Graduation Speech: We Are Responsible For Civil Rights

We are responsible for the rules we have set up and for what is and isn’t in, for determining who is and isn’t accepted. We are also responsible for forcing others to adhere to them. Whether by loud or quiet means, we’ve stated that a lack of adherence is countered with relentless hatred. We are equally responsible for whether or not we follow those rules. Yet we are free to obey and disobey these laws. We are responsible for the outcome of the choice to follow or not follow the laws in which we’ve created. This is a responsibility we cannot relinquish to others. Because of that we cannot be considered victims to our circumstances or these laws. That’s too easy of a way out. We are not victims.

Are we okay with this? All these expectations …show more content…
We didn’t understand gender, race, or class binaries. Were we ignorant or just unaware of the real world? But someone told us about these binaries, someone told us how to treat those of higher or lower class, of color, of a different sex or gender. Someone said it and we listened, identifying it as trustworthy and accurate. But when we see people being shot and killed because of these boxes someone told us to make and label, are these things we’ve come to learn still accurate? Should all gays be killed because their sexual preferences don’t align with our own? Since when was there an absolute rule, a black and white for any way to live our lives? Who established it? We did and we continue to accept it the more we refuse to question these binaries. But that isn’t going to sit well. We have to open our eyes again the way we did when we were younger. When our greatest wonder was smiling at those faces that reciprocated our love. Not a time when we were clueless but a time when we embodied the essence of our human nature. A time we recognized others as fellow humans before slurs and derogatory language. A time when we only saw ourselves in