We need to stop the hate!
I had originally planned on this being only a one-page temporary site. The events in Littleton, CO, brought back to my mind my own experiences with intolerance and hatred. So I created a page to express my views. I did so anonymously because of the negative reactions I thought I would receive. Strangely, that has not happened. The response has been overwhelmingly positive - I've had guestbook entries from people who have "walked in my shoes," so to speak - I had no idea there were that many of us out there:) - as well as posts from people who have welcomed the opportunity to view another perspective that they'd never really thought about before. I've also received an overwhelming number of emails thanking me for posting this page, and think I've made some new friends in the process:)
So I've decided to make this a permanent site because what the above indicates to me is that America is finally willing to open its eyes and start seeing the problems and issues in today's society that have been ignored for so long, swept under the carpet - in the hopes that what we don't see, what we don't pay attention to, will eventually go away of its own accord. Maybe we figured that "problem kids" would eventually destroy themselves and we'd be rid of them, wouldn't have to deal with them.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold did destroy themselves, but they took 13 other people with them, injured many more, and shattered countless lives. Instantly, they became "monsters" in the eyes of not just the people of Littleton, but the nation and maybe the world as well. People all over the country are screaming for vengeance on those two boys and preaching hatred against them.
The response to this page has given me hope. It's shown me that some of us are willing to try to discover what it was that made Eric and Dylan into "monsters," what caused them to strike out in such a violent way, what was done or wasn't done to prevent this from happening.
I see the "cause and effect" of the shooting in Littleton (or any act of "senseless" violence, for that matter) as a puzzle. The final outcome is the finished puzzle. The events leading up to that outcome are the pieces. For so many years, America has had its blinders on, refusing to look at all of the pieces, choosing only the most obvious pieces and putting them together into what I think is a somewhat distorted image of the whole picture. Now it's time to take all those other pieces - the ones we didn't want to see - the ones that are harder to put together because they're not so obvious. Where do they fit? The responses to this page have made me realize that we're finally willing to try to find out. That shows me that there is hope.
This page will remain "anonymous." It doesn't matter who I am or where I live; doesn't matter what I do for a living or how much money I make. All that matters is that I am a human being and that I care. I could be anyone.
I don't want to see kids growing up being afraid to be different for fear that they'll be outcasts. I don't want anyone else to have to "walk in my shoes" and then have to deal with all the insecurities, lack of esteem, and poor self-value that go along with that walk. I don't want anyone else to feel that they have to carry a razorblade in their pocket just so they have the option of "taking themself out" when they just can't deal anymore. I don't want another kid to spend their time crying because people who in reality don't even DESERVE to have them for a friend will not take the time to get to know them just because they're different.
I don't want another kid to think that the words they say to a peer in ignorance don't have an effect, that hatred and intolerance are things to be proud of.
We need to stop the hatred because all it does is breed more of the same. Bigotry, intolerance, discrimination - these are not things that affect only some of us - they affect us all.
