Maybe I was just too young to really know, but it seems as though racial tensions have once again heightened since the Trayvon Martin incident. I realize tensions existed long before that and numerous other incidents took place prior to, but our culture is certainly beginning to regress as far as racial equality is concerned. Those trying to stay out of the crossfire have proudly declared that they are “colorblind” and “see no color.”

As sick as I am of hearing all the racial politics and debates, I refuse to proclaim the ignorance of such a concept.

Color blind?

I understand the point they are trying to convey. Being colorblind doesn't make one blind to color, it prevents one from distinguishing between certain colors, so those hashtagging “colorblind” and announcing it whenever the topic of race comes up are claiming to see no difference between black and white.

As good and dandy as that is, there's just one problem: there is a difference between black and white. That doesn't mean one is better than the other; it simply means black is not black and white is not white. Why is it that our culture cannot just accept each for their own beauty? Why must we denounce each its own splendor in a futile attempt to appease everyone?

Why does everything have to be characterized by color, anyway?

The headline is never “Man Shot By Man." It's always “Black Man Shot By White Man” or “White Man Shot By Black Man." Yes, the media is the majority of the problem, constantly riling up the public with headlines as such, but almost always without fail, we do our part of playing right into their game with the exact reaction they anticipate. Why does the race of the murderer or victim matter at all? The fact that someone died— that someone lost their family member or friend— should be what matters. After the shooting in Dallas a couple weeks ago, I could hardly believe my eyes while reading Facebook posts celebrating the fact that a black man had “finally” murdered a white cop.

We've become a culture so engrossed in white vs. black that we’re now a culture that celebrates murder and denies the sanctity of life.

You can try to justify all the rivalry and violence by dredging up the past, but living in the past presents no progress for the future. My generation was raised by the saying, “Two wrongs don't make a right,” yet the broken records who instilled that in us haven't even realized that truth themselves. People are still fighting over a past they can't change, rather than putting down their guns for the future we are in complete control of creating. Trust me, I know the history between the two races. I was practically obsessed with the history of civil rights during high school, but my captivation wasn't fueled by rage or “black power,” it stemmed from my fascination with how far our nation had come from where it once had been.

Every night at dinner (well, on the rare occasion that I am home for dinner), I sit next to my black father and across from my white mother, and it couldn't make any less difference in the world that one is black, one is white or that my brother and I are both.

I am extremely proud of the fact that I am biracial to the point that it's practically a part of my introduction when meeting new people. But the fact that such a history had been almost dismissed in such a short amount of time that interracial couples are now the norm is incredible! Therefore, I love broadcasting that to the world. Yes, my ancestors wronged each other. However, they are no longer here, and their ideologies almost no longer upheld.

So why are we starting to bring them back?

Why are we letting such meaningless adjectives cause so much destruction? You're white? OK, what does that mean? You're black? So what? We are maintaining inequality by encouraging violence and sustaining prejudice against nothing more than an appearance, which has no impact on someone’s worth.

Black power. White power. Black lives matter. How about we all use the power of forgiveness to make all lives truly matter? Regardless of the color of the skin enveloping our bones, the only living beings fighting over a color are all one race: human.

We don't see white dogs fighting black dogs or red birds fighting yellow birds. Perhaps they realize something our culture needs to learn: the variety of color adds to the beauty of the Earth.

Imagine if the earth was all one color. What if the grass, trees, and flowers were all blue like the sky and the ocean? What if every animal was green or every human was yellow? The world would be pretty bland, huh? It's like that saying, “Without art, the Earth would just be ‘eh.'" Well, we are the art decorating this Earth. I don't see Mona Lisa fighting with American Gothic over their value. Each is beautiful in its own, unique regard.

It's time for us to stop focusing on the color of the fingers, and just stop pointing altogether. We don't have to forget the past, but we just need to let go of it, regardless of the color of the fist holding onto it.

Color is not the problem, ignorance is. It’s time to accept each race for the unique beauty it contributes to the world before the ground is covered in blood.

This world is too colorful for anyone to be colorblind.