Mar 4, 2022 4 min read

Editor’s note: Kloosterman, son of Greg Kloosterman, is a seventh-grade student at Canonsburg Middle School.

People cannot change the past, but future generations can help to change the future.

The Civil Rights Movement brought about new hope for people of color and society. People are people and, as humans, we should all respect that fact. We all walk on the same earth and have two eyes, a nose, are all human, and have flaws, yet people still choose to point out differences.

We all live in, and are fortunate to be among, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. We are all born equal and should celebrate each other as well as our cultures. This month of February was given to support Black History. We should all support one another throughout the year. We should celebrate Black History equally like we celebrate White History, every single day.

Why should we not?

To be an ally means to stand by and for something, I stand by this cause by doing my part, and I will stand by this for future generations of our country, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. To put it simply, what I mean by this is that it would mean, for you as a person, to help integrate Black History into today’s society and our lives and celebrate it all the time.

America should not separate people because of the color of their skin. We should welcome everything, such as ideas of culture and race. We should not separate anyone because of the color of their skin, why should we?

We should also change our vocabulary from I could have or would have to what can I do as a person to help people. We don’t have to like or agree with everybody, but we can at least respect people’s ideas.

Life has many ups and downs, but why take it out on others just because they don’t share the same opinion? I, Grady Kloosterman, am committed to make the effort to be an ally and not condone celebrating my friends, of all ethnicities, for just one month because of the opinions of those in the past. While I cannot speak for others, I can speak for myself.

I am committed to be an ally.

I cannot change everyone’s opinion, but I can help to try and bring about and change my generation’s opinion. It should not be hard for you to compliment somebody, smile at somebody, or even offer to give somebody your opinion on a topic and show your side of a story and how you may view it.

I’m going to leave you with this, and only this, I feel extremely privileged and blessed to be put in the situation that I am in and that I have been given the ability to speak on this topic. When first given the chance to, I knew I had some things to learn from this assignment.

In life, you have choices: you can live miserably and not listen to anybody and stay on the ground; or you can choose to get up and walk a mile of life. In that mile, people are different, and it can show in their personality or the color of their skin, but why separate us? We are all going through similar heartaches, pain, joy, and happiness. Knowing this, the only thing you can change is your future and future generations.

I leave you with this final question, will you make that choice?