judging a person does not define who they are, it defines who you are.

so.

lately i've noticed a lot of people have no problem

throwing around their prejudices like it's completely normal..

and maybe for some people it is.

but i am not okay with it.

i don't like to be around people who judge,

 make derogatory comments, are blatantly racist, anti semetic,

 stereotype, or just plain hate.

i don't want to hear your ignorant comments ma'am,

so please don't assume that i am okay with what you are about to say just because i happen to be the same skin tone as you.

Especially do not think it is ok to then follow up your ignorant, blatantly racist comment with an attempt at recreating a facial feature you apparently think translates into

the person or group you are talking about, incase the choice words you chose to use didn't explain who you were talking about clearly enough.  

and PLEASE after you do both of these things, do me a favor and do NOT follow up with

" but i'm not racist"

um. yes you are.

don't go ranting about a certain religious group on facebook and then get angry and defensive when someone (of that religion) tells you your comments are disgusting. because they actually were. i'm not even friends with you but thanks to facebooks stalking second by second feature, i got to see what someone i am fb friends with said to you about it, and i 100% agreed with her. your comment was disgusting. and your follow up defense was even worse.

in this week alone i've heard entirely too many ignorant comments on the following:

that's gay.

no homo.

get raped.

... the single mother who "was another waste of your tax payer dollars since she was too busy having kids and collecting food stamps to work"

....that you were too good to go work in the "ghetto" with "those inner city kids"

... a "fat" girls "rolls"

...what a faggot.

... "aids is a disease gays get"

" all i know is my kids better not come home with a person that color"

..."i saw him and asked if he was the guy who stole my tv, you know, because he was black"

... "i dont date asians, because i hate them. i just do"

..." you're hispanic? but you don't look brown"

... "jews are all cheap"

..." i'm not going to clean the bathroom, thats what mexicans are for"

i'm not kidding even a little bit here.

don't even get me started on the time my neighbor said my mom was a "foreigner" and

 "foreigners were to blame for everything bad in this country, just like that obama"

honestly guys, i try my hardest to be open to every single person i meet.

i don't understand the ignorance of people.

some of them seemingly intelligent, successful people.

i just know what i think.

i see people, i don't see skin tones.

i see human beings, not stereotypes, not generalizations.

i hear words, a mix of languages, a blending of cultures.

i see traditions, beliefs, and a mutual respect for customs & people who are different from myself.

i don't see hate. i refuse to.

i believe in equality, in the rights of every man woman and child.

i believe in the right to live your life, to love who you want, be friends with who you want, and to become everything you ever imagined you could be, in the life you want to create for yourself.

i don't know. maybe i'm alone here. maybe i've just been exposed to so many different people that i refuse to be sheltered, to be ignorant, to believe in a superior race, to believe in only one way of living.

cheesey maybe, but i believe in the human race.

so do me a favor next time you want to say something that you will probably follow up with

"but im not ________"

keep it to yourself.
don't assume everyone around you shares your ignorant beliefs.

because i certainly don't .

so maybe i'm judging you...just like you judge everyone else.
but i'm going to sleep tonight with a clear conscience

Source: projectqueer.tumblr.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

with a heart full of hope & a mind full of dreams

Sarah