As you grow older, you begin to truly appreciate the world
around you. The way in which it works. The beautiful things and the not so
beautiful things. You begin to formulate opinions, views, ideas about anything
and everything.
I personally have been known to hold very strong views on certain subject matters. It is true. If I believe in something then I will fight to make my view heard. I am not one to follow crowds. If something is wrong, then I will stand up for what is right; even if I am the only person standing.
One major view that I do hold is that discrimination -of any kind- is not okay.
Pretty simple.
You might think, well surely that is a principle that the majority of people live by, or try to at least.
I thought so too.
It is staggering the amount of times in these past few months that I have had to stand up for this belief. Argue for what is right. Try and make people understand that what they're saying is hurtful and discriminative on so many levels. However, what is even more staggering to me is that I have been arguing alone. Either there truly is no one in my class/year group that feels the same way as I do or they are simply too afraid to speak up.
Those who I am arguing against look at me like I'm crazy, even laugh at how wound up I get by this sort of thing. They have told me on more than one occasion that I simply 'get offended too easily'.
Maybe they are right. Maybe I do.
All I can say to them is, you have obviously never been on the receiving end of discrimination.
As a deaf person I am very well acquainted with society's concept of difference. I am also far too familiar with how many ignorant people there are in this world. In my opinion, that's all discrimination is. Society's ignorance towards difference.
I understand that discrimination and ignorant people are apart of life. But I want to do every thing in my power to help people to understand; to educate.
After all, the cure for ignorance is knowledge.
So I am here to share my views and perspectives in the hope that someone will listen.
- N -
