When was the last time you faced discrimination?
A simple enough question, right? Although, maybe not. Some of us will be hard pressed to find an answer, and others of us have libraries full of examples. Discrimination is a very singular experience of prejudice that is blindly ever-present to some and elusive as the dark side of the Moon to others.
No matter if it is a part of your experience, discrimination affects us all, and it is a hungry, hungry beast that stops for no man, woman, or child. It is as invasive as nutria in the swamps of south Louisiana and just as destructive. It is inbred into society through a disregard for the existence of structural violence. If we don't face prejudice everyday--if we are not made to think about the color of our skin, the religion we practice, the gender of the person we love, the gender we identify with, the circumstance of our life, or the money in our possession everyday--we can dismiss it. By dismissing and forgetting about our destructive nature of prejudice, our society has become one of extreme neglect for those we push to the wayside.
My heart rages for the trans-girl in Alabama who falls so fast and so far into a pit of self-hate and depression. For the young woman who is taunted and assaulted for wearing hijab. For the young man who is served injustice in a courtroom due to color of his skin. For the mother of five living in poverty without any support. For the man who cannot hold a job after unwillingly surrendering his mental health to the country that left with nothing. For the aging father who's children can't find the time to care for the man who gave them life. For the couple who has to jump through hoops to give a child a loving home with two dads. For the victim of sexual violence who is asked "What were you wearing?" For the Hispanic woman making sixty cents to the white man's dollar for the same job, and for too many other things.
Call me a social justice warrior. Label me as some girl who doesn't know her place. Give me any name you would like, but that won't change my anger. I am angry because I am forced to be. I am enraged because my world does not allow me to be anything but. I am angry because I have to question whether or not it is even worth it to challenge all of the ways this world is broken.
I have no easy-on-the-heart ending because discrimination is not a) easy or b) ending.
