Pittsburgh

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.