Disclaimer: If my blackness bothers you, this article is for you.

Within current “hot topics” in the U.S. such as the 2016 Presidential Election and the ongoing debate on police brutality lurk those who represent the underbelly of our country: the ignorant. Empowered by hate speech broadcasted via the media, these individuals take to the streets, the workplace, political rallies, and etc. to spew their bigoted beliefs. In my personal opinion, it is not my job as a person of color to try to reason with bigots entrenched in their beliefs and attempt to make them understand why they should value the lives and legacies of people of color. Instead, to those uncomfortable with the blackness of my skin, I have just a few questions:

If looking at the melanin in my skin makes your blood boil, do you also seethe while watching professional sports on television? Do you hate LeBron as much as Steph Curry? Do you denounce the NBA entirely as 77 to 78 percent of participating professional basketball players are black? Do you also hate the NFL? As almost 67 percent of football players in the NFL are black, can you not bear to watch the Super Bowl? Do you despise Serena Williams, aka the best female athlete of all time, due to the color of her skin?

If blackness bothers you to a point where you feel the necessity to verbally spew hate speech, do you also hate the products of our labor? Do you refuse to use light bulbs? If you were to require a modern day pacemaker, would you refuse to follow through with the surgery? Do you ignore traffic lights to spite its inventor, Garret Morgan? Do you prohibit your family from eating potato chips and forbid you children from playing with super soakers? Do you also refrain from using a dustpan when brooming, an ironing board when ironing, and a mop when cleaning floors (presuming that you’re civilized enough to clean)?

If you can be quoted yelling, “Go back to Africa!” to Black Americans because you believe that this country somehow belongs to you and other whites, do you also despise your ancestors, or the ancestors of your friends (see: other bigots), who kidnapped Africans, forced them into slavery and sold them through the Transatlantic Slave Trade? Do you hate that in your family tree, there’s the possibility that your family owned slaves, raped slaves, and killed slaves? Does it make you nauseous that your great-great-great grandfather could have been cared for by a black slave and/or ate meals prepared by a black slave?

If you refuse to believe in institutional racism, liberally use the word n*gger amongst other racial slurs, or believe in the “movement” #Whitelivesmatter, do you even listen to music? Do you listen to country music? With its roots in the blues, do you also hate Rock ‘n’ Roll? Does Elvis Presley star in your nightmares? Do you also hate the Queen B herself, Beyoncé Knowles? Do you also hate Bob Marley? Can you not listen to any music produced by Motown Records? Do you despise "pop culture" in general as it is arguably founded from the bosom of black culture?

It is puzzling to think that if you claim to hate me, and those who look like me, based on the color of our skin, you would still partake in the fruits of our labor. At what point are you allowed to choose which parts of my being you are allowed to hate? If you are simply going to hate me for the color of my skin, I expect you to commit to hating all of me.