Trey+C’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2017

I will start this off by talking about a nation-wide issue that is even relevant at our very own high school. Just a little less than a month ago at our annual Air Guitar, our teachers put on a bit of a show for us. One of those teachers, Mr. Frazier who is white, dressed up as a popular rap artist, Lil’ Yachty, who is in fact black. With Frazier wearing a golden grill, a gold necklace, sunglasses, a ‘yolo’ shirt, and dying his hair red with a bunch of little ponytail things, he attracted a lot of attention. Most people enjoyed seeing their very own art teacher dressed like this despite their race. However, there were white kids claiming that he was being racist for trying to be “black.” But being racist is discriminating or antagonizing a race or even demonstrating a stereotype, but Frazier was just dressing like one rapper in a way that wasn’t intended as disrespectful. Then a few days later, he said to his 1st period class “only white music will be played in here because I don’t want to be racist.” Now obviously Frazier was joking, but the fact that he even had to joke about this is because apparently if you’re white, you can’t play music from another race or act like another race. Some claim this to be “cultural appropriation,” which, is the sole act of one culture using elements from another culture. However, people often confuse it for cultural misappropriation which is using these elements of another culture in a disrespectful way and neither could describe the event. This brings me to last year’s Air Guitar which also hosted an act that was claimed to be racist. The teachers wanted to pay tribute to Prince who had passed away earlier in the year, however, that tribute wasn’t recognized by quite a few people. Mr. Bova, who, if you know the guy is clearly not racist, put makeup on his face to appear darker, so he would look more like Prince and not just a random white guy. This was viewed as racist by white people and they were calling it “cultural appropriation,” which we now know it wasn’t, and even if it was, what is a white person’s say in cultural appropriation of black people? If black people at Foothill weren’t even offended by this, white people don’t have the right to speak in their place. Another example was last year’s prom which was themed after a book called Arabian Nights, just the same as this year’s prom was themed after The Great Gatsby. So, since Arabian is in the name of the theme, people immediately considered this racist, and “cultural appropriation.” They immediately assumed that it was gonna actually be an Arabic themed dance and failed to understand that it was a book. But those claiming it racist were yet again white, not Arabic so how do they know if it is racist to Arabs? They are just trying to make something big out of something small. Now into a larger view of society taking place at UC Berkeley. These college students and those around the area that are completely left-wing are destroying the Free Speech Movement which started at UC Berkeley in 1964. The whole point of this movement was so their opinions could be heard but now they try to destroy other people's opinions. What these people, along with other left-wingers across the nation, are doing is destroying our right as Americans to express our opinions. As a conservative, I would be shot down so quickly if I tried saying anything good about Trump, as many conservatives nationwide are. The left-wingers are completely opposed to listening to anyone with a different view than theirs but they want to be heard. What kind of logic is that? You can’t force conservative speakers off your campus like Ann Coulter and then ask to be heard, because once you force people like that away, the only people who still want to listen to you are the people who are already on your side. However, it’s not only left-wingers. Strong Conservatives and die hard Americans out in the backcountry with their guns and big trucks are also to blame for this speech. These people also take away some American rights. Gays have all the right in the world to be gay. Even in the Constitution it says that all Americans have the right to “the pursuit of happiness” so why are the Conservatives trying to take that away? Most of the people that are speaking out against the LGBT community believe that God created us to be attracted to the opposite sex. I’m so sorry that that goes against your religious beliefs but those are your beliefs so stop thinking everyone has to live the way you do. Just because something might appear offensive to someone, or might appear offensive to you, step back and think, what am I gaining by speaking out against this? Do I really have the right to say this? And what happens if I don’t speak out? Of course, if someone or a group of people are being rude and disrespectful to a race or another group of people, you can call them racist or whatever, but not if they are paying a tribute or just having fun in a way that isn’t intended to discriminate or stereotype. If someone has an opinion that is different than yours, listen to them and try to make an argument against what they say if you truly believe you have to. And lastly, let people live their life the way they want to live because you aren’t getting hurt by that happening. A part of growing up is learning how to let things go. If I talked about everything that bothered me, people would hate me because all I would do is complain. So instead, if you want to be mature and if you want people to enjoy your presence, let things go and stop complaining about every single thing that triggers you. So to answer the question about what kind of America I want to live in, it’s very simple. I want to live in an America that understands when to shut up and not complain. Life is too short to spend it complaining about everything; life is too short to protest against things that can easily be ignored; life is too short to start senseless riots; and the world is gonna keep going if someone has a different opinion and you don’t say anything. Hell, in other parts of the world, people aren’t even allowed to speak out, so stop taking your privilege for granted. You are in control of your mood, so stop focusing on what might be offensive to you and look towards things that make you happy. You have the right to be happy every single day of your life, so try it out sometime, because many people have it way worse than you do. So stop trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, stop complaining about everything and please, listen to someone’s opinion before you start accusing them of things.