Dear Haters,

This is a letter from us. The crippled backs you step on. The eyes you never knew you made swell with tears. That one nerd from English. That one s*** who made out with everyone. That one dork who just loves comics. That one person who you laughed at. That one kid who you ridiculed.

We are more than the labels you give us. Look at us. Look away. What color are our eyes? What lies behind those eyes? That one girl has a father who abuses her. That one guy is struggling with depression. That one dork has a sister who has cancer. That one s*** has a mother who is on drugs. You are not the only one with problems. We know you struggle too. But, don’t take it out on us. Because now, on top of all our other struggles, we have you to deal with. The bully, the hater, the criminal.

We have lives. We have hopes, fears, aspirations. We get sad, we get happy. We are human. We are just like you.

Does that scare you? Does it make you nervous to finally realize that we are just like you? Or are you scared because you knew all along? Did you know, in the pit of your stomach, that we are so similar? Did some tiny part of you feel bad? Did you need to read this to finally realize what you knew all along?

So, next time you laugh, next time you make fun, look into our eyes. See our lives behind those eyes. See the similarities. We are just like you.

Sincerely,
The Downtrodden