Endless green as far my eyes could see. Black racers slithered across the hardtop. The lake’s muddy gaze rested at the bottom of a hill. Cows roamed the streets freely. The exhaust of cars rarely poisoned the air. A perfect place for a child’s imagination to roam. The forest becomes a labyrinth that only a child’s mind can create. An unmatched beauty unlike any other until you narrowed your eyes. A predator stalks its prey tearing the fleshes to pieces like a rabid plague. Mother nature’s cruelty symbolized the horrors that lurked in the middle of nowhere.

A child may think nothing of nature running its course, but the blood that flows through the land... even a child can see it. Few good people live there. I came from another land. They call me a yankee. As a child, I had no idea what a yankee was. Children wave a rebel flag while proclaiming that they hate ******* (a word starting with n followed by five more letters). As a child, I do not understand why that matters. Other children tell me that gay people need to die. As a child, I do not even know what the word gay means. I thought it meant this is stupid, this sucks, or this is a drag. Honestly, I doubt they understood the context either.

As a child, I remained too intuitive for my own good. I asked the questions no parent wanted to hear. Why do people die? What is the purpose of life? I have always had a knack for finding out information. I researched a subject and found the meanings on dial-up internet. A page loads every thirty minutes. See, most children did not know any better, but I did. The truth shattered my innocence before I reached the age of ten. Suddenly, I understood what all this hateful terminology represented. It pissed me off. My father gave me a punching bag in the garage. I wailed on that bag at least a few times a week.

As a child, I saw that the South had fought for slavery and greed. I took their history courses and listened. State's rights were an excuse used to clear their conscience. The hatred of ignorant adults who think the Civil War is ongoing impacts the children. Mexican children, Black children, and White children fight among themselves using terminology that should not be uttered by children. Children have no idea what those words truly represent.

In the middle of nowhere, the right, the left, the white, and the nonwhite all participated. Sickeningly, the adults encouraged the hatred and fear. I saw a group of nonwhites jump a white person. I recall the crap some Mexican guys give a white guy for a dating a Mexican girl. Mere middle schoolers were preaching hatred towards each other. Some adults say boys will be boys. No, this was pure hatred, and the adults knew it. All this hatred boiled down to identity politics.

The divide among white people resembled the divide among skin colors. I remember being called an n-word lover, a yankee, and a city slicker. The white rednecks treated me the same as they would treat any nonwhite. I got bullied until I stood up for myself. The hatred within me grew, so I started to antagonize them in return. I desecrated their precious rebel flag, and I told the south to go rot. I blared the newest rap song so even the heavens would hear. They hated me; thus, I embraced everything they hated out of spite. I saw black children question the blackness of other black children. I see Christians acting disrespectful, claiming it to be an act of God. No, violence and hatred is not God’s will. I see Atheists that act disrespectfully because no moral code restricts them. Too bad, humanity has a code that everyone follows religious or nonreligious. No one is exempt. In the corner of my eye, I saw the worst humanity had to offer... and these were schoolchildren and teenagers. It would be easy to hate these people, but I grew up. My hatred is gone. They treated me like trash, but hating them will accomplish nothing. I'm better than them.

However, you may ask the importance of this life reflection? It applies to today, but the difference... maybe this time someone will pay attention. Ignorance comes from all sides, and this lack of knowledge astounds me. The narrative is far darker than people realize. This is not a one-sided war.

Children are far more intelligent than most adults realize. Your children feel your hatred or fear right now. My mother always told me not to say certain words (like sucks, gay, curse words, and others). As a child, I wondered what the big deal is? Words are words. Now, I understand what my mother was teaching me. All of us should take a long, hard, look in the mirror and ask, why do we hate? What are we going to do to make the world better? Everyone has to walk on eggshells now. An employer might look at this and determine that they cannot hire me because I expressed myself. Everyone is in an uproar like they woke up for the first time. Where have you been? People act like they did not know this. Others continue to act like it does not happen. I saw America’s true face as a child.

I might have children someday, is this the world I want my children to live in? No. I lived it and experienced it. I want a better world for my children. I do not care if you voted for Clinton, Trump, Stein, Johnson, Harambe, or Kim Kardashian. The hatred, the fear, and the blame game needs to end. These political parties could not care less. These celebrities with their million dollar mansions have no idea what your struggle is like. It is insulting that these celebrities think they have the right to speak for the everyman. These celebrities influence impressionable young minds. People need to speak for themselves, because no one else will speak for you.

I described America’s true face to people countless times and no one took it seriously. They thought it was hyperbole. People did not think it was as bad as I said it was. They told me it's not that bad. I have excellent eyesight and excellent hearing. News flash, I lived in the dirty crevices of humanity. If you live in ignorance in big cities; welcome to reality. You think a child likes the way these people acted? That hatred that surrounded me as a child made me feel lost. The rest of us already knew how fractured and divided America was. The worst part is people are blind, metaphorically speaking.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are not going fix this. Anyone that believes that, I got a few bars of gold I can sell you. Like it or not, we’re all in this together. Nothing will change until we stop attacking each other. The upper echelon is oppressing all of us. My suggestion is simple: to stop living in the social constructs of race, sexuality, gender, and stereotypes. Stop excluding groups of people. Stop hating and fearing each other. Band together and unite. The elite created these stereotypes to oppress people. Where do you think race came from? You think race always existed? It did not. Race is a relatively young concept created by European explorers to ensure their dominant position over natives. Guess what, heterosexuality is no different. The original meaning of the word implied what we call bisexuality today and special interests sex. Like race, these terms were used to oppress a specific sect of people. They’ve divided you and turned you against each other, as they get richer by the second. The politicians, big business, and the banks are the European explorers. We’re the lowly natives.

I wish someone would give me one good reason why race and these other social constructs exist? I’ll wait because a good reason does not exist. All that identity politics bring is pain. Despite the harsh truth of my words, I feel no bitterness or hatred any longer. I only feel shame for all of us and the way we act towards each other. If we continue down this path it’ll lead us into the next World War, or worse, the next Civil War. I refuse to live in hatred or fear. I will be better than that, and I would suggest all of you join me in being better.

Tell me what you think. Disagreements are welcome. Agreements are always nice too. Think about it. Talk about it with your friends and family. Be honest with each other and try to be better. We shape this world, and we can only control our action or inaction. Remember that.