North Texas Daily

For a lot of people who were not born in the United States, simply the thought of living here seems like the biggest and best dream to chase. After all, the United States is where dreams come true – it’s where you can do anything you want and be anyone you want to be.

I used to think that, but what I’ve slowly come to realize is that the “American dream” is not what it really seems.

When people move to America, they often do it for security and progress because in most countries, these things aren’t always an option. But now there is so much division in this country than anyone could start to question whether or not we’re really “progressive.”

How can I call a country progressive if a teenager can go into a school with a loaded gun and kill a dozens of classmates in a blink of a second? Or a country where there is so much hate and intolerance toward people who are simply different?

Progressive, really?

When Trump first started proposing to build a wall, I was confused. I was confused about reasoning behind building it. He said he didn’t want immigrants to come into this country and take advantage of the American dream that belonged rightfully to American people. The dream jobs, dream houses, dream stability – all the privileges of living a comfortable life.

But there is a problem: people think that by keeping immigrants out of the U.S, the country will be OK.

Well, I’m here to tell you it will not.

How can we address problems going on externally with immigration if we don’t look internally and address existing conflicts within this country and its own people?

This country is filled with resentment between all kinds of social groups: between blacks and whites, liberals and conservatives, heterosexuals and homosexuals, Christians and Atheists and so on.

The sad thing is, we can’t look past these social constructs and labels and categories. At the end of the day, the only thing we should be calling ourselves is “humans.” It’s really that simple.

I was watching in real time the protests going on at UNT a couple weeks ago through social media, and I saw a religious group attacking UNT students for being different and liberal.

As I was seeing these things happening, all I could think of was the word “intolerance.” People’s ideals will not change just because we yell at them that they will burn in hell.

But then, my editor brought up something important. The word I am looking for is not intolerance – it is ignorance.

When I was younger, my mom gave me a book of religions. I didn’t understand why until she said, “You need to learn about every belief before you can decide what you believe in and before you may decide to judge or criticize. Educate yourself.”

She might have been talking about religion, but I think this applies to everything.

We need to be understanding of people who are different than us, because there is more room for patience and tolerance than violence and hate. After all, we’re all just humans in the end.

Featured Image: Illustration by Austin Banzon