"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." - Desmond Tutu
This quote hit my soul. It sparked a shockwave of strength and assurance through my entire body.
This is what many people fail to realize.
We tell children that if they don't stand up to bullies, they are just as bad as the bullies themselves, but why aren't adults held to that same standard.
Whether its micro- or macro-aggression, we can NOT afford to be neutral.
Society is plagued with injustice and oppression.
And it is so ingrained that we have become complacent. Those who are privileged don't even notice.
Those who are privileged go on about their lives, but don't recognize how many advantages they experience every single day.
Sometimes, even if we don't mean it, we are blatantly the oppressor.
This is not how I want to live my life.
I want to empower, not oppress.
I want to recognize, not ignore.
I want to fight the injustice.
With every fiber in my body, I want to help.
This is why I don't sit silently when my friends make a sexist joke.
I don't sit silently when someone calls something "gay," as if that's a bad thing.
I don't sit silently when I hear racist jokes. I don't sit silently when I hear the homeless being ridiculed.
And I won't.
The only silence is that of my laughter.
I will not laugh. I will not smile. I will not tolerate injustice.
Some people think I'm a "hippie". Some think I'm a "femi-nazi". My friends get annoyed with me because I won't let their "jokes" slide. My family thinks I'm a crazy liberal.
But if this small amount of ridicule means that I can make a difference, then so be it.
Sometimes it just takes that one person to point out the injustice to make someone really think.
If I can plant that seed of critical thinking in people's minds, then I am living my purpose.
We just can't afford to be neutral when so much is at stake.
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