The treatment of the Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, and the mentally and physically disabled during World War 2 was inhumane. Do any of you think it's a thing of the past? It's not. Look at the news. Look at the beliefs of ISIS; who believe in a global Islamic state based on its beliefs, and will kill anyone that stands in the way. Look at the beliefs of the KKK; their core belief is to restore America back to being a white, Christian nation free from drugs, homosexuality, immigration, and race mixing. Look at the beliefs of the Westboro Baptist Church; who picket places and events they see as supporting either homosexuality or Jews, this include LGBT events, churches and organizations they feel do not repudiate homosexuality sufficiently, and the funerals of soldiers. These extremists' views of those with different opinions and beliefs are still present. One may wonder how these groups of people come up with these ideas, or how they could think of others as if. All of those groups have one thing in common-closed-mindedness. The world needs open-minded people. Today, I want to change us. I want to change the way we all think. In the world right now, there are many problems going on: everything from religion, race, and gender. In order to rid the world of these problems, we need to steer clear of intolerance, ignorance and moral-blindness. The need to change is important now than ever. When I read Elie Wiesel's powerful account of what happened to him during the Holocaust, it made me realize how important it is for the world to change. In order for the world to be opening-minded, the people need to change. People need to be tolerant, understanding and willing to change.
Intolerance is something that everyone deals with. I've dealt with it. When I was out with my friends and a man came up to me and told me to go back to where I came from. I'm sure that everyone in this room has dealt with intolerance before.
