I believe

As I have grown, I have noticed people aren't so innocent. People begin to think for themselves and develop beliefs. Racist, sexist, ageist beliefs. It's apparent everywhere I look. School, soccer, and all over society. Picture this, you are playing a soccer game in the typical rural south. The game gets out of hand and your team is killing your opponents. Your black teammate fouls one of their players roughly. The coach and father of the player yells from the sideline "Get that monkey back son!" The referee ignores the comment and the game continues. Even a simple 13 year old soccer game can show the prejudice filling people's minds. Growing up I've heard plenty of racist jokes (more now that I am in high school) and told a few also. This is all in good fun and usually the jokes are about friends. But when people say things in all seriousness that are demeaning to people that differ from them, I cringe. I believe in equality. My whole life I have lived in the city and many of my friends were not typical southerners. My friends have had completely different lifestyles and origins whether they were from the United States or from another country. Whether they were white or black, rich or poor, opinionated or shy. Living in many different parts of Atlanta has shaped the way I think and has made me more open minded to people who are different from me. I wouldn't trade it for anything.