We all know its happening but only a certain few stand up against it. We witness it everyday at school, work, and any other place where people may be different. Some are afraid of ridicule if they support said "different people". These people are cowards. After all our nation has been through, you still don't have the nerve to stand up for friends you've know all your life? Why do people care so much about what others think? These are the questions i attempt, not without struggle, to answer everyday of my life. I have been alive for 13 years and still have not fully understood this concept. My opinions and perspectives of this topic are different and more elaborate than others thoughts. Only because, instead of being on the side where I'm afraid to stand up for friends, i am the friend in need of support from others.

People have always ridiculed fellow human beings if they were remotely different or unique. One of the first cases was back in one of the worst times America has known. This was the time of racial segregation. African-American citizens were considered lower beings because of their skin color. The only thing that separated upper class people, or the Caucasian, from the African-Americans was the color of their skin. If a Caucasian were to spend as much time in the sun as the African-Americans, their skin would get darker. Not too dark, but dark enough to look multiracial. But the upper class would treat the child as one of them. All that had changed with the child is his tanned skin which was not natural. When the Emancipation Proclamation was put into effect, people rejoiced and slaves were freed. That didn't keep some from expressing their negative thoughts. That was not the end to prejudices.

The prejudice in my generation has changed.Sure there may be racial prejudice, but it has moved on to little things such as what we wear, what we listen to, who we are friends with, and what we think. kids my age normally are friendly to each other, but recently problems have occurred. Kids who can't afford fancy clothing like Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister are constantly teased for buying clothing at stores like Walmart, Target, Goodwill, and Plato's Closet. They don't get the worst of it though. It's people like me that do. We wear dark colors like black or brown everyday. We paint our nails black and dye our hair. We wear black Converse and listen to "heavy metal/rock" music. People call us outcasts.

What i believe is that I'm just like you. The only thing is. we aren't afraid to be ourselves. We are not afraid to tell others that our favorite color is black, or that our favorite bands happen to be rock. We are the next writers, illustrators, and musicians of our world. What's the difference from someone who's favorite singer is Justin Bieber or if its Andy Biersack? What's the difference if your favorite color is pink and mine's black? Everyday me and my friends discuss this. Other people around us at school look at us like we are some three headed alien. I know we can all be friends because I have friends who would be considered "preppy".

Everything in our world seems to be about looks. Does the inside matter? Yes, and I hope that one day everyone can just get past looking at my exterior and realize that I'm just like them. Yes i dress in black, but what some people don't know is that I want to be a writer or a musician. They are my passions and I know of people at my school who also share my passion, but when I walk down the hall, I get nasty looks. I know one thing we could bond over. So whenever you see someone like me in the halls of your school, think of this paper and realize that we aren't just the "different" people.