An 8th Grade Student Who is Not Afraid to Speak His Mind

An Experience to Never Forget

It was around 10 o’clock at night, and I was doing my usual. I opened my laptop, I went on YouTube, and I began browsing. Some of you know what I’m talking about when I say I got to the strange side of YouTube. I clicked on a 10 minute video titled “Joe Goes To A DONALD TRUMP RALLY”. I figured the video was going to be funny and full of information about Trump supporters and their opinions. Little did I know I was about to hear the worst words I have ever heard in my entire life.

The video began just how I expected it to go. Everything was funny, there was some anti-Trump supporters, and enthusiastic Trump supporters. It was all fun and games until a taller white male appeared on the screen. The man and the interviewer in the video began talking about Mexicans. Being a Mexican myself, I thought I heard the worst of the worst by now. “You’re just going to be a gardener” “give up now… dropout,” and more along those lines. The first words that I paid attention to that the man said, was “look at these people here,” as he points to a group of Mexican people - who had done absolutely nothing to him - “not one of them is a good human being,” he goes on to say “they’re all dirtbags. I bet you not even half of them are citizens,” then he turns his voice to the Mexicans and says “I bet you aren't even paying taxes!” At this point, I was enraged. I had already formed an opinion on this guy. Who in the world has the right to dehumanize a race, just because they seek help. He is an extremely uneducated man who is full of hatred. Then I zoomed out and looked at the bigger picture.

Mexican immigrants - such as my grandparents - left their home country for a reason. That reason is different for different immigrants. Sometimes they cannot find jobs, sometimes they can’t feed their families so they have to go somewhere where they can. Their situations are dire and they need the help! They don’t have time to go through this process that will take years. People such as the man above may argue that no - it is Mexico’s issue, and it is their responsibility to take care of their own people. They claim that it is not in our place to constantly shield them. But, what about the Americans themselves? Where did they originate? Exactly. Immigration is in the world. It exists. I’m not saying it is right or wrong - that’s for another article - yet no matter what our opinion is, we should not degrade a whole race because they’re entering a country. It’s ridiculous!

I continued watching the video with my mind racing. The same man popped up again. What he said this time was even worse. He goes on to say “they are the most uneducated country on the planet - how sad is that?” I may have overreacted, but at that moment I shut my laptop. I thought and thought and thought. The race I originate from, my family’s routes are buried here. I thought of how lucky my family is to have received a good education, and I am extremely lucky to be able to grow up in such a great area. I had never really thought of my family in Mexico and how they’re doing. And I also thought it was funny that he said this, because he isn’t very educated himself. With a racing mind and an angered mood, I sit here writing this article in fear.

I do not fear what most people fear. I do not fear the dark. I do not fear death. I do not fear spiders (well maybe I do fear spiders but that’s against the point…) I fear that there will be a time on Earth where there is so much hatred that we will turn against our own in a massive world/civil war. I am not speaking out against the one single man in the video. I am not trying to make excuses for illegal immigrants. What I am trying to do is open the eyes of the few reading this. If you can change your outlook on life and instead of bashing someone or dehumanizing them, take a step back and realize that we are all humans. For some of us it will take longer to notice. For others they’re already there. But the focus is on you.

Unlike most people, I would like to thank the guy in the Trump rally video. I would like to thank him for opening my eyes and realizing that there are hateful people out there, and the world needs to change before it is too late.

The student who wrote the article requests to remain unnamed.