The Same But Not Equal

Some people think that to be the same is to be equal. In some cases this is true, but when it comes to race, this is far from it. Yes, as individuals we are very different from one another but as a group we have many similarities. For example, we are all human. We all have struggles and flaws that greatly effect our daily decision in life. This can cause us to make mistakes that will effect the rest of our lives. It can effect our education, job, housing, health, and family. These things are why people sadly judge others or it is what determines someone as equal to another person. Today, it is not as much about skin color. Yes its true. People judge you as an individual. This means that even if you are white, rich, and educated you will still get judged by people of this society. By the way, if anyone says that they do not judge other people, they are lying. We have been all been there before. We have probably caught ourselves saying that someone is on drugs because they are skinny, or have a darker skin complexion, or even if they come from a run down area. We have to look at ourselves and realize that we are not perfect either. These flaws and insecurities are what make equal. Having darker skin is hard and I am not going to pretend like I know how that feels. I am what people call light skinned. As a result it is easier for me to get through life. I was also raised in a middle class family. So, I lived comfortably, but I experience prejudice, from my racial groups. Either I am too light to be mixed or too dark to be white.Yes, my pre

Represents the formation of an organization that is one of many to fight for racial equality.(Photo Courtesy of: Google)

Represents how all races should be equal to each other but aren’t. (Photo Courtesy of: Google)

Represents how people of all nations are starting to come together and make peace with each other. (Photo Courtesy of: Google)

Represents how black people are becoming free of judgement and hatred. (Photo Courtesy of: Google)

This picture represents the differences between people and how different we are from one another. (Photo Courtesy of: Google)

judice is not as frequent or detrimental as experienced by other people, but it is still prejudice. As my father says, “If you lose by an inch or a mile, you still lost.” At times it does make me wonder who I am and what group of people I should hang out with, but that is the problem. There shouldn’t be any groups of races in the place. Everyone should be mixed in each other. White people should learn what it is like for black people and vise versa. This will help start making people feel equal to one another. You may be wondering how I know about equality and prejudice if I am technically only half a minority or because I am so young? Well, I have heard stories from my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents what it was like back in the old days. It seems to me that the equality issue has gotten a little bit better. Even though it may seem worse, I promise it isn’t. Because social media is so wide spread , things like police brutalities, protests, and even acts of prejudice seem like a new thing. These actions have been going on since segregation was happening in the United States. When this was going on there were no such thing as a cellphone let alone Snapchat, Instagram, or YouTube. There wasn’t even the internet! All they had were landlines, television, and newspaper to spread news through out the country. Maybe even around the world, if the news is big enough. In conclusion, prejudice is everywhere and you can not escape from it. As come long as humans are imperfect it will always be there. In order to make everyone equal, we have to look at ourselves. We have to look in the mirror and see our flaws instead of other peoples. People that we don’t even know , and may never see again. We judge by what we see and that is sad. It is like when we see a banana with a lot of brown spots. We do not want to eat it, but as we peel back the peel (no pun intended) of the banana, do we see that it is perfectly fine. Yes, this is very rare when it comes down to people because they can sometimes be rude or disrespectful. Even though, that is true, there is always that one banana that is sweeter than all the others, but you do not know which one it is. That is how we have to look at other people. We do not know if they are rotten or sweet but we have to look at them like we would view ourselves. That will start to make people not only the same but also equal.

This is what some of your fellow classmates have to say on this matter:

“I think your right. Everyone should be equal. Yes, I have judge people before, but everyone needs to work on that but we are human beings, and nothing about us will ever be perfect.” (Anonymous) (11th)

“Everyone is equal but unfortunately some are more equal than others.” (Anonymous) (9th)

“Your right. People say that they do not judge other people, under no circumstances would they ever do that but nine times out of ten they do.” (Anonymous) (11th)