I recently read an article that focused on the fact that a Bush and a Clinton are running for office, a Jurassic Park film secured the top spot in the box office, and a new Terminator film was released. I laughed and scrolled past it thinking to myself, what a coincidence. But then I stopped to think⎯ these aren’t the only things that haven’t changed in America. It’s 2015 and the nation still has to debate race and watch countless acts of racial terrorism occur. It’s 2015 and women still do not have true equality in our nation. It’s 2015 and conversations about rape, abortion, and sex culture are still taboo. It seems as though the America of today is at a standstill.

So what does this say about our country? Don’t get me wrong; I think our country can be progressive. We have made countless technological, medical, and social advancements. But there are moments when it's clear that the issues that affect the American people are not always being adhered to. Social change in America appears in a paradigm that begins with the states and then trickles through the system to reach Washington D.C. This happened when issues such as interracial marriage, prohibition, women’s suffrage, abortion, and same-sex marriage were handled. It seems to me, however, that prohibition, interracial marriage, and same-sex marriage had larger effects than that of the fight for women and abortion. In fact, women’s suffrage is still ever present today because of the fight for wage equality in the workplace as well as the push to end the over-sexualization of women.

Maybe the question, ‘what era are we living in,’ doesn’t come down to the law or the people in power. I think that the 2016 presidential race and the recent popular movies only dictate that we, as people, Excel are stuck in our ways. We still have many Americans who believe that the wage gap is a myth, feminism degrades men, same-sex marriage ruins traditional religious fundamentals, and race isn’t a problem. Politicians then utilize these points of view in order to create their entire campaign. It’s a simple system and it has shaped American politics for years.

It's 2015 and America is still stuck in its ways. But we don’t have to keep living in the shadows of our nation’s past. I believe that the Millennial Generation has the power to change the way people treat each other. This change can only happen if we speak up, question things, and stop allowing prejudice and tradition to cloud our judgment.