MEGAN FELDMAN

What kind of world would we have if everyone were the same? No races, no religions, no orientations. No variation, no differences. No creativity. A cookie cutter world. Perfection? I dare to disagree.

I’m not going to sit here and say “I see everyone as the same”. Because I don’t. I will see you for who you are. Black. White. Jewish. Christian. Jehovah’s witness. Gay. Straight. Bisexual. Puerto Rican. Bosnian. Indonesian. Ignoring the differences is not what equates to acceptance. Acceptance is seeing the differences. It is processing the differences. It is adopting a frame of mind that allows you to move past them. Acceptance is loving everyone’s imperfections.

At first glance, I seem to be the typical Caucasian. Light brown hair, bright blue eyes, slightly tanned skin. Do me a favor and look a little further. See my heritage. My mother’s ancestors are immigrants to Great Britain; my father’s side descends from Poland and Russia. See my religion. I am Jewish. I am an Atheist. I believe in magic, not God, and I have been to church more times in the past year than I have been to synagogue.

Better yet, do not see me at all. Hear me. Know that I have thoughts, that I have opinions, that I have a message. Hear me. Listen to what I have to say.

Judge a person and you are judging a story. You see the Hispanic who might not speak the best English, but you fail to think of the family that came to America to provide their child with the best possible opportunities. You see the family who wears a foreign six-pointed star around their necks, but you fail to give a thought to the ancestors who traveled to the United States in order to escape religious persecution. You see a homosexual with a ring around his fourth finger, but fail to consider the 2, 000 miles he and his partner drove to get married in Washington, D.C. Everyone has a story. By judging even just one person, you are telling them that their story is unimportant. Their story is just as important as yours.