On April 30, 2019, a lone gunman walked on to the campus of University of North Carolina at Charlotte and began firing at students killing 2 and seriously injuring 4 more. This happened just days after a gunmen walked into a synagogue in California and began shooting, killing 1 and injuring 3 more. At Easter Sunday services taking place at multiple churches in Sri Lanka, 8 suicide bombers set off explosions killing 290 people and injuring hundreds more. A shooting at the Christchurch Mosque in New Zealand left 50 people dead and many more injured. These are just 4 major events that have taken place in the last 5 months. Events like this are happening more and more and what makes it harder is that we are becoming more detached from each one. So here's what I want to know: when is this going to stop and how are we going to change?
What made it okay to hate people so outwardly? We are at a time in our society where hate is so strong that it's getting harder and harder to be able to feel loved. Hate and fear are being spread more than love. Places of worship and schools are becoming war zones. Children are being exposed to weapons of war and being placed in war zones. We shouldn't be scared to go see a movie. It shouldn't give us anxiety to go to our place of worship. We shouldn't be scared to go to school. These places should be safe zones, not war zones. We need to stop the hate. We need to stick up for each other. Who you are, what you look like and what you worship, shouldn't determine your life.
Why do we feel the need to spread the shooter's name and face all over the news and the internet? After every single mass tragedy, there has always been an article from at least one news source going into detail about who the shooter was, what their life was like, their childhood and family background, their struggles going on in their lives. The media creates a biography for shooters. Painting their name and face everywhere gives the these people exactly what they want: to be known. Stop showing their face. Stop digging into and sharing their history and their motive. Stop going into so much detail about these people. Stop focusing on the shooter. Showing all of this to the public is what inspires more shootings. Again and again, we hear on the media that a shooter was inspired by the Columbine shooters because they felt like they relate to them.
Instead, when tragedies like this happen, focus on the names, faces and lives of the victims. The story of the victims and the positive impact they made is far more important then the lives of the shooters. The shooter does not deserve the attention of the public, the people affected do.
So, to a world divided, I plead with you. Don't let this hate go on any longer. We are one world. We need to come together, not tear each other apart. Be proactive about changing the future. Stop spreading hate, start spreading love. Let love be love. Let people be people. Bring back the humanity to the human race.
