It was a cool summer evening when our family was watching the U.S. Open Round 1. The Arthur Ashe Stadium filled with excitement, watching the game with the young prodigy, Karolina Muchova, who was going to challenge Venus Williams. When we asked my little sister which of those players was her favorite without any doubt she quickly responded “Venus Williams.”
We wanted to see whether or not she could correctly identify Venus, so we asked her to spot the difference between the two players. She responded by addressing Venus WIlliams as “the woman in the pink shirt.” What surprised us though, is the fact that the contrast in both of the player’s skin color never occurred to her.
She did not single Venus Williams out as the woman who had black skin. Why is it that older people tend to differentiate people by the color of their skin when the only difference a little girl can manage to find is the difference between their outfits?
Right now, America is not only facing a medical crisis, but a social crisis too. Racial injustice is a massive problem with thousands of people currently being victimized due to the color of their skin. This has been occurring in the US.for centuries, and it has to change – now.
America has already gone through many controversies involving racial injustice including the breakaway Confederacy, the Civil War, and the Civil Rights Movement. We should not aim to make this situation any worse than it already is. Unless we want to go through another 600,000 deaths with another Civil War, we should stop and take a moment to absorb what is happening in the real world.
Just standing there and watching people get hurt does not help at all! Show people that you care, by talking to your close relatives and friends not just about the problem, but also about solutions to mitigate the problem. Make sure there are social outreach programs in your schools and neighborhoods that focus on helping disadvantaged communities.
Thomas Jefferson once wrote “all men are created equal.” Let us ensure that we take the words of our founding fathers and incorporate them into the DNA of our country. That means no man or woman is better than any other man or woman. No race is better than any other race. No religion is better than any other religion.
A rainbow has many different colors. Without one color, it wouldn’t be as beautiful as it is. Just like that, every race is important. Without one race, the world wouldn’t be as great as it is. Stop discriminating against people by the color of their skin, and start appreciating who they really are. Stop racial injustice now!
Anirudh Venkatesh is 11 years old. He is in 6th grade and attends Great Valley Middle School in Malvern.