great people who arise and defended this idea
of equality. As a nation, we have made a lot of progress, unfortunately
stereotyping and unequal treatment persist. The motivation of hate is so
diverse, it includes racial, religious, political, sexual orientation and other
characteristics. No matter what the motive could be, it often results to a
tragedy of someone losing life. When I saw the title of this article, I directly
criticized the author for saying that “violence and prejudice define us.” It is
easy to deny and say that violence and prejudice do not define me, but when you
sit and think about it, there is a truth in the statement. Why the number of hate
crime is increasing every year? Sometimes, it is easier to ignore such thing
when it has not happened in your neighborhood, one may feel like it doesn’t affect
you because you just hear or see it on TV.
When we don’t act, we are part of
the problem.
People are fighting all over the
country against hate crime, but it takes an individual effort required from all
of us to stand up to promote tolerance and inclusion. We must reject the idea
of violence defining who we are. We need to break the chain and create a
tolerant society and show the way to the next generation. Sitting home with our
virtue does not help anymore.
