Prejudice due to race, gender, and sexual orientation have been around for a long time and it has evolved into a hateful act known as discrimination.

No matter who you are, male or female, black or white, straight or gay, you have been discriminatory towards someone or something, even if you do not realize it right away.

For example, someone may not like a person because they appear “gay,” so they pick on them and make them feel like less of a person.

Some may see it as okay because they appear “different” or not like you. Some kids grow up in homes with beliefs that this type of behavior is acceptable for these reasons.

But this type of inequality can lead to larger occurrences such as the Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and many other cases with attacks because of race. Or even Islan Nettles, a transgender woman from New York who was attacked August 17, 2013 at age 21 by a group of men taunting her with homophobic comments, knocking her to the ground, and beating her until she was unconscious.

Most people who attack a person or group probably do not stop and think about the victim’s family and how they will be affected by the action. Never should someone be attacked or discriminated against for something that is not their fault. People do not choose their sexual orientation, gender, or race, therefore they should not be punished for it.

The Civil Rights Movement and LGBT movements have happened for a reason and not everyone today honors the fact that the United States is supposed to be enforcing the rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for all people. Those inalienable rights should never be taken away from anyone, yet by having prejudice, people are eliminating rights from other groups.

Before people try and target a certain group or person, they should put themselves in their shoes. What if they were the one being targeted with hateful threats and remarks? Knowing that they could be the next one targeted, would they still single out someone innocent to feel satisfaction? The answer is no. In the end they will make themselves look foolish and irrational.

I believe that people who discriminate are just afraid of the person they are picking out of the crowd. They are afraid of the fact that the other person is stronger than they are because they didn’t allow society to make them into someone they are not. Be it race, gender, or sexual orientation, those ‘outcasts’ should be proud of themselves and not let anyone ever change who they truly are.