Labels | Teen Ink

Labels

February 25, 2018
By ay0.jazi BRONZE, Austin, Texas
ay0.jazi BRONZE, Austin, Texas
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

So are we really black and really white? So why is it when we grow up, we start to judge people by their race. That can be answered in one word, labels. They are only labels that the world gives us. Labels are labels that we see in a supermarket. The ones that we carry on our shoulders everyday. I didn't come out my mother's womb saying “I’m black everyone look”! What would you be if the world never gave you a “label”? We were taught to be black or white.


Labeling one another is like judging a book by it’s cover. If i’m judging and designate people to different groups before meeting them, how might this affect my social life in making friends or starting a conversation? Do I sometimes do the same thing? As I think about these questions, it seems to me that I naturally categorize someone with words that I admit wasn't “nice”.


Adults were taught to teach their young to see people and themselves based on what we think they are, not who they are. We, as in us, don’t see people based on character but on appearance. Why? What has society created that we had a sense to label? We say terrorism is all Middle Eastern, crime to all Blacks, wealth to all Whites, immigration to all Mexicans, and intelligence to all Asians. But what are we really saying? That we aren't able to change the label the world has created. Labels are just costumes covering the layers of character inside of us.

I believe it was around  the 1850’s when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his speech about black and white citizens and how we are truly equal. I can't stand when walking down the hallway at school and someone says “you’re racist”, or saying something like Why?, because I’m Mexican. Society has made us say things like that. If there were no labels given then I think the world would be at peace.

 

People are labeled everywhere they go. Think about it, from “nerds” to “popular kids” in middle school, from the “tough boys” or “sorority girls” in college. We even say things like we call smaller models “regular size models”. Who cares about a person’s body size,why do we have to label it? The only way we can make a difference of labeling is with love and showing love. We must help and teach others to love everyone and accept each others pigment in our skin. Most importantly, see ourselves as equal. I see it as we are like a puzzle, we all have different pieces that all fit, but we have to make the change. Don't label me, get to know me!



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