Labels

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We live in a world where everything has a label. There are even national days for some of those labels. Now, I don't consider myself prejudiced, and who knows, maybe I am. Why would I say that? Well, labels. Do labels really define who you are? Do labels tell other people who you are? This month is Black History Month. In celebration of Black Americans. We have St. Patrick's Day in celebration of everyone who claims to be Irish. We have personal labels for who we are individually, LGBT. We have ethnic classifications - White/Caucasian, Black, Latin, Hispanic, Asian, Native American. We even have religious labels. You get the picture. We have a lot of days to make people aware of the different groups we may or may not belong to. Why can't we just be ourselves? Why do we need labels to define who we are? Personally, I'll be very happy when this month is over. Why? Black History Month. There is so much hype over the black community. I'm not against being black or a person of color. We are all people of color. I just happen to be white. Maybe I'm pink. White people have been called pink and pale face. Funny thing is when I look in the mirror, I see me. I don't see any labels telling me who I am. When I go anywhere and do anything, I let who I am speak about me. I like to think that it doesn't matter what color my skin is. When I break the skin, I bleed red, same as you. I'm not red, black, white, Latino, Spanish, Asian, or any other breed. I'm not rich or poor. I'm not religious. I'm not LGBT or S. I'm me. I have opinions, same as everybody else. I breathe air, same as everyone else. I need food and water to survive, same as everyone else. Why do we need to make a big thing of being a certain nationality or part of an organization? Can't we do away with the labels? I'm not prejudiced. I don't care whether you're one of those ethnicities or belong to a defining organization. When I look at you, I see you, the person. I see your merits. I see your struggles. I see what gives you hope and what discourages you. When I see you, I see someone I can relate too. We have something in common. We are all people. We all have similar circumstances that define us as people and let us know we are no different from one another. It's time to get rid of labels and be individuals who love life and want to live it. Thanks for reading.