An illness is a disease or period of sickness affecting the body or mind. If you look up the most common illnesses you will probably see things like headaches, stomach aches, colds, and allergies but nowhere really talks about the worst common illness, hate. Hate spreads just like other illnesses and affects the mind even worst. Hate is what makes it scary for a black person to be stopped by the police for any reason. Hate is what makes Arab people sitting in an airport minding their own business uncomfortable. Hate is what makes it so hard for members of the LGBTQ+ community come out and tell people. No one is born with this illness, it is taught. which is why we must fight to teach a new. A way to treat people with compassion.
American author Gail Sheehy once said “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.†Change will never come in comfort. As a society we have to push each other out of our comfort zones. We have to help others see things with an open mind. We also have to be ready to see things with an open mind. All too often we get frustrated when people don’t see our way. Then we give up on explaining our side or we get hostile while explaining it. We cannot expect change to come this way. Just like we learn our partners love languages, we must learn how to communicate with certain individuals if we ever want to get through to them. You may see it as a waste of time or energy. That you cannot change the world by changing this one person’s opinion but that is where you wrong. If we all do our part that one person can change the mind of someone close to them, then that person changes someone else’s mind and the cycle starts. It all comes from those extra steps. Not only must we have those uncomfortable conversations with others but we must take ourselves out of our bubbles to start those conversations.
This fight against hate is not an easy battle but it is a necessary one. We must not fight to make hate hidden, we must fight to rid hatred from people’s heart and minds. You are probably thinking what can I do? First, you can try to help someone around you, with a viewpoint based from hatred, see the other side of things. Do not belittle them, educate them on the situation. Second, get out in public with groups. Whether it is attending a protest or going to a parade, there is strength in numbers. Third, you can stand up when you see this hate or discrimination happening, even if it is not to you. Help your fellow neighbor and let them know that they aren’t alone in this fight and show the other side that we will no longer fold to them. Again, we know This fight is not easy but never doubt what committed group of citizens can do. They can surely change the world.