Get Up..Stand Up… November 13, 2008

My first week at Temple I learned that it is not just good enough to stand against something because you have to stand for something better.  I learned this in my race/ethnicity in the cinema class.  We were watching a movie about anti-Semitism and one of the main characters pointed it out to an anti-Semitist who waited for other people to fight her fight.  I think that this is so true about everything that we do in life.  There will always be things that we will think are wrong and that we will be against but if we say that we are against it and wait for others to stand up and do the right thing then the right thing may never come.  We have to not just say that we are against something but we have to try and change it by thinking of something better.  I wonder what the world would be today if the many people who made a difference would have just waited for other people to do what they did.  What if the colonists decided to let Britain keep control of their lives in America?  What if Martin Luther King Jr. did not stand against civil injustice?  What if Rosa Parks got up and gave up her seat?  Our world would be a totally different place then it is right now.  I remember when I was in fourth grade and there was this girl who the boys would always make fun of.  I always felt bad for her and I thought that what they were doing was extremely wrong but I never had the guts to stand up for her.  I always thought to myself, “maybe one day they will realize that what they are doing is wrong and they will stop” but they never did.  All year they made fun of her and at the beginning of fifth grade, she transferred to another school.  I always wondered if she left the school because of the mean things the boys said but we never found out.  At the time I felt that is was ok not to say anything in her defense.  I felt that because I was not the one making fun of her that I was not wrong.  But now I realize that I was wrong.  In my heart I knew that someone should have stood up to the boys but I did not want to look “un-cool”.  I wanted them to accept me but I wish that I would have said something.  I believe that I could have made a difference in her life.  When I watched that movie in class it brought me back to fourth grade and I realized what I should have done.  I am so happy that I was able to learn this lesson and I know that I will take it with me for the rest of my life.  I will not only stand against something but I will stand up for something BETTER.  Hopefully this lesson will have an impact on your lives too… =)

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