So today, I sat down, ready to type my weekly article. I already had the idea of writing about one of the things I enjoy most, which is seeing Latino people getting positive media attention by succeeding in education or anything else. This week, Larissa Martinez caught my attention. She is a young girl who recently graduated from a Texas high school as valedictorian with a 4.5 GPA, Yale-bound with a full-ride scholarship. This is great and refreshing news after seeing the media report of youth crimes, right? As a society, we should be supportive and encourage our youth to be educated and work hard instead of being unproductive and committing crimes so one day they can solve the many problems our world faces.

But, why was this girl so publicized this week? Most high school valedictorians graduate high school with over 4.0 GPAs and go on to Ivy League universities. The big deal is that during her graduation speech, she made a “shocking” confession, something only 10 people at her school knew about. She is “…one of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows”

Of course, I (along with many others) saw this as a good thing. How inspiring! A young woman who fled to Texas from Mexico and had the responsibility of taking care of her sister while her mother worked all day tirelessly is succeeding. Stories like this fill me with motivation and pride. She said it best, “By sharing my story, I hope to convince all of you that if I was able to break every stereotype based on what I’m classified as -- Mexican, female, undocumented first generation, low-income -- then so can you”

So, as I am getting ready to write an article about the pride the Latino community has of such driven youth, I start researching her story a little more. Everything about her story is amazing, what I see is that she is proving every racist person wrong, by being the opposite of that criminal, lazy Latino the Trumps of the world shove down people’s throats.

As I am doing my research, I am taken to a certain post on Facebook, it shows a picture of the valedictorian, in her graduation robes, smiling from ear to ear. I start reading the comments, expecting to see expressions of congratulations and happiness for this human that has accomplished so much under her circumstances.

What I see makes me lose my faith in humanity. “Valedictorian… but not smart enough to come into the country illegally,” “Yeah, she's got the brains to graduate, but not enough respect and morals to come here legally,” “those resources being used to send her to college should be used to send an American student…” “Deport her with the rest of her kind… go back to Mexico.” It’s sad that social media is such an easy way for people to post their insensitive thoughts without fact checking or stopping to realize that they are bullying a young woman with dreams and aspirations. The sad thing? These comments were not left under a picture posted by FOX news or some racist person, no, this picture was posted by her school district and most of the people commenting were adults. I could insert more comments, tweets, and news reports that feel the entitlement to bring down this young girl, but honestly the mixture of helplessness and anger I feel is not worth it.

The little devil on my shoulder would respond to these people with something like; you're just mad your own child did not accomplish this knowing English and having more resources than this girl or I would just call out their grammar errors. But let’s look at this logically, shall we?

I did some research on Larissa Martinez’s immigration status. She came to Texas with a tourist visa in 2010 with her mother because they were fleeing from an abusive and alcoholic husband. She has been waiting seven years for her citizen application to be processed. She is the epitome of the broken immigration system in this nation that desperately needs politician’s and citizen’s attention.

Here is what I have to say to the people who think they are authorized to attack the bravery, intelligence, and hard work of my people: How dare you? When you shame people and try to bring them down, you are not making any political statement, you are hurting a person who comes to this nation, not to bother you, but to survive and give their children better resources with the sweat of their brow and the work of their back. Yes, of course, you have the right of free speech, but make up your mind. You complain that “illegal immigrants” take your jobs, but I don’t see you lining up at the fields to work in the scorching heat for cents per bucket of fruit.

You claim immigrants are taking your child’s scholarships, yet I don’t see them studying tirelessly while humbly working to help their family that this “equal” nation has left unprotected. You claim that she did not enter the country legally, yet I don’t see you putting pressure on the government to fix our immigration system to speed up legal documentation for those that will make your country better. If you have no heart, at least look at it through a selfish mindset. What if these children you are putting down will find the cure to cancer or be a great leader. You claim all undocumented people are criminals, yet when you see the results of our hardworking, intelligent people, you get mad? You support Donald Trump’s actions of building a wall to keep immigrants out, yet you give rapists six-month sentences because they have an opportunity of a bright future? What about the future of those who grind hard and deserve that future through their good morals and hard work? Stop with this ethnocentrism and belief that you are better than someone merely because you were born in the United States. Being born somewhere does not make you better, more intelligent, hardworking, or entitled than someone who was born in another territory.

Your ancestors did not go through the hard work of coming to this nation of opportunity so you can wear your citizenship as an entitlement to bash on undocumented people who are trying to be successful. Next time you feel the need to make an ignorant remark, whether it is out of anger or simply because you have a Twitter or Facebook account, about the citizenship of such a bright human being, just don’t. It’s not about being “politically correct,” it’s about being a decent human being.