Imagine that you are going into a pet store and you overhear a woman tell her son, "Oh you can't have that cat. It is black and I'm not going to let you play with a black cat." Or imagine you are walking down the street and you see a man becoming disgusted by a brown, chubby dog.
That sounds ridiculous doesn't it? Who in the world would discriminate against a cat or dog? They can't change the color of the fur or help that they have a few more pounds on them!
If it sounds so ridiculous why do we, as humans, do it to one another daily? Why do we go out of our way to discriminate someone based on their skin color when that is something we are born with.
Regardless of color, we love dogs and cats. People don't look at a cat or dog and say, "Ew, this one has a patch of fur on its head--it must be a pet that might blow us up." They look at the the stray patch of fur as cute and being different. Yet when we see a human with a headpiece we instantly think our lives are in danger because those people must be terrorists.
Let's talk about the size of cats and dogs. From my own experience, I think chubby animals are adorable. Some people may feel the same. We would never bully or call cats and dogs names for being overweight. We think they are cute; but heaven forbid that a person may not be the 'ideal' size and people call them names for their weight. On the other hand, if a cat or dog is underweight we instantly blame their owners for not feeding them enough and neglecting them. Sadly, if we see a girl who is underweight we instantly judge her, call her anorexic or say she needs to eat about 10 Big Macs.
Everyone is guilty of it. We instantly judge someone based on their physical appearance before getting to know the actual person. Yet we are so willing to approach a stranger's pet without hesitation. We don't have stereotypes to govern our thoughts for pets, so why do we let them govern our thoughts for people?
Some people may make the case, "Cats and dogs are innocent. They have no right to be discriminated against for their color or weight." True, cats and dogs are loving and such amazing animals, but why do we only see what we want to see of humans? Why can't we let the stereotypes go and learn to actually get to know the person before we make assumptions.
If anything, maybe we should learn from cats and dogs. Regardless of what the person looks like, they love that person no matter what. They are willing to rub against a stranger and demand belly rubs. Of course they don't know what stereotypes are and they probably don't understand the hatred people have for one another, but they still see everyone with a heart full of love. Why can't we be more accepting to people? Why can't we be more willing to get to know someone instead of letting hatred and stereotypes fill our mind when seeing someone?
Sadly, we can't just switch off our instant thoughts when meeting someone. However, we can do our best to see the person for who they are instead of judging them. Let's be honest: if it doesn't make sense to judge a cat or dog based on their size or fur color, then it should be equally ridiculous to judge a person based on their size or skin color.
