"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then." -Thomas Jefferson

Exactly a week ago, we were celebrating the Fourth of July—a remembrance of the day our country declared independence from Great Britain and signed into place the Declaration of Independence. The founding fathers of America put together a document which at the time did not represent all people as it excluded African Americans, indigenous people, and women, but our country has evolved, and we must also evolve our system with it. We can no longer ignore the fact that, in 2016, African Americans and other minorities are being denied their rights, specifically their right to peacefully protest.

In 1776, when the Declaration was created, it was created by extremely violent protesters—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington. We cannot forget that the Revolutionary War was birthed from average people overthrowing a ruler and fighting back as loudly as they possibly could against British forces. Ironically, though protesting is the reason we can call ourselves the United States of America, the United States has an awful and shameful history of denying the people of America the right to protest.

This country was created because thousands and thousands of people protested and won, and now that black communities are protesting once again for justice, It is considered a crime instead of a right. People in this country constantly preach about freedoms and the constitution, but those rules and guidelines only seem to apply to white men. This country pretends to be by the people for the people when it only seems to be by the white people for the white people.

The problem is that many people who defend our founding fathers and our country's Constitution are the same people who completely ignore minority communities when their rights are infringed upon. As someone with white skin, I can never relate to the racism that my black and brown friends have experienced, but the one thing I can do is support them in every way possible by calling out racism, fighting for black and brown communities, and using my privilege to educate ignorant individuals that might not listen to these communities.

It might be easy for me to shut down the internet and ignore everything that is going on, but by doing that I am playing into the problem, and I am ignoring a reality that some of my friends have to face every day. As Abraham Lincoln once said, "To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men." Do not be silent. Do not let your fear overcome the fight for justice. Do not be afraid of what people in your life may think about you if you do speak up because if we as human beings cannot stand up for our fellow Americans, we are part of the problem.