By: Savannah Guyer [Activities editor] @savannahmguyer
People have the tendency to judge things based upon their looks. Books, shoes, and even animals aren’t given the fair chance due to the trait that is seemingly hardwired into human nature. With a little more kindness and effort, people would be surprised to find what lurks behind appearances. So picking an inanimate object for it’s good looks isn’t the biggest problem, and choosing a pet that looks the greatest strolling down the sidewalk is a little shallow, there’s really no harm from it. The issue starts when people begin to judge others based on their appearance, and more specifically, their race.
See, humans are like M&Ms. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and there’s always that one person who refuses to eat the green one because it “tastes different”. Umm, what? M&Ms are all the same on the inside and even on the outside. The only difference is the coloring of the outer shell, which, believe it or not, does not affect the way it hits the taste buds. How is it fair that out of a whole packet of the chocolate drops, there’s 16 M&Ms forced to exile? Shouldn’t every M&M have the right to be chewed and digested since they were all created equally? Yes, they should.
Just like people of all different ethnicities should have equal opportunities to jobs, schools, and overall healthy environments. Even though legal barriers have been broken down for the most part, the customs are a little hard to change. Black peoples are still two times more likely to be unemployed than white people. Latino people are more likely to go to high poverty schools than caucasians or asians. Minority children are more prone to be exposed to tobacco, alcohol and drug distribution. These things are true because of the judgemental mindset people have and stereotypes humans believe.
Why are minorities in America a problem? It’s not the ethnic group’s fault that other majority and minority races make conclusions on them based on a whole. There’s lazy, unintelligent, and rude people available in every color. To tag a huge group of people as this or that adjective is ignorant because not everyone of that racial background is the same. In fact, every single person has something that makes them different from everyone else.
Maybe the story underneath the barf-colored book cover holds one of the best life messages ever, or those canary-yellow clogs are actually very comfortable and go great with the poncho that has been sitting in the back of the closet for 60 years, and even maybe that ankle biter with the slightly lopsided face is the most superior cuddler. People will never know what things and others can do for them until they put aside the preconceived ideas of ethnicities shoved onto them by society. A M&M is a good piece of chocolate that tastes the same no matter the color, and humans feel, breathe, and think no matter the tint of their skin. People who make decisions on others based on the color of their skin are not only being unfair to that person, but they’re cheating themselves.
