Hailey Miller

Mrs. D
25 January 2015

This I Believe
I believe that everyone should be treated equal. We as a country, pride ourselves on
freedom and equality, yet still set limitations and laws that ban homosexuals from getting
married. We have riots springing up all over the country over a whole race feeling threatened by
the police solely based upon their color. We also have many people with disabilities that get
discriminated against on a daily basis. Each of these groups have been treated worse in the past,
and each day that passes were a little bit closer to true equality, but at the same time were still
so far away.
Gay marriage was illegal in every state at the beginning of 2004. May 17th 2004, was the
date that the very first gay couple legally married. As of today thirty-six states have legalized gay
marriage. After ten years, we still are not united as country on the issue of gay marriage.
People of the homosexual community still face marriage bans in many states such as Georgia and
Alabama. There are still many heated debates on whether homosexuals should be allowed to
marry, and many individuals get harassed and humiliated on a daily basis.
Homosexuals, however are not the only group of people who face discrimination. Riots
have been started all across the nation due to a single race feeling as if they are being targeted by
the police based on their skin color. Racial profiling has not been the cause in most of the

shootings that have started these riots, but in some cases it can be viewed that way. Compliance
is the key when dealing with police officers and a majority of the time the suspect is not
complying with the officer which is leading to further actions taking place. At the same time, I
believe a handful of officers approach an African American in a little more defensive manner
than they do a Caucasian, which is not fair. All citizens should be treated equal regardless of their
skin color and should all be approached the same way. If the approach was changed, maybe the
outcomes would be slightly different. Until a change is made, no one can say whether or not this
is the cause of the problem. Hopefully one day racial discrimination will become extinct and we
will no longer judge one another based on skin color, but by their character instead.
Skin color is not the only thing that people discriminate against. Individuals with
disabilities face the same kind of discrimination, if not worse. I have worked with disabled
individuals for almost three years now and I have seen countless times where this group of
people is looked down upon solely based on stereotypes and the way they look. People often
judge individuals with disabilities and believe that they should not have the same rights everyone
else has because they do not meet their standards. A lot of disabled individuals are treated as if
they are criminals based off of stories people have been told. Most of these people are harmless
innocent souls who are longing for understanding and compassion. Treating them as an equal to
everyone else is something they long for. Most of them have been treated differently for so long
it has become their norm. This is not acceptable and it breaks my heart that these individuals
have become accustom to such discrimination. This has to change and equality needs to be
spread throughout humanity, not just certain groups of people.
Equality should not be an issue in such a great and advanced country as this one. People
from all walks of life have come to the United States in search of freedom and equality for many

different reasons. Although many have gained both here, our country still has bans denying an
entire group of people their right to marry, a race who feels threatened and discriminated against
by our law enforcement, and citizens with disabilities who get treated terribly. I hope that one
day true equality can be obtained.