The sad events that took place in Charlottesville last week have proven to those who didn’t already know that hate is alive and real.

The raw anger that erupted at the white nationalist rally showed that there are people in the world who do not celebrate diversity and would rather silence people with fear than discuss how to make our world a better, safer place.

I hate that it took something so disgusting to wake some of us in America up, but all over social media people are claiming that these events are just that: disgusting.

But is it enough?

A good friend of mine took to social media immediately following the events in Charlottesville to share that it is not. You cannot be silent about instances of injustice, especially today when the power of talking and sharing online is so influential in how people form their opinions.

But it got me thinking, how can we do something?

Most of us don’t have a platform to use. We post on social media and we think it’s enough, but it isn’t.

There are always going to be a few people you know who support the ideas shouted by white supremacists, and they are never going to be forced to have a discussion unless YOU (yes, you) force them to.

I am a 19-year-old girl who, compared to the rest of her generation, is rarely on social media.

I use various platforms to share the articles I write for Odyssey, but that is pretty much where my sharing stops, save for the occasional photo album so I can show my family and friends how college is going.

And yet, there is a way that I can face the people in my life who need to own up to their beliefs, not so that I can hate them and yell at them, but so that I can try to have a conversation and make them see why their hate for anyone different is wrong. And the way that I can do this is through writing.

A lot of people have called for cutting off friends who do not speak out against what happened in Charlottesville, and while I do not support this kind of aggression because it is counterproductive, I think we can all understand why it is important for everyone to contribute to stopping hate before our country, our world, becomes more divided than it already is.

Maybe it’s because I’m a writer and a reader and believe that the power of words truly is something extraordinary, but I think conversation can do wonders.

I mean, think about it.

How many people only believe one thing because that is how they grew up? It’s all they know. When you confront people, and force them to confront and back up their beliefs, they have to think about why they think the way they do.

To the white supremacists reading this, why do you think it’s okay to hate people because they look different or have different beliefs from you?

The real, honest, tried and true reason, because I can’t think of anything that makes sense.

Is it a little optimistic to me to think this is enough?

Yes, and I know that.

I know there are going to be a lot of people who will be stuck in their ways until the end of time. However, there are going to be a lot of people who start thinking about why they attended that rally, why their cousins and parents and siblings think that white is the supreme race, and they are going to question everything they have been taught.

Once that question sets in, and that doubt that what they’re doing is right is planted, we will be saving a lot of people from themselves.

So what can you, a middle-aged mother, a business man, a quiet teenager, do about the events in Charlottesville? Use your talents to share that hate is not okay.

If you’re a writer, write about it. Write an article, write a poem, write a song, and spread it wherever you can.

If you’re a parent or a teacher, teach your kids about love and why hating people because they are different is never okay. Teach them why hate is never okay.

If you’re a student, talk to your classmates about the event. Attend rallies, talk to your parents, post on social media if that is all you can do.

Think about what you’re best at and do it because here, right now, is when it matters most.