“Go back to you country, dirty boy!”
Oh! My poor boy! He couldn’t take a step forward or even look at them. He just froze there; stared at the ground with wet eyes, while all white boys were around him, laughing. He shivered, but he didn’t cry. He was trying to keep his tears from coming out. Yes! Don’t cry! Why do you have to waste your tears for that?
It’s happening all the time, and now, again, racism! I always ask myself, “Why do people show racism? Is it very funny? Is it necessary? Is it just a game which people play over and over without feeling tired?”
Many people think racism is a normal way to be. To them, it is not a big deal in our community. It is just making fun and teasing the others who are from different races and different cultures. Others simply don’t like different people. They think they cannot bear living with others from other countries who are trying to take away everything from them – their cultures, their country, their jobs, and their money. To them, racism is not something that can hurt the peace of the world; no one will die from that. But, please! Wait a minute! Have they at least one time thought about what they did or thought about someone who experienced racism and how he was feeling? Have they ever known that they themselves were killing others in their own spirits; in their own beliefs without any knives, bombs or guns?
Every country has different old legends which were created to explain the origins of people based on their belief, their religions and their lives in different ways. But is there any person in the world who can really prove legends are true? Is there any person in the world who can really find out the origin of people? Who knows where we are really from? Maybe you and I are related to each other. Maybe you and I are very-very far relatives. Maybe inside our blood, there is still 1% from our ancestors. Therefore, why do we try to make fun of each other, to tease about other cultures which somehow may be my culture or your culture? Remember! We, people don’t belong to any races, any skin colors, or any ethnicities. We all belong to one race and that is human.
During many years, our ancestors tried to fight to gain more rights for our people. Fight to free countries. Fight to end slavery. Fight to build dreams and love. They all tried to bring people together, to bring us where we really belong. They had to pay by tears and blood. So why are we trying to break down love between people and people? Why are we trying to split up the world? Does it matter if everyone has rights to live, to work and to speak equally? Absolutely! I have my dreams. You have your dreams and others have their own dreams too. We all try to keep them alive and to work hard to make them come true. We are all people! Living with racism just separates people from each other. It just makes people feel hurt and makes our world terrible. A society where people are all racist, always looking at each other with watchful, contemptuous eyes and don’t want to cooperate with each other. How awful will it be? How would you feel if you or your family faces racism with people calling you by bad names such as: dogs, dirty or nasty people…or they use bad language to talk about your cultures, about something which is a part of your life, your blood? Do you want to get rid of this? Do you want them to stop?
Therefore, as teenagers, I, you, we and every individual person needs to stand up to fight for our rights: the right to live in the most beautiful and halcyon community. We have belief, we have hands, and we have power; let’s rebuild our world and make it like it has never been before. Imagine! It will be the world where people respect and love each other. It will be the world where people are equal and it will be the world where there will be no child who will ask their parents why people laugh at his appearance. It’s hard to change people’s minds in the short time, but let’s plant a seed in them. Every change is counted, even though it is the smallest one. Remember that one tree can not make a hill, but three bushes can make a mountain.