The Rainbow Address | Teen Ink

The Rainbow Address

January 4, 2015
By ..E.. GOLD, Marietta, Georgia
..E.. GOLD, Marietta, Georgia
19 articles 0 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
"everything you do is insignificant, but it is important that you do them"


Ladies and gentlemen, the Grand Jury, the Department of Justice, the parents and relatives and friends of Michael Brown, of Trayvon Martin, of Tamir Rice, of Eric Garner,  the parents of Black, Latino, Asian, and Mexican boys- over the years incidents of subtle racial cases have filled the news- a police officer beating a woman just shy of death as a way of protecting her- shooting aimlessly at a car of three teenage boys solely because of a music preference- shooting an unarmed child in a matter of self defense- choking a man to death after he says he cannot breathe-each offender walking away Scott free.

  When it comes to the death of a child- a mother's own blood created from the fruits of her womb- a father's pride and joy- the skin, the origin, the ancestry of the child should not dictate whether the murderer validates as a murderer. Never should a child fear the men meant to protect them. The corrupt worldly view of a supposed superior race seems to raise the stature. Let it be a black, Latino, Asian, Mexican person and without a doubt he would be sentenced to life in prison almost immediately. These people, different races, different ethnic groups, are still Americans. No different from you. They may not look like the majority, but close your eyes and the minority is the majority. Burn the body and it is still a body and with out ID no one knows what he looks like.

As an African American child living in a district where Caucasian is the majority, where the majority of my peers and friends do not look like me,  how I see other races is with the benefit of the doubt that morals and values, right and wrong are placed above euphemisms, and prejudice, and stereotypes, and racism. I see no difference in them. But should I?
   Each morning at school we "pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America" in unison saying, " one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all"-justice for all.  It lies in our constitution " all men are created equal". 

So again I ask. Should I?

The golden rule of life-is it torn down when the skin is put up? This nation is built from being an outsider, from being the minority, built to be a place of opportunity and respect. Equal under God.

   Let us not crack the foundation of this house.
Let us refurbish and renovate; build as a nation, as a people.
Let us not be a divided nation - by color, by religion, by culture

For we are the United States of America.

Let us be united.

From yours truly,

From that of American blood,

From a child,

From a mother's daughter,


Thank you for your time.



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