Change is Possible By Ashley Briggs

People have this habit of labeling each other. They do it because it’s either

been done to them or because they can’t see the beauty in being different. We

use all kinds of labels. Man and woman, gay and straight, black and white. We

don’t look in the mirror and notice that we are more than that. Woman can be

stronger than men, gay people love just like we do, and black and white people

are the same inside. Our labels run deeper than those though. I’m not even

seventeen yet but I already know how the world works. The difference between

me and other people; I want to make people realize that we are all the same.

When I was younger I was bullied a lot. People would pick on me for

reading a lot or for liking school. They would see me and only see how I was

different. They wouldn’t care to figure out why. I read and still read a lot because

I moved a lot. My parents split up when I was young so I was always moving

back and forth from one to the other. I liked and still like school because I see it

as a safe haven from the problems of life. When I was younger I only had a few

friends but I always hid my problems from them. The only people I could talk to

was my teachers. Class provided an opportunity to forget about what was going

on. I sometimes wonder if anyone would have treated me differently if they knew

why I was so different.

In sixth grade I was diagnosed with Lymes disease. I wasn’t really able to

participate in class much. People saw that as an excuse for making fun of me. I

was starting to get better and come out of my shell before that but I quickly

jumped back in it. When I moved to Galesburg, Illinois I slowly began to emerge

out of my shell again. I’ve come across a few people who have laughed at me

since but I’ve come across a lot of people who have embraced me. I went from

being a lonely girl afraid of my own shadow to a blossoming young woman and I

am gaining some confidence now.

I’ve never truly understood why people feel the need for these labels. Why

can’t people be who they are instead of who society wants them to be? Why do

people treat others differently because of their differences? If you see a black

man walking down a street in a trench coat, what would you think? What would a

black person think if they saw a white man doing the same thing? We are all

upset about the white cops who hurt black people and the black cops who hurt

white people and the people who hurt cops but what about the white cops who

hurt white people or the black cops who hurt black people? Why do we even care

what color their skin is?

There are also problems about people refusing to wed gay couples but

have no problem with anyone else. What’s the difference? Love is love. Ancient

civilizations like Rome had men with their gay lovers. If it was okay then why

does it even matter now?

You’re probably thinking, “Why does some girl think she has the right to

ask these questions?” The answer is simple. You aren’t asking them. These

things need to be asked. I look around and I see people focusing on one problem

and ignoring the millions of others. We put all our energy into one single thing

and let every other problem fester until a fight breaks out. The civil war in

America was because everybody was so worried about upsetting the South that

they didn’t do anything about the disagreements until Abraham Lincoln stepped

in and made a change. Sure I’m just a teen but the world needs another Abe and

I don’t see anyone else stepping up.

Everyone needs to just stop and look at themselves. Don’t look at the color

of your skin, the country you come from, the person you love, or what you

believe. Look at what you do and why. Why are you fighting each other? Why are

you sitting at you dinner table with twenty times the amount of food your whole

family can eat while there’s someone outside with nothing? Why do you have

millions of dollars and walk right by the person begging for one? Why do you

care what other people think about you? Can’t you see how beautiful and

amazing you are?

This whole world is so focused on personal worldly gain. “What can I do to

get richer?” “How do I get as skinny and as beautiful as that girl on the

magazine?” I’ve noticed how helping others, while it doesn’t fill my pockets, it fills

my heart. Every time I make someone smile I feel better about myself. I don’t

care if I’m not beautiful. I don’t care if I end up being fat and I don’t care if I’m

poor for the rest of my life. I would prefer that to living in a world of pain and

labels.

When we think of people who use labels we think of bullies. The call

people nerds and say they’re fat and things like that. What if I said we all use

labels? Would you think we are all bullies? Poor people look at the rich and say

they are greedy. Rich people look at the poor and think they are dirty beggars.

White people look at blacks and think of how their ancestors were slaves and

black people think of how our ancestors used to steal theirs out of their country

and force them to work. How would you feel if you knew that half the people who

meet you judge you in one glance?

We are so caught up in our differences that we don’t notice our similarities.

First, we are all humans. We all need to eat, drink, sleep, and breathe. Each of

us has a need to love and be loved even if we don’t admit it. We need a place to

call home. Most people want a family and everyone wants to feel safe and

secure. We want to know not only that tomorrow will come but what will happen

as well. We want some semblance of control.

Knowing this, why do we continue to treat each other like this? People use

religion as an excuse but God made us in his image and knew us before we were

born. He loves each of us. If love was a sin then why would he have created it?

He wants us to be as close to perfect as possible. Lucifer did not create love. He

made hate, jealousy, rage, and every other negative feeling.

People use history as another excuse. Blacks were first used as slaves

because they were different. The previous slaves could easily run off and blend

in with society because they looked the same. Having darker skinned slaves

ensured that they wouldn’t blend in therefore they couldn’t run. It stuck. However,

slavery has been made illegal. Those wars we use for everyone else are history

and shouldn’t be used as an excuse for today.

We also use current events as an excuse. I will say this once and only

once. Not every Muslim is a terrorist and religion has nothing to do with

nationality. That being said why do we use those. Someone sees a muslim and

thinks, “Oh. He’s a Muslim. He must have a bomb in his bag,” when in reality he

only has his papers his report due in one of his classes at the college he’s

waking to. Just because certain groups are running around terrorizing people and

they are all one religion or nationality, doesn’t mean that every single person of

that religion or nationality is part of that group. There are serial killers everywhere

but that doesn’t mean everyone is a serial killer, does it?

I hope the world learns to see through these differences and learns to work

together. The sooner we can do that, the better. I can only hope that there are

others out there who are reading this and actually caring about what it says but

even if there isn’t then maybe one day some kid will be doing research for class

and run across this and show it to their class. For now all I can do is hope that

someone is taking my words to heart and making a difference in the world.

Maybe one day I’ll watch the news and see someone doing just that and quoting

something in this as their excuse for why they are doing it. Maybe when I’m a bit

older I won’t be afraid of the world my children will be born into.