All you have to do is turn on the television or open up your computer to see that racism is very real. And it's only fueled by one thing: hatred. When people find out that I grew up in the South, they automatically think I must be racist. What many of them don't know is that one of my very best friends is black. What many of them don't know is that I've seen racism firsthand. I've seen firsthand the effects that it has.

I've held my best friend and wiped her tears as she cried over the look in the eyes of people when they first meet her. I've held her hand as anger and hurt has flashed across her face as people turn up their noses at her. I've watched her jaw tighten and her eyes darken as people made racist jokes right in front of her, trying to be funny. I've seen her pain that comes from her being treated differently, all because of the color of her skin.

When I think of Jasmine though, the first image that comes to mind isn't the color of her skin. I don't simply think of her as "my black best friend" because she is so much more than that. She is my "intelligent best friend". She is my "beautiful best friend". She is my "talented best friend". There are over 100,000 words in the English Dictionary that you can use to describe someone. Out of all those words, the color of a person's skin shouldn't be at the top of the list.

We have to stop putting labels on people. We have to stop viewing them as being "black" and "white" and "Asian" and so on. We have to start viewing people for what's on the inside, not what's on the outside.We have to stop responding to hate crimes and racism with retaliation.

I remember when the Charleston shooting first occurred. It took the lives of many black members who were killed in the one place where they should feel the safest: in church. But what stood out the most from that shooting was how the family members of those who were killed responded. They didn't respond by grabbing a gun and retaliating. They didn't respond by replacing violence with more violence. Instead, they looked into the eyes of the man that killed their mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters, and they forgave. They loved. They were wounded and hurt, but they knew that causing more pain wouldn't bring about anything good. They used a tragedy and turned it into a lesson on forgiveness and hope in a place of utter darkness.

I remember after Jasmine heard about the shooting, she called me crying. She knew it could have just as easily been her. She was scared and heartbroken. She was angry too, and she had a right to be. But what she posted on Facebook later that night is something that I will remember for the rest of my life. She said:

"I've been keeping quiet about the whole situation in Charleston because for one I didn't know what to say. After some thinking I know now what I should say. For too long now, especially in America, the idea of race has been an issue. People turn a blind eye because they don't want to realize the hatred that truly lies in people's hearts. But it's something that needs to be opened because the effect is something horrific.

Innocent lives are being taken, hearts are breaking, love is being denied all because of the immense hatred in people's hearts. So my question is when. When did the color of someone's skin, the history of their heritage, the way they wear their hair, their appearance, stand as a way to judge and victimize them?

When did it become okay for a person to judge another in such a way that taking someone's life was a way to justify why that person wasn't "fit" for society? Most importantly, when did a place of worship, a place of solemnity, become a place for terror, a place where evil can dwell? It brings tears to my eyes and heaviness in my heart to know that after all this time, our world can't see the greatness of God's creation in every single person, no matter the color.

This should serve as an eye opener to everyone. Every single person on this earth contains a beauty in them that God has given and it is a shame that that beauty has been tarnished by hate, tarnished by malice and judgement and a clouded cold heart and mind.

So on this day, I pray for Charleston, but not only that, I pray for all the people that hate or criticize others for the materialistic things, including myself. God didn't create us to hate one another and destroy one another in our words and our actions. He created us to simply do one thing, to love. This is a tragedy, and I don't understand why society has to be this way, and I truly truly hope that one day, people will change.

I challenge everyone to strive to make a change, because this can't go on any longer. This country needs saving, this world needs saving, and it needs to start right now. I'm tired, tired of having to wake up every morning and having to hear of stories like this. I'm simply tired of having to wake up and hear of humanity losing its dignity.

My heart is in pieces today, and I only hope and pray for a change, a change in our hearts and our minds so that this hatred can live no more."

So when people ask me what it's like having a black best friend, I won't tell them about her skin color. I'll tell them that it's having someone who isn't afraid to stand up for what she believes in. I'll tell them it's having someone who is strong. I'll tell them it's having someone that is fearless and willing to speak her mind, no matter the consequences. I'll tell them that it is laughter at 4 in the morning. It's stuffing faces full of ice cream and pizza. It's a bond to a girl who has become another addition to my family.

I'm white, she's black, so what?

I've learned that family is so much deeper than the blood that runs through your veins or the pigment of your skin. It's so much more than that. And I'm prouder than ever to have her in my life.