I will never understand. I can never sympathize. I will never know.

I am not racist, but I can never understand what a heart must feel to be the target of such hate.

I do not live with prejudice, but I can never understand the pain of a mother when forced to teach her child that they aren’t always seen equally due to the very thing that makes them beautiful.

I strive to act without bias, but I will never know the obstacles that some face Every. Single. Day.

To those of us who are not racist…do we even truly understand what we are claiming not to be?

No.

Because, of the many of us who aren’t racist, we have never felt the evil of what that means.

The majority of us who feel they must scream we do not live with prejudice rarely have felt the earth-shattering pain of being a target.

Most of us who shout that we do not act with bias likely have never been stereotyped.

So…

I will work to understand. I will fight to empathize. I will strive to know.

To stand tall in a world divided. To speak loudly amidst a world that is lost. To hold hands with all my brothers and sisters.

I will lend my shoulder to catch the tears born from the pain I have never felt. I will lend my ear to listen to voices I can never mimic. I will walk next to steps I’ve never been forced to take.

We are one. Once we start to live as such…only then will we flourish.

-Michaela