"I hate blacks." If you came here expecting this type of damaging article, please leave now. I cringed typing the words. I am what I consider myself to be a Humanist, because everything in life needs a label of some sort. I believe in the rights of all people; big or small, short or tall, purple, blue, lesbian, transsexual, cop, or even yes you guessed it, black. Black is actually a pretty popular color these days. Anyways, I support all humans, so why won't I support this race war? Why wouldn't I support a race fighting for their rights? Let me explain...

You see in the modern world of today, activist aren't so much fighting for their rights. They are just fighting. There was a violent protest for black lives matter less than 45 minutes away from where I live. Every single day you get on Facebook you watch another video of a black male getting shot by a white police officer. You think to yourself first that it is very tragic, secondly that you've been seeing a lot of this recently, and third that something should change. But before we start picking sides and marching down streets setting off fireworks or flying a black, white, and blue American Flag to show support of your community police, lets first think about why we are seeing this.

The world we live in has changed. I grew up with friends who would come over and play with my hermit crabs. The most advanced technology I had in my life was a tamagotchi, Spongebob, and a gameboy. Now kids are growing up with access to the entire world in an instant all in their hands: a 4-6 inch device we call a cell phone. We all have grown so dependent and we share our every move and thought. We seek the approval of those who are doing the same thing we are, sitting in silence with our families and staring at a small computer in our hands. You share everything you like just to tell everyone, “Hey I like this.” You give it little thought, and before you know it that thought of something should change begins to clear your judgement and you just shared a video of someone being killed. We all do it and have done it. You do not think about why what you saw happened but become more fixated on “OMG! That actually just happened.” So we all share and share and share, but never seem to listen. Before you know it, the entire world is sharing the same videos and suddenly you have created a problem.

People start to pick sides thinking that there is some kind of racist acts occurring all over. That people are getting shot because of their color. So when our minorities see these things happening to those who are like them, not in what matters, but what is on the outside, they begin to panic. Its suddenly the thought of “this cop wants to kill me” because he pulled me over. Things escalate because of the fear. Or for the cop, he now thinks every black person is going to think he is dangerous and that could put him in a bad situation. People make mistakes when they fear someone. The cop is now on edge that someone might think he's trying to do something tragic and then the person may attack him out of fear. This is a fear within a fear and things can escalate. You keep sharing it and sharing it and fighting but what are you fighting for? To stop death? To not be targeted as criminals by police, but yet you're deliberately acting like one when you choose to fight the system of the law?

You are not fighting for your rights by fighting the law. At the point of a cop stopping you for whatever reason, and you begin to put yourself in the situation of getting hurt because you are not cooperating, you are not fighting for your rights. At that point you do not have any rights because you have thrown them all away. Martin Luther King was a monumental influence on the civil rights movement, but did you ever hear about him resisting arrest during his peaceful protests? No. Did you ever hear of him cursing about how he is being denied his rights? No. King spoke as if he was already receiving the rights he wanted, he spoke as if he were already where he wanted to be, he spoke like an adult. If you are among those who continually share this idea that it's okay to resist arrest, but it isn't okay when you get hurt for choosing to put yourself in the situation then what are you fighting for? You're fighting for your right to fight.

I fully respect and support who you are, whether you are Barney, a donkey, Shrek, or even Santa Clause. I do not care what you look like. But I will never respect anyone who promotes violence as a way of protecting their rights. I refuse to feed into this race war because there is no race war. There is simply people who are sharing very negative things that happen in this world every day and are causing it to become worse. I am not sorry for my absence in participation in something that is causing people to get killed. I will always promote the things that bring us together as humans on this earth, rather than showing the many ways we all can be separated. I will work towards bringing all humans together rather than trying to split us apart. If you want true equality, make yourself equal. Life is what you make of it. If you want to live a life full of fighting and arguing with the law, then do not cry when the law argues back. If you want to be equal, act it. You want to have your rights. Then have them. But keep in mind that people that have rights, and the right to do as they please, typically do not put themselves in situations that could get their rights taken away.

So you can make the choice yourself. Do you want to see this world as separate groups and as one that cannot come together unless it means death? Then go ahead and promote the idea that you are something different and separated. But if you want to be treated as an equal and like someone who is no better nor worse than me, or the next person, then promote yourself as an equal. You are what you make yourself. If you make yourself a criminal, you are a criminal. If you make yourself an active role model for society then you are just that. You decide. This is your life. Live it now, live it for you, and do it now.