Some rules are not meant to be broken

Everyone has heard the golden rule: do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Yet, not everyone has grasped the simple logic behind this statement.

It has become so common for society to quickly judge someone for his or her race, gender, religion and even sexual orientation. Unfortunately, these judgments have led to individuals being violated, harmed and even killed.

It doesn’t seem as if the world has taken a step back to look at the big picture: no, we are not all going to be the exact same person. In fact, not a single person is the same; otherwise we would be robots.

For more than a century hate groups and organizations have been formed to openly discriminate against those to whom they are opposed. One of the country’s leading groups, still active today, is the Ku Klux Klan. Formed in 1865, this hate group claims to protect the rights and further the interest of white Americans. What it does do is threaten the rights of non-Aryans with violence and intimidation.

In 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech demanding an end to racial segregation. Just a year later the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed racial segregation in schools, public places and places of employment. This was the start of giving all citizens the freedom America claims to protect; King was assassinated before his dream could be fully realized.

Race is not the only target for discrimination. There is also a focus toward setting homosexuals apart from everyone else. As more people are becoming comfortable coming out and expressing who they truly are as individuals, it’s given those who are “anti-gay” more reason to take action against it.

In 1998, a man named James Byrd, Jr. from Jasper, Texas, was chained to a car and dragged to death because he was African-American. Also in 1998, a University of Wyoming student by the name of Matthew Shepard was targeted for his sexual orientation, attacked and killed. This student’s murder generated national attention toward the issue legislating hate crime at state and federal levels.

On Oct. 28, there was a reception at the White House after President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.  After a decade’s worth of processing, the hate crimes law finally added federal protections against crimes based on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability.

Citizens of this type of discrimination can’t live their lives regularly because hate groups do not accept anything contrary to themselves. There is a freedom being tested when someone cannot walk down the street holding the hand of another without hesitation or the fear of being victimized.

Is it so important for people to prove their identity that they have to hinder others from proclaiming their own?

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

A person’s character cannot be judged by a person’s religion, sexual orientation or gender identity either.