While brainstorming topics to discuss for The Odyssey, I find myself questioning everything. Just when I begin to think I have discovered a great new article topic I stop myself because I worry it could “offend” someone. This leads me to my topic for this week; my generation’s well-deserved reputation for being overly sensitive is now leading us towards modern day segregation.
Today’s college students are notoriously known for this as they are quick to judge other’s opinions rather than try to understand them. We were all guilty of this at some point or another (myself included), but it is time for a change. Instead of culturing ourselves, becoming exposed to new ideas, and exploring various backgrounds, we are creating a society in which people are becoming sheltered from such things.
Why is it that people today are scared of change and new ideas? Is the possibility that you might enjoy life through the thoughts and opinions other than your own really that horrific? Is it too much for you to handle a new concept that wasn’t something mommy and daddy exposed you to? Well guess what? It’s 2016 and you need to grow up.
People are allowed to voice their opinions regardless of their skin color, gender or religion. People are going to say things that you think are backwards and you will find yourself in disagreement with them. There is nothing wrong with thinking differently and being different. The problem arises when arguments break out into violence and hate. The problems continue to arise when we allow our differences to push us further apart in society. These problems will never stop arising until we learn how our differences can bring us back together.
Recently the news (barely) covered a story about the California State University opening up a new student-housing complex this year that was for black students only. After years of fighting for equality across the nation, why is it that we are reverting back to the ways of the past? California State is not the first of its kind to create student housing based on one’s ethnicities. Other popular colleges across the country have similar living situations for other ethnic groups.
The colleges will argue this creates a “safe place” for students who feel as if they are discriminated against in a regular college environment. I strongly agree that racism is an issue that should have been long gone in this country, and that anyone who is threatened should get help immediately, but I do not think legal versions of segregation should be allowed for any particular group of people in regards to race.
No matter who you are, where you come from, or what you do, you will have some form of “hater” out there. We all get pre-judged and classified into a generalized group based on our appearances, and this is not limited to any one race or gender. These words or actions do not define us, but the way we react to it does. We are teaching the youth of America, the future of our country, that it is okay to live “separate but equal”. This has been and always will be an oxymoron.
We must stop separating and instead start educating. Small children are colorblind; born with not one understanding of racism. Growing up and living in communities that separate citizens by race eliminates the chance of really understanding those around us. America is called the melting pot because it is a place where anyone from anywhere can come live together in peace.
While some may think this is impossible optimism, I know from personal experience that this is just absolutely the case. I grew up in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook. Here I had white friends, black friends, Hispanic, Asian and more. We sat at the lunch tables together, had classes together, and went to Friday night football games together. I never once looked to my right and thought, “I’m scared of this person because of the color of his skin” or “I wouldn’t be friends with her because she believes in that religion”. No one ever did.
We were just a bunch of high school kids making the best of a boring little town. It was not until college, when I moved far away from home, that I began noticing how completely separate people were choosing to be based on the color of their skin or the religion of their choice.
The difference between my peers and myself in college was simple. I was raised in a town where you were expected to accept everyone. I was exposed to and had experience with hanging out with a variety of people, and my high school friends and I are living proof that it really works. We joked around with each other. We said “inappropriate” things, but guess what? It was just a joke. It was just for fun and at the end of the day we loved and respected each other. No one got hurt.
We have allowed society to cater to the whininess of millennials who think getting a dirty look is “suffering”. There are going to be bad days and there are going to great ones. We can’t just provide all students with “safe places”. Do you need your mom and dad to hold your hand in your lecture halls as well? Do you think your future employer will give you a separate office because you don’t like your coworker? I would sure hope not.
I challenge anyone reading this to step outside of his or her comfort zones, open their arms and eyes to the world, and learn something new. Learn about those around you and find all the ways we really aren’t so different in the first place. Learn to step out of you safe zone, because adulthood has no place for it.
