Society & Politics

You Are More Than Your Label

You Are More Than Your Label

We live in a world where people constantly judge you by arbitrary factors like weight or whether or not you went to college or not, but for some people, those judgments run far deeper. They are judged by the color of their skin, their sexuality, their religion, or their gender. Some people view these things as a threat to some "natural order" of things and do everything in their power, either blatantly, or behind closed doors, to deny them the ability to even make a go of succeeding in life.

It's extremely frustrating to have to deal with this because in theory all of us should have an equal opportunity to just be able to simply try and no one would say no to someone based on things like skin color or gender or religion, but that's far from the truth. It's understandable that the people who have never experienced this bias might assume that it does not exist because it doesn't effect them, but for those that do experience it, it is more than real. It can be a life long battle just for people to see them as a human being who wants to contribute, wants to work, wants to be in a relationship, wants to go to school, wants to join the club, etc.

You Are More Than Your Label

As hard as it can be, it's important to note that you just can't throw your hands in the air and give up. Throughout history, there have been so many instances where a certain group of people were told no for sometimes centuries, but eventually they came through because people kept trying to defy the odds, and get their foot in the door. There will never be acceptance of you or anyone like you, if someone doesn't stand up and be the first and push the door open for the rest.

It's just not enough to say it will never happen because just standing here now, many of us are the beneficiaries of someone believing in the impossible, and breaking barriers, and fighting and dying for you to be where you are. I think in large part, we're a generation that has become jaded about the struggles we face. We think, a Facebook post or one rally or one news story should be able to change the world automatically, but rarely in history has that ever been the case. To change people's hearts and minds on who it is you are as a human being shouldn't have to take forever and a day, but sometimes it absolutely does, but you must be willing to stand up for yourself and believe that you are worth it, and that it is worth if for people like you, that you be the first or that you keep pushing the message that you will not be ignored, that you are worthy like everyone else, and you deserve the right to at least try to prove it.

You Are More Than Your Label
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