Our country has a terribly annoying and infuriating habit of not learning from its mistakes even though that is a skill we are taught from childhood. One of the most famous pictures and symbols of segregation and the civil rights movement is the image of the black water fountain and the white water fountain next to each other. This photo not only demonstrates the severity of inequality and racism but also how "separate is not equal."This image has become an icon of our historical racism and wrong doings. It is an image that was used to talk about the horrors of flint Michigan. In the political cartoon below shows how the lead poisoning in the water supply adversely affects those who live in poverty due to their inability to find another water source or to leave Flint at all.

Or in another example to demonstrate the unequal status of civil unions for gay couples compared to a heterosexual marriage. While in the United States gay marriage is now legal, the fight was long and arduous and it takes using historical examples to make people empathize such inequalities.

These images of inequality have risen again in modern political debate due to transgender bathroom legislation. This has been an important and divisive social issue. However, I still fail to understand why people believe that somebody using the restroom of the gender they identify with is a national problem when it is simply a right. Transgender rights are human rights just as there should be no discrimination based on race, gender, disability, age, nationality, religion or absolutely anything else. It is not about where we get a sip of water or where we relieve ourselves--it is about equal access to basic resources without discrimination. One would hope that our country had progressed passed blatantly discriminatory laws and viewpoints but every day I am reminded of the mountain of inequalities and problems our nation fails to fix. Equality should not have to be a distant dream, but instead a reality.