Dear Mr. Bigot,

I am writing this letter to not only educate you but to understand you. It would be wrong for me to assume that you are a bad person just because of your outrageous opinions. But for whatever reason I want try to understand those who do not understand us. You, Mr. Bigot, represent those people. The “us” represents people you arbitrarily discriminate against: the blacks, gays, Latinos, women, etc.

My first question for you is why? I don’t think hate is inherent. You are taught hate, you grow with hate, but you are not born with hate. Do you truly find superiority in yourself based on your skin color? To my knowledge the only reason people are black or a darker color is because their ancestors were born closer to the equator. Even then, skin color does not determine anything except your skin color. Like how sexuality does not determine anything except your sexuality. Religion can determine your views, beliefs and opinions but it is not fair to make false assumptions off of a couple people and their bad actions. A classic example is ISIS. Just because they call themselves Muslim does not mean that that is how all Muslims act. In fact, if you ask any Muslim they will probably tell you that ISIS members are far from the ideal Muslim. Especially since Islam is an incredibly peaceful religion (Islam actually means peace). According to the Quran, Allah mandates all Muslims "to enter absolutely Peace (Islam) and Do not follow in the footsteps of Satan. He is an outright enemy to." It is a universal agreement that ISIS does some pretty Satanic acts. Thus making them even less of the Muslim they say they are. The Quran also states that "there is no compulsion where the religion is concerned.” Therefore, coercing religion onto others (like ISIS does) is also against the religion. These two facts alone should prove that the terrorist group does not at all represent Islam.

If you were to make the same assumptions about white men, then you would have to think all white men are terrorists. That is because in America we deal with countless domestic terrorist attacks, mostly committed by white men. While their crimes are still looked at as heinous, the media just cannot find a way to call these men by what they really are: terrorists. For whatever reason a lot of people overlook their crimes because their white. We deem their actions less of a crime because of their mental illness or insanity. They know the difference between right and wrong. So if you are not scared of a white man walking into a church or a movie theatre, then you should not be scared of a woman wearing a hijab in an airport. See Mr. Bigot, people of a certain race or religion have committed some horrid crimes but that does not mean there is a need to generalize the group as a whole. Maybe if you educated yourself on the culture of those you discriminate you would be more apt to understand.

My second question is can you learn to express your opinions a tad bit less aggressively? You have the right to your opinions. That’s fine, be homophobic or racist. Go ahead. But there is a fine line between expressing your opinions with words and facts rather than expressing them through hate and violence. It is one thing to say "being gay is wrong." But it is another to obnoxiously picket funerals, blaming the victim's death because "God hates fags." While that point focused on the hate group, Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), the idea is still there. The church could have put their opinions out there without being rude, invasive and aggressive. There are going to be people who try to push their opinions on others, whether that’d be through harsh words or violence. You can’t stop the inevitable. But Mr. Bigot you don't have to succumb to other people's actions, like the WBC. You can learn to respect rather than assume. By doing that you would still be able to have your opinions, and you would able to rid the name of Mr. Bigot. How you express your views, with or with out education behind them, determines your strength of bigotry.

My last question is why do you feel the way you feel? Not that you shouldn’t feel that way. Are there facts behind your logic? There does not always have to be fact behind logic, but their should be logic. For example, I feel that transgender people should be able to serve for our country. There is no fact behind it, just that America is supposed to be the land of the free. So if people want to fight for our country, then they should. So what is your logic behind women being paid less than men? Even though women do the same work, sometimes even more. What is your logic behind homosexuality being a choice but heterosexuality is not a choice? You think gays wake up one day and decide their gay, but being straight is apparently always inherent? Sexuality is not a choice. What is your logic about following around a black person in a store? Do you think they are going to steal? Being black doesn’t make you a thief, being a thief makes you a thief. Now these questions do not apply to every bigot out there. However, they do account for the discrimination marginalized groups are put through.

For myself, I feel that bigotry is something you grow up with but are not born with. With an open mind, some education and a less discriminative environment, people can change. This is not to say I want to or plan to change you, Mr. Bigot. Maybe you do not want to be changed. But there is already so much hate in the world. So many problems that cannot be fixed. Adding more hate is so unnecessary. Using hateful words and committing hateful actions is not what this country needs. So Mr. Bigot, I ask you, will you continue living your life with hate and ignorance or will you learn to educate yourself and accept?

Live with love, not hate,

Sarah Abrams