My brother always tells me, "You can't argue with someone who already has their mind made." I always seem to start arguments over what seems like nothing to others, but to me it is everything. Every "argument" is a chance to teach someone something. Yes, I agree there are moments when having opposing opinions is okay and even favored. For example, your favorite type of ice cream or your favorite place to eat out (I really like food). But when your versions of opinions preach racist and oppressive narratives, that is where I draw the line.

Opinions I do not think should be considered opinions because they are instead rooted in discrimination and prejudice include but are not limited to -- your thoughts on an opposite race, your thoughts on women's right (unless you are a woman), any thought that in some way contributes to the oppression of a group you do not directly identify with. You're entitled to say you do not agree with the Black Lives Matter rioting and argue they should find a more peaceful way to protest. BUT you cannot in the same breath say it makes you angry when someone silently protests; for example, the uproar over Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem. You cannot repress someone's first amendment right just because you don't agree. I completely understand why he would feel he shouldn't stand for a nation that never stood for him. YOU are entitled to your opinions but don't get angry when I argue why you are wrong. Do not tell me I'm "too passionate" or I'm "too argumentative" because I choose to stand up for what I believe in.

Yes, I may not change their opinion but I can grant them a perspective from a different point of view, I can help them understand why the opposition feels the way they do. If you do not speak up you are contributing to the ignorance and you help it grow. I refuse to be fertilizer to an already flourishing plant rooted in discrimination. So I will stand with Planned Parenthood. I will stand with the Black Lives Matter Movement. I will stand with women fighting for equality. I will stand for what I believe. I will continuously speak up until the injustices being faced are overcome. I will continue to be passionate no matter the circumstance. It takes one person to speak up for a difference to be made. I may not change your mind but I sure as hell will try to change your perspective. I do not expect you to leave our conversation, which some may call an argument, without an understanding of where I am coming from. My family always told me I would be a lawyer when I grew up because of how often I would argue over what I felt was right. Maybe I was not meant to be a lawyer but an activist.