Were you ever in a situation where you wanted to speak, for what was right, but you couldn’t? You were stuck. 

You wanted to yell at the top of your lungs and tell someone what they did was wrong.

But nothing came out, so you just sat there. 

Silent. 

They won, they think what they did was okay. 

It is so easy to ignore all the wrong, hatred, and negativity in the world.

“It doesn’t affect me.”

“It isn’t my problem.”

“Someone else will deal with it.”

“A good soul will come along.”

Excuses, for standing up for what is right, are key things that are wrong with our society.

What if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had never voiced his opinion? 

What would our world be like today? 

I was one of those people who was too afraid to speak out. I was stuck. I was afraid to use my voice. When people did wrong, I was silent. 

Last year, during the second hour in math class, we were doing a project. I didn’t have many friends in that class, so I was normally quiet around other people. Your friend pulled his chair up and sat next to you. All three of us were in a row. Me, then you, then your friend. There was this Black girl next to me, we were about a desk length away. You three were all talking, everything seemed okay. The girl then started saying something but you two could not understand her. You asked her what she said, and she told you that it was something about the project. You mumbled to your friend, “oh I thought she said the n-word” except, you didn’t say “n-word”, you said the actual word. She heard you, and confronted you. You denied it and your friend stepped in too and started yelling at her, saying over and over, that you never said that word. Then, she apologized for accusing you. I just sat there, looking down at my math project; with a huge pit in my stomach. I knew as clear as day that you said that word, but I was silent. I couldn’t stop tapping my pencil for the rest of class. Tap. Tap. Tap. The more time passed, the more the guilt bottling up inside me rose. The bell rang and I walked out of class. I was upset, I wished I had the courage to speak up. I was angry, you knew what you said was wrong and couldn’t admit to saying that harsh word; you were acting like a coward. And I was afraid, afraid of what this world has come to.  We don’t go to the same school anymore and I don’t know how many other times you have said this offensive word. Though, what I do know is that it should have never come out of your white mouth.

You see people saying nasty slurs who shouldn’t be saying those things on a daily basis.

“It is just a word.”

“One word couldn't hurt.”

“It said the word in a song, so it is okay to say it.”

“It is okay to read the word out loud; because it said the word in a book.”

“It is okay that I said the word because I didn’t mean to come across offensive when I said it.”

It is never okay, no matter the circumstance. 

The n-word may just be a small, five letter word. But the meaning behind it is everlasting.

 It doesn’t matter if you aren’t using that word against someone.

 If you are not Black and it comes out of your mouth, you are being racist.

Over quarantine I started thinking deep about life. I was trying to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be. I still don’t know who I am but I do know right from wrong. I learned to use my voice. I will no longer let others' thoughts take control of who I am and what I believe in. I will no longer be silent. You will hear me and you will know my name. And most importantly, we can stop the silence together.