Dear White Supremacists.

Dear Homophobes.

Sexists

Racists

And all others

Who discriminate

Or hate.

Listen.

Reflect.

Understand.

I don’t live up completely to the standards.

Almost no one lives up completely to the standards

But let’s think about these standards.

Why should a person be denied a job or an opportunity or basic human courtesy because they have two x chromosomes or their skin has more melanin? Because they speak a different language or they use different phrases? Or because they are romantically or sexually attracted to the same gender or none at all. Because they believe in something different. Why is that the deciding factor in this so called land of the free.

The land of the free.

But only for some.

Only for a select few.

Ones who have x and y chromosomes.

Ones with little melanin.

Ones that worship the Bible.

Ones that like the opposite gender.

Ones who speak English.

Ones with power.

Ones with money.

All these requirements.

Just to be treated as human.

I’m sorry but that seems absurd.

Especially because almost everything we have,

Everything we value,

A woman

Or a person of color

Or a member of the LGBTQ+ community

Or a Jew, Muslim or observer of countless other religions

Or an immigrant,

Has contributed to.

From things like Chocolate Chip cookies- Ruth Graves Wakefield

And Potato Chips- George Crum

To Clothes Dryers- George T Sampson

Folding Chairs- John Purdy

And Caller IDs- Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson

Or momentus and ground-breaking discoveries and and acts

Like Sally Ride

Or Elizabeth Blackwell

That have shaped the world as it is.

Understand that they are not recognized.

Maybe, like Katherine G Johnson and other “computers” who were vital to the launch of the Friendship 7 and NASA as it is today but was an African-American woman or Lise Meitner, who discovered nuclear fission before anyone else but was a Jewish woman on the run,

Their hard work is taken credit by people who do live up to the standards.

Or maybe, like JK Rowling, who was a struggling, impoverished, single mother before she wrote Harry Potter, FDR, who was crippled with polio before he became president or Oprah Winfrey who became a famous and inspirational billionaire despite being a black woman in the late 1900s and early 2000s, they beat all the odds and succeeded.

Or maybe, they are normal people. Dealing with struggles that, to them, have become ordinary. But are nevertheless, dehumanizing and struggles that no person should ever have to experience.

White Supremacists.

Homophobes.

Sexists

Racists

And all others

Who discriminate

Or hate.

Aspire to be someone who uses their privilege for good. You could be someone like Oskar Schindler or Eleanor Roosevelt who used their wealth and power to save people. Either by drafting a human rights bill or hiding Jews, they are remembered in history as heros. As saviors. As role models.

So please,

White Supremacists.

Homophobes.

Sexists

Racists

And all others

Who discriminate

Or hate.

Please understand,

That these people you hate.

Think are weak.

Or revolting.

Or “unnatural.”

Are strong.