Judge the individual, not the label

As children, we are taught to never judge a book by its cover, but as I watch the public react to the tragic events taking place in Paris, Brussels, San Bernardino, and other cities that have been marked by terrorists, I find this a hypocritical lesson.

Adults seem unable to abide by their own implicit lessons and feel little guilt as they develop opinions based solely on labels. The public allows demagogues such as Donald Trump to point at certain ethnic and religious groups as scapegoats for all of our problems.

Not all immigrants from Mexico are gang-banging or cocaine dealers, and a very small percentage of Muslims are extremists. In fact, many Muslims condemn ISIS for perverting the beliefs of their religion.

Media and our tendency to generalize traits of a minority to whole populations cause people to tender unfounded opinions. It isn’t fair of us to judge people based on their race, country of origin, or religion. We must delay judgment and stop making excuses for those verdicts we develop out of fear. An environment of understanding is imperative to world peace.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Judge the individual, not the label."