I challenge you to...

One of my all time favorite songs is "Bleed Red" by Ronnie Dunn, and the lyrics have really resonated with me these past few days as I traveled back from Jacksonville and spent my first day back in the 434. The basics of the song are that we in reality are generally the same. We are all humans, and we indeed all bleed red when it comes down to it. As I spent my week in Jacksonville I learned much more about refugees and the process than I ever thought I'd get to know. Refugees are very different from both legal and illegal immigrants, however many people don't recognize this distinction. 

Much of the American population just clumps all foreign populations into one category and slap them with a stereotype and call it a day. After my week in Florida, this breaks my heart. I worked with refugees both young and old and even heard some of their stories and they by no means deserve to be treated as something other than human. While they may have a different skin tone, speak a different language, dress differently, and may not know their way around American traditions, they still earned their entrance into this country. In order for an individual to be considered a refugee they must flee their country due to political or religious persecution where they fear for their lives. The process of being declared a refugee isn't an easy or quick process, and heck they may not ever get placed into another country, but when they do they face the many difficulties of being dropped into a country they likely know nothing about. 
Hearing an example from an immigrant herself and as I stated above, in today's society in America it isn't uncommon for people to just throw a label on non-English speaking foreigners. I am fan of challenges. When I reflect on experiences, both large and small scale events, I challenge myself to learn from them by creating these opportunities to grow. After my week in Florida working with these populations that I've never before had the chance to interact with, I challenged myself to an abundance of different things. In relation to my favorite song, I have challenged myself to rid my mind of stereotypes. This is very broad, and probably very difficult as we are raised learning stereotypes, but it touched my heart this past week to hear Hind's story of her one experience in a grocery story where a complete stranger treated her like she was trash because she wasn't American. The society that we live in today is very un-accepting. American's in my eyes tend to be very selfish and I want this to change. There is no reason for anyone to clump another person into this bubble of hatred just because of their nationality. Obviously there will always be individuals here that shouldn't be, but unless you individually go around and ask everyone for their story and their paperwork than you will never know who is who. 
To bring this to a conclusion, because I know that I could continue to talk in circles about this forever, I challenge you, whoever you may be, to get rid of your blinders. I challenge you to give everyone you come across a chance. Learn from them, acknowledge that they too have a story just as you do, and fully understand that they too bleed red, and they deserve a chance. I have already begun to accept the multitude of challenges I face after my week in Jacksonville, and I hope that at some point you too will be able to have an experience that brings you as much joy as my experience brought me throughout this past week. 

"How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great."